The Minister of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development, Ms Thoko Didiza, says her department has ring-fenced R1.2 billion for assistance to mainly financially distressed small-scale farmers to mitigate the impact of COVID-19.
Of the R1.2 billion, R400 million has been allocated for farmers within the Proactive Land Acquisition Strategy (PLAS) programme.
The remainder will be channelled towards all other farmers that are mainly in the poultry, livestock and vegetable-commodity sectors.
Minister Didiza says other commodity sectors will be evaluated on a case by case basis, as the Department continuously monitors the impact of COVID-19 on the sector at large.
Mechanisation, infrastructure and overhead costs will NOT be supported. This is not comprehensive support but an intervention package amid COVID-19.
The applications for this funding will be open from 08 April 2020 and will close on 22 April 2020. Application forms will be available on 08 April 2020 on the departmental website – www.dalrrd.gov.za and through national, provincial, district and local offices of the department.
