Dr Ivan Meyer, Western Cape minister of agriculture, has launched the Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (DAFF) Western Cape’s Producer/Farmer Register (PFR) at the Western Cape Department’s Research Farm, Langgewens, outside Malmesbury
The establishment of the Producer/Farmer Register for the Western Cape is set to assist the province to establish a baseline from which agricultural performance can be measured, provide credible data on the number of smallholder farmers, their geographic location and agricultural activities and assist in the development of performance indicators.
The project, which will run from 2019-2021, is expected to result in data on all smallholder as well as commercial farmers being registered through the Producer/Farmer Register.
The Western Cape Department of Agriculture embraces the project is set to drive registration of farmers through the extension and advisory as the government believes that a credible database will improve the quality of the support and services government renders to the sector.
It will be re-assigning 10 graduate interns to strengthen extension capacity to be able to deliver the project by 31 March 2020.
The register will establish an up-to-date frame of reference for conducting agricultural sector surveys in the province, track the impact of agricultural support to beneficiaries in agriculture and inform the development of strategies to help producers overcome the challenges related to natural disasters and assist with the planning and allocation of resources for smallholder development in the sector.
The minister has encouraged all farmers to participate in the registration drive as registration is the key to unlocking future government services.
