Ramaphosa backs women farmers in new land reforms

South Africa will give priority to women and youth in a new programme to lease idle state land.

President Cyril Ramaphosa said women who were allocated farms under the existing Pro-Active Land Acquisition Strategy had run them successfully and moved into commercial production.

He said it was important to ensure land leased for farming is used for that purpose and that farmers are supported to boost production.

The new reforms will see 700,000 hectares of under-utilised or vacant state land given to farmers.

The president tweeted his full statement:

“From The Desk of the President - Mon, 05 Oct 2020 - https://bit.ly/3cX5Ayp Last week the Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development (DLRD) announced that members of the public will be able to apply to lease 700 000 hectares of underutilized or vacant state land”

This article originally appeared on BBC News

Photo: GCIS