The Free State MEC for Agriculture, Rural Development and Environmental Affairs (DARDEA), Elsabe Rockman, has unveiled an ambitious strategy to strengthen food security, combat Foot-and-Mouth Disease (FMD) and transform emerging farmers into commercial producers during a high-level engagement with local farmers and traditional leaders in Namahadi.
The strategic meeting, held at the Bakoena Royal Council, focused on tackling immediate agricultural challenges while laying the foundation for sustainable rural economic growth.
A key priority was the province's aggressive response to the Foot-and-Mouth Disease outbreak. The Department has already administered more than one million vaccinations towards its target of three million, with four vaccination rounds completed in QwaQwa and three in Harrismith.
MEC Rockman called for stronger collaboration between government, farmers and traditional leaders to contain the disease while expanding farmer support through initiatives such as veld fire-fighting and rescue training.
Traditional leadership, led by Morena e Moholo Moremoholo Motebang Mopeli, raised concerns over historical land constraints that have left many communities farming on fragmented pieces of land, limiting agricultural productivity and economic growth.
To stimulate rural development and reduce dependence on social grants, traditional leaders requested government support for communal tractors, seeds, farming equipment, communal kraals, cattle handling facilities, additional livestock pounds and fencing around agricultural villages to combat escalating stock theft. They also appealed to Executive Mayor Cllr Tumelo Thebe to lease farms to traditional councils to establish community farming cooperatives.
Responding to these requests, MEC Rockman committed to developing a joint implementation roadmap with local and district municipalities to ensure measurable and sustainable outcomes.
"The Department will establish a dedicated workstream—with terms of reference formulated to guide cooperation and coordination—and this process will be led by DARDEA's legal team," she said.
The partnership will include testing approximately 100 hectares of arable land to determine crop suitability while expanding skills development programmes for local farmers.
Rockman further urged farmers to diversify beyond livestock production by investing in poultry, piggery and climate-suited crop farming, while positioning local producers to access commercial markets through major retailers including Pick n Pay, Spar and Shoprite.
As part of its long-term environmental and food security strategy, the Department also announced plans to plant one million trees over the next five years and intensify efforts to attract young people into agriculture, positioning the sector as a driver of jobs, entrepreneurship and economic growth in the Free State.
