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Launch of Hemp Pilot Project
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Speeches and Media Releases
 Agriculture

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 SPEECH BY THE MEC FOR AGRICULTURE AND LAND AFFAIRS, MR. MAX MAMASE,
AT THE LAUNCH OF THE HEMP PILOT PROJECT
 HELD AT DOHNE RESEARCH INSTITUTE
ON THE 06TH AUGUST 1999



Chairperson, Honourable Minister for Agriculture and Land affairs,
 Ms. Thoko Msane-Didiza, Our Distinguished guests from the international community,
Director-General, Ms. Bongi Njobe-Mbuli, Farmers present here today,
 Members of the legislature present here today,
Distinguished local guests from the various organs of the civil society, Ladies and gentlemen


Let me take this opportunity and welcome our international and local guests, who have traveled all the way to make this occasion a success. 
Their contribution and support is well appreciated and today should be a start of solid public-private partnership for hemp production. I 
must also take this opportunity and welcome the national minister and her director-general who have left their busy offices to witness and 
participate in this initiative. As a familiar face in this province, people of this province have asked me to officially congratulate the 
minister in her new portfolio.

Chairperson, this province is classified as a poverty stricken province on the basis that we have a high degree of multi deprivation, 
(psychological, political, social and economical) limited access to goods and services, and malnutrition.



Fundamental to this dilemma is the level of social inequality, which also means different access to resources and facilities.

This is characterised by variations in wealth and property ownership. These inequalities are also structured between social groups.

Social inequality also relates to gender relations. These are socially and culturally constructed differences between men and women as they 
relate to roles associated with males and females.

Despite these negative social indicators, we are blessed with a wide range of agricultural resources, which can be developed and utilised 
for economic and social benefit of the peoples of this province.

UNLOCKING AGRICULTURAL POTENTIAL

We are convinced chairperson, that transformation of agriculture from subsistence to a commodity-based production, will make this industry 
more vibrant for employment absorption and poverty alleviation.

In my view chairperson, our major goal should be to unlock the agricultural potential of this province.

To facilitate this unlocking process my department has identified four policy objectives. We must strive to:

* Promote sustainable utilisation of natural resources.
* Encourage increased food and fibre production to contribute to food security
* Stimulate increased economic activity from agriculture and
* Provide an enabling legislation

Also imperative to this unlocking aim, is the Provincial Geographic Information System that we have already established in the department. 
This informs us about climatic conditions and soil mapping of the province. In the past agriculture, was driven by the availability of land 
irrespective of its pH marginal nature. Today we are able to know land with high agricultural potential and marginal land.

We believe that the available agricultural land should be used productively and we have realised that if we concentrate on production of 
high value crops, agriculture can make better contribution to the economic growth of this province.





It is for this belief chairperson, that we have identified hemp production as one of those crops that can change the face of agriculture 
and the economy of this province and the country as a whole.

IMPACT OF HEMP

The unavailability of land and withdrawal of agriculture subsidies by the European Union is negatively affecting the present 26 hemp 
producing countries. We should therefore exploit this situation to our economic advantage.

Hemp production will create an inflow of the much-needed foreign investments into South Africa. This will take form of capital investments 
in the processing plants that will be required to process the hemp fibre and seed. We foresee a situation whereby hemp will be processes 
locally and exported to foreign markets.

This form of foreign investment will not only prove to be economically viable for our province because of the potential hemp carries as an 
exportable commodity, but it will begin a process of job creation once the processing plants have been set up.

Production of hemp also provides an attractive opportunity for community, public and private sector collaboration with government playing 
facilatatory and supportive role.





We will also offset the increasing trade deficit from imported hemp products like food, drinks, body-care products, paper and fuel.

Another added advantage is that it will be grown in rotation with food crops such as wheat and small foresters could use it as a transition 
fibre crop while they wait for trees to grow.

Involvement of farmers and our department’s farmer support programme will ensure effective participation in production and processing. We 
are well positioned to benefit from the hemp value chain, commencing from seed generation, production and processing (fibre and oil) An 
added advantage is the established automotive industry in the province.

The facilitatory process of establishing hemp with its spin-offs in terms of institutional capacity building (Dohne), training of extension 
officers and targeted communities (trial areas) as well as infrastructural development (irrigation and fencing)) already demonstrates the 
positive impact of hemp production on communities.

I must commend the success made so far by the hemp cluster that comprises of various government departments. We however still have a long 
road to go before we can really say we have achieved our goal of massive hemp fibre production in the Province of the Eastern Cape.

We believe that a successful establishment of a hemp industry will depend on consolidating and concentrating on these four strategic areas:

1.  Creating an enabling environment
2.  Technology innovation (processing and production)
3.  Identification of potential markets for hemp products (raw and processed) and
4.  Human Resource Development

Chairperson, we can either become competitors in the race to seek economic advantages from hemp or allow other nations to carve out their 
niches in the hemp market at our own expense.

On behalf of the Eastern Cape government I pledge our support in making this hemp initiative a success.

I Thank You!!!

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