23 June 2008

The Northern Cape's Department of Agriculture and Land Reform will mark its Provincial LandCare Week, 23-26 June 2008, by setting in motion the delivery of twenty-seven (27) projects worth R6, 4 million. Four-hundred-and-sixty-nine (469) jobs would have been created by conclusion of funding support to the projects by the end of March next year. The Department's LandCare allocation for this financial year pushed this programme's total allocation since its inception in 1998 to nearly R30 million for over a hundred projects.

The LandCare programme targets resource-poor community projects striving for the sustainable management and use of natural resources such as land and water. LandCare is aimed at optimizing production and use of natural resources leading to increased agricultural production, food security, job creation and a better quality of life for all.

In harnessing service delivery through LandCare and also vying for sustainable agriculture, the Department's Directorate of Sustainable Resource Management secured a range of stakeholders for this week's four-day Provincial LandCare Week Workshop in Upington. Beneficiaries of LandCare projects, representatives of the provincial and national Departments of Agriculture, organized agriculture, and leading academics are set to attend and re-affirm the importance of LandCare in farming.

Deliberations are to unfold around this year's theme of "Farming practices in harmony with natural resources." With the focus being on stock farming, the workshop will also culminate in visitations to LandCare projects such as the bronze winner in this year's Premier's Excellence Awards, Beeshoek LandCare Project and the handing over of awards at a gala dinner. The LandCare programme has emerged as the department's "breadbasket of honours," raking in gold, silver and bronze in the coveted Premier's Excellence Awards. The Suid-Bokkeveld project was voted one of the world's best LandCare projects at the International Landcare Conference held in Cape Town in 2004.

Enquiries: Thabo Mothibi - 083 255 8840/053 838 9105