AGRICULTURAL POLICY ACTION PLAN (APAP) - 2015-2019

Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (AFF) are widely recognised as sectors with significant job creation potential and with strategic links to beneficiation opportunities. However, although between 1994 and 2012 the real contribution of AFF to GDP increased by 29%, over the same period employment declined in both primary production and agro-processing by about 30% to 40%. This combination of slow-to-modest growth and declining employment, continues a longer-term trend evident since at least the 1970s. The challenges facing AFF are numerous: rising
input costs, an uneven international trade environment, lack of developmental infrastructure (rail, harbour, electricity), and a rapidly evolving policy and production environment. At the same time, transformation of the AFF sectors has been slow and tentative.

A detailed analysis of the various challenges is given in the Integrated Growth and Development Policy for Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, or ‘IGDP’. Based on this analysis, the IGDP also outlines appropriate responses. The Agricultural Policy Action Plan (APAP) seeks to translate the high-level responses offered in the IGDP, into tangible, concrete steps. However, this first iteration of APAP is not offered as a fully comprehensive plan; rather, based on the model of the Industrial Policy Action Plan (‘IPAP’), it identifies an ambitious but manageable number of focused actions, in anticipation of future APAP iterations that will take the process further. APAP is planned over a five-year period and will be updated on an annual basis. Aligning itself with the New Growth Path (NGP), the National Development Plan (NDP) and Industrial Policy Action Plan (IPAP), APAP seeks to assist in the achievement of Outcome 4, Decent Employment through Inclusive Growth, and that of Outcome 7, Comprehensive Rural Development and Food Security.