By AGISANANG SCUFF
23 July 2025- The North West MEC for Agriculture and Rural Development, Madoda Sambatha said in affirmation of a vision of a province, agriculture is not just a sector, but a foundation upon which they build food security, economic dignity and rural prosperity. Sambatha said this during the tabling of his departmental budget for 2025/2026 financial year at the North West Provincial Legislature on Wednesday.
He further said the heart of this foundation lies with the farmers, the men and women who rise before dawn to work the land with resilience and feed not just their families, but the entire communities. Sambatha added that hence the saying that, “when you support a farmer, you grow a nation” because a thriving farmer, means a thriving family, a thriving village and ultimately, a thriving province.
“The agricultural sector is irrefutably swamped and faced with hindrances and hitches that have had a huge impact on the sector during the past fiscal year 2024/2025. This budget vote is aligned with the 2025 United Nations International Year of Cooperatives Theme, stipulating that “Cooperatives Build a Better World”.
“As a province, we still remain with a staunch confidence that Cooperatives and other similar formations have their core existence tied to delivery mandate for sustainable livelihoods and a significant contribution towards inclusive participation, community development, job creation and economic growth,” he said.
Sambatha said the departmental total budget of R1 276 612 000 will be allocated accordingly. He said administration will be allocated R362, 488 000, Sustainable Resource Use and Management will receive R49 436 000, Agricultural Producer Support and Development will be allocated R472 839 000, while Veterinary Services will receive R165 578 000.
“The launch of Agri-Hub should be properly understood as not replacing nor collapsing the roles and responsibilities of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development and roles and responsibilities of the North West University [NWU].
“But, the NEW AgriHub should be seen as the centre of excellence on coordination and implementation of the Aggregation Model within the identified Commodities/Sectors in a cycle of three years. This solely means, in each cycle the AgriHub will have identified agricultural sectors to primarily focus on, whilst the normal functions of both the NWU and DARD are proceeding uninterrupted, and this will be in alignment with the Agricultural Agro-Processing Master Plan [AAMP],” said Sambatha.
He said the 2025-2029 priority sectors within the AgriHub will be Beef Beneficiation, Goat Massification, Crop Massification – current priority focus, with Sheep Massification, Feed-Mills with Animal Feed, Poultry- Broilers and Layers to be added effective April 2026. Sambatha said the work of the AgriHub aggregation will be driven for excellency through the appointment of Aggregators.
The Guardian 