In the agency’s recently published Annual Report, Van Rooyen explains that 20% of the levies collected are retained and administered by SACTA for transformation and empowerment purposes, such as enterprise development, skills acquisition, management control and socio-economic growth.
According to the report, the bulk of the funding, 60%, is allocated to enterprise development, followed by 18% towards skills acquisition, 17% to management control and 5% towards socio-economic development. The following critical elements form part of the transformation expenditure:
- Funding to agri-businesses or black owned farms for the procurement of production infrastructure, material and inputs, as well as soil preparation.
- Funding the cost of accreditation, as well as various legal and professional services.
- Assisting farmers to access the market, including facilitating supply agreements or purchase contracts, as well as developing business plans for farmers.
- Assisting in ensuring that appropriate agricultural infrastructure, machinery and equipment are in place and are kept in good condition.
To ensure that these initiatives are relevant and impactful, the agency is working closely with government, the National Agricultural Marketing Council (NAMC), institutions of higher learning and various other partners and service providers.
* The bulk of the collected breeding and technology levies are paid to seed breeding companies and institutions based on their respective market shares of seed sales. This is done in an effort to stimulate breeding and technology research to ensure that South African farmers have access to the latest seed technology in the world.