Eastern Cape Rural Development and Agrarian Reform MEC, Nonceba Kontsiwe, has announced that the department's Research Unit is developing climate-smart agriculture technologies to help farmers adapt to current and future climatic variations caused by climate change. Kontsiwe said the department is addressing the challenges of climate change by focusing on reducing risks associated with disasters. She said the department's Disaster Risk and Management Centre, located at Dohne, provides services for risk mitigation, including advisory services on weather, drought, floods, veldfires, and plant and animal diseases to farmers. 'To protect our natural resources, we will implement the Land Care Programme for land rehabilitation covering 6 595 hectares, and 469 green jobs will be created. Additionally, conservation agriculture will be introduced on 403.6 hectares. 'We will seek funding to create 5 000 EPWP [Expanded Public Works Programme] jobs across the province to rehabilitate our natural resources,' Kontsiwe said. Investing in farmer training In repositioning agricultural training institutes as drivers of human capacity development, Kontsiwe said the department is investing in the people of the province through the Farmer Training and Incubation Programme. The department aims to revamp and enhance the capacity of agricultural training institutes in the province to offer skills development programmes for farmers, unemployed youth and graduates. She said the colleges will equip unemployed graduates with specific skills to enable them to explore opportunities in the sector. In collaboration with the Fort Cox Agriculture and Forestry Training Institute, Kontsiwe said the department has already trained 152 unemployed agricultural graduates in training facilitation skills. 'This will enable graduates to benefit from government's investment of over R1 billion in skills development in the province and create additional revenue streams for the colleges. 'The department is committed to providing farmer training thro ugh our colleges, with Fort Cox Agriculture and Forestry Training Institute, Tsolo Agriculture and Rural Development Institute (TARDI) and the Mpofu Training Centre being key institutions for delivering training programmes,' the MEC said. Technical and innovation support Kontsiwe emphasised the need to adapt to support the new generation of commercially oriented producers amid rapidly evolving agriculture sector. She maintained that extension services need to be reoriented to meet the changing demands of the agriculture sector, including collaboration with industry to maximise the use of available human resources. 'In 2023/24, the department began transitioning from manual reporting to the digital platform, Survey 123, for extension services, which will also streamline government service provision to farmers. 'In 2024/25, extension services will work closely with the industry to capacitate departmental officials to offer specialised commodity services for high-value and export-oriented commodities,' Kont siwe said. The department also plans to train extension officers in priority commodities and conduct 17 267 agricultural demonstrations to promote the adoption of climate-resilient production technologies by producers. "Technology development and transfer are crucial for supporting farmers to enhance productivity. Our Dohne Laboratory will offer free analytical services for soils, plants and water testing. 'The department will also focus on innovation, research and collaboration with other research institutions to address climate change adaptations and develop production technologies,' Kontsiwe said. Source: South African Government News Agency