Hon Deputy Speaker, we are determined not only to protect but to grow the agricultural sector of our country. We have identified the agricultural sector as the one sector that can generate growth and in fact can employ well over a million people. That's what the National Development Plan said and that is what we have also come to as the government in terms of the measures and the interventions that we want to embark on. Now Minister Didiza has put forward the plan that she has and obviously working together with her other colleagues. It's aimed at, firstly, yes, ensuring that we support the commercial agriculture sector in our country and also support it through difficulties and challenges such as drought.
They will come up with programmes that are going to support farmers when it comes to drought situations or situations of calamity. But at the same time, to promote farming amongst those who were prevented from participating in farming either in terms of opportunities, lack of land and support that they have never had from government and also no access to markets. So, we are promoting all that and ensuring that many more black people who want to be farmers. I know that for a fact because I am a farmer and I know that many black people want to be in farming. They want to farm cattle, food production, crops, the grains and fruits.
We need to open opportunities for them to participate in that sector. For them to be able to do so, they also need certain facilities such as access to water, land and funding. So, all that is now on her desk and she, Minister Didiza, is meant to come up with a strategy and she has put forward a number of those so that they can be implemented. But at the same time support your commercial farmers and make sure that your commercial farmers work as well. The good thing that you may not be aware of is that a number of commercial farmers have come forward and
said, we want to support the government efforts in making sure that agriculture becomes a sunrise industry in our country.
It becomes a winning industry that can employ many more people and also make sure that the food production in our country is not compromised but we should continue producing our own food. We say this having looked at a number of other countries that have been stumbling when it comes to food production. We don't want South Africa to ever get there. In fact, we want to be a next producer of food and export.
One of the things that we are doing is to support our exporting farmers. A number of them are also black farmers who are coming to the export market, exporting beef and martin and all that to other countries.
So, we want to play an overarching support role to the agricultural sector of our country because we see it as a growth industry indeed. Thank you very much, Deputy Speaker. [Applause.]
Question 9: