The revival of agriculture and the agroprocessing value chain was key for radical economic transformation in South Africa, said Trade and Industry Minister Dr Rob Davies this week, stressing that much more value was created in agroprocessing than in agriculture.

The Minister was speaking at the Eat Well, Eat Safe, Eat Local campaign at Cofimvaba High School, in Cofimvaba village, in the Eastern Cape, on Tuesday.

“There [is potential to create] high-quality jobs if we actually process the products that we produce. Agroprocessing can exist and add value where there is agriculture. But agroprocessing can also drive agriculture and create a market for farmers,” he emphasised.

Therefore, it was important that more of the food South African’s consumed be produced locally as this would assist with creating jobs and growing the economy.

“The choice of buying locally produced products is for everyone and it should be a priority. Right now, too much of the food that we consume in this country is not produced locally, it is produced somewhere else and imported,” noted Davies.

As such, government was using different instruments to support the buy local campaign.

“We support infrastructure that can sustain agriculture and we provide incentive programmes to support agroprocessing and aquaculture. We also use trade policy instruments,” he noted.

Government had also introduced regulations that would ensure that maize meal was fortified in an attempt guarantee that the majority of South Africans ate nutritious food.

New regulations to be introduced by government would also require all manufacturers to reduce the salt and sugar content in processed foods. “Not every product made in South Africa is healthy,” emphasised the Department of Trade and Industry in a statement.

The ‘Eat Well, Eat Safe, Eat Local’ event was held in partnership with the Eastern Cape Department of Rural Development and Agrarian Reform, the Chris Hani district municipality and the Ntsika Yethu municipal council.