The National Emergent Red Meat Producers’ ORGANISATION (Nerpo) has called on government to regulate the pricing of agricultural land.
The organisation’s managing director Aggrey Mahanjana recently expressed concern about what he called the ridiculous pricing of agricultural land, saying it hinders the speed and impact of government’s land reform project. G overnment is aiming to transfer 30% of white-owned agricultural land into black hands by 2014. “The gap between the production value and market-related value of the agricultural land is widening, and this calls for immediate and decisive intervention from government,” he said. “If the pricing of agricultural land remains unregulated, no government farmer support programme would take precedence over the exorbitant price of land in this country, and therefore the challenge to access productive agricultural land by emerging farmers will never be overcome,” said Mahanjana. L and affairs spokesperson Godfrey Mdhluli could not comment, saying he was not aware if Nerpo’s call had reached the attention of the minister yet. – Gwenda van Zyl
