Let's revive our small towns through agriculture and agritourism

Oct 10, 2024 12:24:35 PM

"Our country has many opportunities - let's embrace them and consistently build communities."

Let's revive our small towns through agriculture and agritourism

By Wandile Sihlobo

Having spent the first week of August 2024 in the Karoo region of the Northern Cape amongst farmers, attending meetings, and interacting with market agents, it would be fair to say this region is one of the most in need of agritourism promotion. The region has something to offer – great cuisines, landscapes, and history.

However, agritourism would also be a lifeline for some regions that previously relied on railway activities. There is now reduced economic activity. Thus, unemployment is rife, leaving some towns exposed to potential instability.

In the case of farmers, they do their part and create employment in their regions. Therefore, proper marketing of the unique and premium Karoo Lamb that most produce would bring the much-needed revenue, which would be reinvested in the farms, and ultimately, increased economic activity in the regions and job creation.

The marketing of the Karoo Lamb requires societal support and is viewed as South African heritage food. This means that as we shop at our various retailers across South Africa, we must ask the store managers about the Karoo Lamb, great South African wines, fruits, and our other high-quality regional foods.

The restaurants should also do their part and stop marketing any lamb, such as the Karoo, when they haven't bought it from a certified abattoir or supplier.

Municipalities, particularly in the province of the Northern Cape side of the Karoo region, must do their part in beautifying towns, keeping them clean, and fixing municipal refuse dumps. Investing in proper recycling efforts will assist in creating valuable income for the poor and job opportunities for the locals. Importantly, when people drive across the country and notice the cleanliness, beauty and care given to these towns, they may stop, spend money or even think of investing in such towns.

The provincial government also has a vital role in improving the road networks and ensuring that municipalities are functioning effectively. This is vital in ensuring the success of tourism in the province. The issue of crime also needs a constant eye to ensure the safety of these towns. When towns are carefully maintained clean, roads are constantly fixed, and crime is low, economic activity will recover over time.

But we can all agree that the small towns of the Karoo are small microcosmos of the bigger problems in municipalities across South Africa. Perhaps the neglect of infrastructure in other towns is even more stark. Here, I think of my home province, the Eastern Cape, where we read regularly about corruption. At the same time, we know that for some villages in the province, life has not improved much, at least in terms of connectivity, roads, water infrastructure, and safety.

So, agritourism and tourism in its entirety will not improve much and yield greater economic benefits for the Eastern Cape if such neglect continues. I am bringing the Eastern Cape issue here because, as I drove through some small towns in the Karoo and saw a sense of hopelessness and despair in the streets amongst the unemployed, I could recognise those difficulties from the Eastern Cape.

The issue of failing and weak municipalities is a nationwide challenge in the North West, Free State, and Gauteng. The proper functioning municipalities and roads are vital for the farming sector – these are the linkages to markets and routes utilised to bring various inputs to farms and across agribusinesses. The inadequacies lead to increased transaction costs and weigh on multiple businesses and, ultimately, job creation. I know of dairy farms in the Eastern Cape that bleed cost-wise because of the poor roads and water infrastructure and the failure of the local government to improve it after several attempts to engage them.

Therefore, to meaningfully support the broader Karoo region and its people, the first step is to buy their high-quality products. The second part lies with the regulators ensuring they keep an eye on food fraud in restaurants and other outlets that inappropriately market their products as Karoo, misleading consumers.

More importantly, the provincial and local governments should consistently improve the road and water infrastructure, keep the towns clean, and deal with crime. This same approach must apply across all small towns of South Africa.

Our country has many opportunities - let's embrace them and consistently build communities.

Wandile Sihlobo is the chief economist at the Agricultural Business Chamber of SA and a senior fellow in Stellenbosch University's Department of Agricultural Economics. His latest book is "A Country of Two Agricultures".