AGRICULTURAL SECTOR SKILLS PLAN 2017-2018 SSP_final.pdf · agricultural sector skills plan 2017-2018 ... 012 325 165 fax: ... agricultural sector skills plan / august 2016 ix

August 2016

AGRICULTURAL SECTOR SKILLS PLAN

2017-2018

Prepared on behalf of the Sector by AgriSETA for submission to the Department of Higher Education and Training

AGRICULTURAL SECTOR SKILLS PLAN / August 2016

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AUTHORISATION AND OFFICIAL SIGN-OFF We, the undersigned, hereby certify that this Final Draft Sector Skills Plan:

• Was developed by the management of AgriSETA under the guidance of the AgriSETA Accounting Authority and in consultation with the Department of Higher Education and Training

• Was informed by extensive literature reviews, data analysis and research

• Takes into account all the relevant policies, legislation and other mandates for which AgriSETA is responsible

• Involved representative stakeholder consultations • Accurately reflects the findings in terms of scarce and critical skills within documented

limitations to inform strategy planning and performance priorities.

Date:

Mr J S Madiba

Chief Executive Officer: AgriSETA

Date

Mr T Ka Plaatjie

Acting Chairperson: AgriSETA Accounting Authority

For more information, please contact: AgriSETA Address: 529 Belvedere St, Arcadia, Pretoria, 0002 Phone: 012 325 165 Fax: 012 325 1677 Email: [email protected]

mailto:[email protected]


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FOREWORD outh Africa has a dual agricultural economy spanning subsistence and commercial interests. These two constituencies have differing skills requirements and AgriSETA is required to serve both. In order to accurately serve the skills needs of the Agricultural sector, AgriSETA requires

an updated Sector Skills Plan (SSP) for 2017/2018, including a scarce and critical list which is aligned to government priorities and strategic frameworks. This document lays out these priorities and identifies the skills needs of the sector.

It was found that commercial farmers require high level technical skills for managerial positions, and improved Adult Education and Training and Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) for their unskilled workforce. Co-operatives require partnerships (with big business, government departments, other SETAs and industry bodies) that are targeted at helping co-operatives develop into proper businesses with access to finance, corporate governance and business management skills.

The skills mismatch identified in this SSP points out that neither of these constituents outlined above currently fully benefits from existing AgriSETA learnerships. Unskilled workers are, on the whole, not eligible for lower level NQF AgriSETA learnerships because they do not have the requisite basic literacy and numeracy skills, or require RPL to be launched onto a career development path. This unskilled workforce spans commercial and subsistence farming. AgriSETA provides sufficient lower level NQF interventions, but commercial enterprises require technical skill for managerial and scientific positions, which should be catered for in the form of mentorships and bursaries. The research supporting these findings is contained in the following document.

Date

Mr T Ka Plaatjie

Acting Chairperson: AgriSETA Accounting Authority

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ABBREVIATIONS AND ACRONYMS

AFASA African Farmers’ Association of South Africa

AGOA African Growth and Opportunity Act

AgriSETA Agricultural Sector Education and Training Authority

APAP Agricultural Policy Action Plan

ATR Annual Training Report

BMI Business Monitor International

DAFF Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries

DHET Department of Higher Education and Training

DRDLR Department of Rural Development and Land Reform

DTI Department of Trade and Industry

FETMIS Further Education and Training Management Information System

GDP Gross Domestic Product

HEMIS Higher Education Management Information System

HSRC Human Sciences Research Council

IDGP Integrated Growth and Development Plan

IDP Integrated Development Plan

IPAP Industrial Policy Action Plan

IRR Institute of Race Relations

KZN KwaZulu-Natal

LED Local Economic Development

MAFISA Micro Agricultural Financial Institution of South Africa

NAFU National African Farmers Union

NDP National Development Plan

NERPO National Emergent Red Meat Producers Organisation

NGP New Growth Path

NEETS Not in Employment, Education or Training

NSDS III National Skills Development Strategy III

NSFAS National Student Financial Aid Scheme

QLFS Quarterly Labour Force Survey

QCTO Quality Council for Trades and Occupations

RPL Recognition of Prior Learning

SACAU Southern African Confederation of Agricultural Unions

SADC Southern African Development Community

SAIVCET South African Institute for Vocational and Continuing Education and


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Training

SAQA South African Qualifications Authority

SDA Skills Development Act

SIP Strategic Integrated Project

SIC Standard Industrial Classification

SSP Sector Skills Plan

SIZA Sustainability Initiative of South Africa

StatsSA Statistics South Africa

TAUSA Transvaal Agricultural Union South Africa

TVET Technical Vocational Education and Training

WSP Workplace Skills Plan

WTO World Trade Organisation


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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY griSETA requires an updated scarce and critical skills list, aligned to government priorities and strategic frameworks, in response to needs identified by the Agricultural sector. There is a need to understand how the current scarce and critical skills list matches the needs of the

Agricultural sector and how AgriSETA might facilitate relevant skills and educational opportunities to address skills gaps identified.

This 2017 - 2018 Sector Skills Plan (SSP) aims to address four key objectives:

1. Provide a profile of the Agricultural sector which outlines economic indicators and trends in the sector, including employer and employee trends.

2. Identify key skills issues in the agricultural sector by highlighting the macro socio-economic factors that impact on the demand for skills. In this regard, change drivers were identified and their articulations with national policy and strategy elaborated upon.

3. Analyse the skills demand and supply trends in the agricultural sector to identify potential skills mismatches. This analysis resulted in the formulation of the scarce and pivotal skills lists.

4. Agricultural sector partnerships were analysed to determine show they can be improved, as well as demonstrate ‘best practice’ with regard to partnering.

1. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS

Mixed research design and methods were adopted, including qualitative and quantitative methods. The qualitative data was gathered via key informant interviews and surveys using a purposive sampling method. Purposive sampling is a selective, non-probability sampling method used to identify stakeholders from whom specific information is required. This is not a randomised or representative sampling method. The findings from the interviews and surveys were triangulated with secondary analysis of quantitative data and document reviews of existing research.

2. DATA COLLECTION

2.1. Surveys and interviews

In total, AgriSETA reached out to 5,878 stakeholders in the formulation of this SSP. This number was comprised of AgriSETA members, members of co-operatives, subsector committee members representing levy payers, key industry players, existing and potential partners, as well as agricultural training institutions, as indicated in the table below. In addition, key information was derived from AgriSETA through internal consultation.

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TABLE 1: STAKEHOLDERS CONTACTED FOR SURVEYS AND INTERVIEWS

Who we contacted

Demand

AGRISETA members 5 000 Surveyed 5 613 stakeholders Co-operatives 513

Subsector committee members 100

Top levy payers 7

Interviewed 27 key stakeholders Key industry players 12

Existing partners (DRDLR, DAFF, DoL, Co-ops) 4

Potential partners 4

Supply Agricultural training institutes 238 Surveyed 238 training institutions

Total stakeholders contacted 5 878

Of those in the farming industry who responded to the survey, 12% were cooperative farmers, 13% were small and emerging farmers and 75% were commercial farmers. Thus, the critical skills list generated in this SSP caters for the needs of commercial farming and favours the responses of top AgriSETA levy payers.

2.2. Secondary Data Analysis

Secondary data analysis was also conducted as part of the SSP review, which included an analysis of the 1,700 WSPs and ATRs submitted for 2016. It must be noted that this represents only 8,6% of the total 19 834 employers registered with AgriSETA. These were analysed to ascertain the training undertaken in 2015/16 and projected training for 2016/17. A review of AgriSETA and SAQA qualifications was undertaken to ascertain the number of agricultural sector training providers by qualification. A secondary analysis of HEMIS data provided a snapshot of the throughput of graduates in the agricultural sector. FETMIS data was not attained and thus a similar analysis could not be performed on TVET Colleges. These sources of secondary data analysis are captured below.

TABLE 2: SECONDARY SOURCES OF DATA

Source Analysis

Demand Review of WSP and ATR submissions

1 700 Training undertaken & projected by members 2015/16 - 2016/17

Supply

Review of AGRISETA and SAQAqualifications

Number of training providers by qualification

Review of HEMIS data Throughput of graduates in agricultural sector

2.3 Document review

A document review was conducted to establish the economic performance and trends by subsector, geographic concentration and employers. Government policy and strategy documents, as well as the key statistical and industry publications, were reviewed and these are included in the bibliography. A thematic analysis was conducted to synthesise the key economic, policy and training issues affecting the agricultural sector, to identify key skills issues.

3. SCARCE AND PIVOTAL LIST FORMULATION

The scarce, critical and pivotal skills lists were arrived at through secondary data analysis and the numbers made available in previous Sector Skills Plans.


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3.1. Scarce and critical skills list was generated through:

Identifying hard-to-fill vacancies based on the results of previous Sector Skills Plans, triangulated with 2015/16 and 2016/17 WSP data, as well as surveys sent to all the AgriSETA levy payers and agricultural sub-subsector committee members. Further information was obtained through interviews with the top levy payers and key industry stakeholders to corroborate these findings.

An analysis of graduate completion rates compared against hard-to-fill vacancies identified through our stakeholder engagements.

3.2. Pivotal list was generated through:

An analysis of employer commitment to train in specific occupational areas as per the WSP submissions, in comparison with the hard-to-fill vacancies, thus determining where additional training is needed that industry has not yet, or is unable to, respond to.

These analyses corroborated the existing top ten scarce skills list and are discussed in chapter 3. They provide an indication of the imbalances in the sector at national qualification and occupational level. They also provides an indication of the volume of skills formation in the workplace and through training providers (Powell & Reddy, 2015).

4. SUMMARY OF KEY FINDINGS

South Africa has a dual agricultural economy spanning subsistence and commercial interests. AgriSETA is required to fairly serve both these constituencies despite deriving the bulk of its income from top levy players who are a minor proportion of the sector as a whole. The top levy payers’ contributions justifies their skills needs be catered for, but there is also an equal democratic imperative to support subsistence farmers and rural development for the sake of improved livelihoods and food security.

These two constituencies have differing skills requirements. Commercial farmers require high level technical skill for managerial positions, and improved AET and RPL for their unskilled workforce. While co-operatives require partnerships (with big business, government departments, other SETAs and industry bodies) that are targeted at helping co-operatives develop into proper businesses with access to finance, corporate governance and business management skills. These should be provided in the form of mentorships which fall beyond traditional SETA learnerships.

It appears that the skills mismatch in the agricultural sector is that neither of these constituents currently fully benefits from existing AgriSETA learnerships. There are a group of unskilled workers who are not eligible for lower level NQF AgriSETA learnerships because they do not have the requisite basic literacy and numeracy skills, or require RPL to be launched onto a career development path. This unskilled workforce spans commercial and subsistence farming. AgriSETA provides sufficient low to medium level NQF interventions, while agricultural colleges and higher education institutions provide medium to high level skills required by commercial enterprises.


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LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES TABLES Table 1: Stakeholders Contacted For Surveys And Interviews .......................................................... VII Table 2: Secondary Sources Of Data .................................................................................................. VII Table 3: Activities within the agricultural sector by SIC code .............................................................. 2 Table 4: Key agricultural role-players .................................................................................................. 4 Table 5: Distribution of employees by Province in Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry...................... 9 Table 6: General Priority Skills for Unskilled Labour .......................................................................... 19 Table 7: General Priority Skills for Skilled Labour .............................................................................. 19 Table 8: Small-Emerging Farmers & Co-operatives Top Skills Needs ................................................ 20 Table 9: Commercial Farmers’ Skills Needs ....................................................................................... 21 Table 10: Top Emerging Skills and Future Demand Needs by Subsector .......................................... 23 Table 11: Colleges of agriculture ........................................................................................................ 30 Table 12: Employee trained by occupational category and gender .................................................. 33 Table 13: Scarce and Critical Skills List ............................................................................................... 34 Table 14: The AgriSETA 2017/18 PIVOTAL List .................................................................................. 36 Table 15: Policy Provisions Skills Priority Actions .............................................................................. 44 Table 16: Co-operative Skills Priority Actions .................................................................................... 45 Table 17: Mentorship and Career Pathway Skills Priority Actions .................................................... 45 Table 18: Quality of Skills Supply Skills Priority Actions ..................................................................... 45 Table 19: Green Knowledge Skills Priority Actions ............................................................................ 46

FIGURES Figure 1: Distribution of Agricultural Entities by Subsector ................................................................ 3 Figure 2: Contribution to GDP by sector, Q1 2016 .............................................................................. 5 Figure 3: Gross value of Agricultural products, 2016 .......................................................................... 6 Figure 4: Provincial distribution of employers registered with AgriSETA ............................................ 8 Figure 5: Subsitence Agricultural Activity per Household, % ............................................................. 10 Figure 6: Gender Distribution of labour in the agricultural Sector .................................................... 10 Figure 7: Employees by race .............................................................................................................. 11 Figure 8: Employment categories within large organisations ........................................................... 12 Figure 9: Distribution of AgriSETA Learnerships ................................................................................ 29 Figure 10: Distribution of SAQA Registered Agriculture Qualifications ............................................. 29 Figure 11: Universities Throughput for Agricultural students Graduating in 2013-2014 ....................... 31 Figure 12: Number of Post-School Graduates in Agricultural Sector ................................................ 32 Figure 13: Skills Development Interventions ..................................................................................... 32


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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Authorisation and official sign-off ............................................................................. II

Foreword................................................................................................................ III

Abbreviations and acronyms .................................................................................... IV

Executive Summary ................................................................................................ VI

1. Research design and methods .............................................................................................. VI

2. Data collection ....................................................................................................................... VI

3. Scarce and PIVOTAL List Formulation ................................................................................. VII

4. Summary of Key findings..................................................................................................... VIII

List of Tables and Figures......................................................................................... IX

Table of Contents ..................................................................................................... X

Chapter 1: Sector Profile ........................................................................................... 1

1.1. Scope of coverage ................................................................................................................ 1

1.2. Economic Profile .................................................................................................................. 5

1.3. Labour market profile .......................................................................................................... 8

1.4. Conclusion ......................................................................................................................... 12

Chapter 2: Key Skills Issues ..................................................................................... 13

2.1. Alignment of sector skills planning to national strategies and plans ............................. 13

2.2. Change Drivers ................................................................................................................... 15

2.3. Implications for skills planning in the agricultural sector ............................................... 17

Chapter 3: Extent of Skills Mismatches ..................................................................... 18

3.1. Extent and Nature of Skills Demand ................................................................................. 19

3.2. Scarce and Critical Skills/Occupations Identified by Stakeholders ................................ 24

3.3. Extent and Nature of Skills Supply .................................................................................... 27

3.4. Extent of Occupational Skills Supply ................................................................................ 31

3.5. Skills Supply Challenges .................................................................................................... 33

3.6. Conclusion ......................................................................................................................... 33

3.7. Scarce & Critical Skills List ................................................................................................. 34

3.8. PIVOTAL List ....................................................................................................................... 35

Chapter 4: Sector Partnerships................................................................................ 37

4.1. Assessment of AgriSETA partnerships .............................................................................. 38

4.2. Approach to Future Partnerships...................................................................................... 41

Chapter 5: Skills Priority Actions............................................................................. 42

4.1. Key findings ........................................................................................................................ 42

4.2. Recommended Actions ..................................................................................................... 44

Bibliography .......................................................................................................... 47


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CHAPTER 1: SECTOR PROFILE hapter 1 provides an overview of the agricultural sector in South Africa by describing the four broad sections. The first section deals with the scope of the agricultural sector’s coverage, particularly in

relation to AgriSETA stakeholders and key role players in the sector. Section two, an economic profile of the agricultural sector details how the sector contributes to the broader South African economy. Section three provides agricultural employers’ profile based on the submitted 2016 WSP/ATR data, supplemented with data from Statistics South Africa’s Quarterly Labour Force Surveys. Finally, section four provides a labour market profile, where the number and demographics of people employed in the sector are provided. This chapter is intended to set the scene for the skills issues delved into in subsequent chapters.

1.1. SCOPE OF COVERAGE

Agriculture, in relation to skills development in the sector, only includes agricultural activities concerned with resource production (primary) and some primary processing of food, aquaculture and growing of trees as a secondary crop by farmers (secondary). The sector is divided into 41 subsectors that are classified according to their agricultural and economic focus. Table 3 below highlights the 41 subsectors and their Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) codes, as well as their focus areas.

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TABLE 3: ACTIVITIES WITHIN THE AGRICULTURAL SECTOR BY SIC CODE

Subsector SIC Code SIC Description

SEED 11140 Seed production and marketing

PEST CONTROL 99003 Pest Control

FIBRE 30118 Grading, ginning and packing of wool and cotton raw material

TOBACCO 11142 Manufacture of tobacco products

62208 Processing and dispatching of tobacco

POULTRY

11220 Other animal farming, production of animal products (not elsewhere classified)

11221 Ostrich farming

30114 Poultry and egg production including the slaughtering, dressing and packing of poultry

AQUACULTURE 13000 Fishing, operation of fish hatcheries and fish farm

MILLING, PET FOOD & ANIMAL FEED

30311 Manufacture of flour and grain mill products, including rice and vegetable milling, grain mill residues

30330 Manufacture of prepared animal feeds

30331 Manufacture of pet foods

30332 Manufacture of starches and starch products

SUGAR 11122 Sugar plantation including sugar cane and sugar beet etc.

30420 Manufacture of sugar including golden syrup and castor sugar

HORTICULTURE

11120 Growing of Vegetables, Horticultural specialties and nursery products

11121 Growing of Vegetables, Horticultural specialties (Including Ornamental Horticulture) and nursery products.

11130 Growing of fruit, nuts, beverage, and spice crops.

11301 Growing of coffee and tea including coconuts, cocoa, nuts, olives, dates, etc.

12109 Growing of trees as second crop by farmers

30132 Fruit packed in cartons, fruit juice concentrate drummed and fruit juice in container ready for consumption

30133 Fruit exporters and importers

30493 Processing and marketing of coffee and tea including coconuts, cocoa, nuts, olives, dates, etc.

62112 Service to nut farmers and companies

GRAINS & CEREALS

11110 Growing of Cereals and other crops (not elsewhere classified)

30300 Manufacture of grain mill products and starches

30313 Handling and storage of grain

61502 Wholesale & retail trade in Agricultural machinery

62111 Sale and distribution of Agricultural raw materials and other farming inputs

RED MEAT

11141 Production and animal products (not elsewhere classified)

11210 Farming of cattle, sheep, goats, horses, asses, mules, and hinnies; Dairy farming.

11222 Game farming

11300 Growing of crops combined with farming of animals (Mixed farming)

11400 Agricultural and animal husbandry services, except veterinary activities

11402 Other animal farming (not elsewhere classified)

30111 Slaughtering, dressing and packing of livestock, including poultry and small game for meat.

30115 Production, sale & marketing of Agricultural by products (e.g. bones, hides)

30117 Slaughtering, dressing and packing of livestock, including small game for meat and processing of ostrich products

61210 Wholesale trade in Agricultural raw materials and livestock

74136 Transport of livestock as supporting activity

87120 Agricultural and livestock research

Source: AgriSETA, 2016.


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These subsectors are classified into 11 subsector committees, which represent their industry interests to AgriSETA. They include: 1) Milling, pet food and animal feeds; 2) Seed; 3) Sugar; 4) Pest control; 5) Tobacco; 6) Aquaculture; 7) Grain and cereals; 8) Fibre; 9) Poultry; 10) Red Meat; 11) Horticulture subsector. The graph below indicates the relative size of membership numbers by subsectors, as captured in the AgriSETA member database for 2016.

FIGURE 1: DISTRIBUTION OF AGRICULTURAL ENTITIES BY SUBSECTOR

Source: AgriSETA member database, 2016

1.1.1. Revenue from Skills Development Levies

AgriSETA generates its revenue from Skills Development levies. Currently, there are only 19,834 employers registered with AgriSETA, while there are reportedly over 40,000 commercial farmers registered for Value Added Tax (VAT) in the sector. This means that just under half of commercial farming units are contributing towards skills development in the sector, placing a fair degree of strain on available resources. In order for skills development interventions to reach a broader base, multiple resources need to be channelled into skills development interventions.

1.1.2. Key role-players

There are a number of public and private key role-players in the agricultural sector which contribute towards its functioning, including: national government departments, sector representatives and industry bodies. For the sake of brevity, the table below groups these role-players according to their strategic contribution to the sector. Please note that while as comprehensive as possible, this list is not exhaustive.

Aquaculture, 5%

Fibre, 9%

Grains and Cereals, 10%

Milling, Petfood, Animal Feed, 2%

Pest control, 1% Poultry, 2%

Horticulture, 24%

Red meat, 45% Seed, 1%

Sugar, 1%

Tobacco, 0%

, 0%


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TABLE 4: KEY AGRICULTURAL ROLE-PLAYERS

Strategic contribution Department or organisation

Relevance to agricultural skills development

Skills Development and Research

Department of Basic Education

Quality of education of entrants to labour market, career awareness programmes to expose agriculture as a possible career choice

Department of Higher Education and Training

Responsible for TVETs, HETs, agricultural colleges and skills development. Sets the national skills development agenda through regulation of SETAs.

Statistics SA Provision of updated statistics on agricultural sector economics & labour force.

Agricultural Research Council Scientific research on agricultural production issues.

Strategy and Policy

Department of Trade and Industry & Provincial Departments of Economic Development

Industrial strategy, international trade agreements, agricultural sector strategy and policy implementation desk.

Department of Agriculture Forestry and Fisheries

Sector regulatory framework, strategy and leadership, provision of extension services, Broad Economic Empowerment funding of development interventions including provision of bursaries for scarce skills.

National Treasury & SARS Financial planning, incentives, accountability of Land Bank, skills levies.

Planning

Department of Labour Labour legislation, wage determinations, employment equity

Department of Economic Development

Sector economic strategies

National Planning Commission Identification of inter-departmental overlaps and gaps

Department of Environmental Affairs

Policy and guidelines on environment protection and natural resource management, partner in environmental education

Department of Transport Planning for transport needs in rural areas

Rural Development and Land Reform

Department of Rural Development and Land Reform

Partnering with AgriSETA in mobilising funds for capacity building of claimants.

Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs & Municipalities

Linking agricultural and rural development to IDPs and LED, infrastructure and services to agricultural enterprises

Services

Department of Water Affairs Water Boards manage local irrigation schemes

Department of Energy Strategy to supply electricity to rural areas

South African Police Service Collaboration with agricultural community to address issues of farm security, including attacks, stock and property theft

Credit and assistance Land and Agricultural Development Bank of South Africa

Financial services to commercial farming sector, agribusiness, and emerging farmers.


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Strategic contribution Department or organisation

Relevance to agricultural skills development

Micro-Agricultural Financial Institutions of South Africa (Mafisa)

Production loans to smallholder operators

Union and Sector representatives

Agri South Africa (AgriSA) Agricultural Union serving some 32 000 large and small commercial farmers.

National African Farmers’ Union of South Africa (Nafu)

Represents black farmers to level the field in all agricultural matters.

The African Farmers’ Association of South Africa (Afasa)

Represents commercial African farmers to bring black commercial farmers into mainstream agribusiness.

Transvaal Agricultural Union South Africa (TAU SA)

A national agricultural union serving commercial farmers

Agribusiness

Agricultural Business Chamber Fosters a favourable agribusiness environment

Grain SA

Conglomerate organisation providing commodity strategic support and services to South African grain producers to support sustainability.

Source: 2015 GCIS Handbook, Agriculture and AgriSETA SSP 2011-2016

1.2. ECONOMIC PROFILE

1.2.1. Overview

Agriculture on its own accounts for 2.4% of gross domestic product (GDP) and 4.4% of total employment (IRR, 2016). If the entire value chain of agriculture is taken into account, its contribution to GDP reportedly reaches about 12% of formal employment (GCIS, 2014/15). The pie chart and table below indicate the contribution of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry to the GDP relative to other sectors for the first quarter of 2016. Agriculture is not disaggregated as a separate sector in these figures.

FIGURE 2: CONTRIBUTION TO GDP BY SECTOR, Q1 2016

Source: StatsSA, 2016, Gross Domestic Product

Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing , 5%

Mining & Quarrying, 17%

Manufacturing , 30%

Electricity, gas and water, 5%

Construction, 9%

Trade, catering and

accommodation, 34%


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The reported number of commercial farmers in South Africa varies. AgriSETA (2016) reports that there are over 40,000 commercial farms registered for VAT with SARS. Of this number fewer than 2,500 reportedly produced more than half of gross farm income (Kane-Berman, 2016). This means as a sector, most agricultural enterprises are small in size, with a few large players making up the lion’s share of GDP contributions. Most commercial farms have an annual turnover of less than R1 million, which is borne out in the WSP data, which this year reports that of the 19 834 AgriSETA members, 17,475 are categorised as small, (1-49 employees) while only 698 members are categorised as large (more than 149 employees).

The number of commercial farmers by racial breakdown is not readily available, but according AgriSA 700 of its black members are commercial farmers. Afasa says a third of its 10 000 members, spread across livestock, field crops, and horticulture, are “farming for the market,” but that only 2% of them are doing so successfully (Kane-Berman, 2016). Thus, many South African farms are hand-to-mouth operations, regardless of their categorisation as ‘subsistence’ or ‘smallholder’, and require significant support to become sustainable. Those farmers categorised as ‘emerging’ are attempting to graduate from small-scale farming to commercial, but again require support in the form of development finance, managerial mentoring and enterprise development. The reported number of emerging farmers ranges from 50,000 to 120,000 (IRR, 2016), and some of the biggest numbers of emerging farmers are in timber and sugar. These remarks point to the need for skills development in the agricultural sector, to bolster existing farming concerns, as well as bringing new skills into the industry. The effect of shifts in land reform for rural skills development will be taken up in chapter 2.

The table below indicates the gross value of agricultural products from 2010 – 2015. A sharp decline was observed from 2014 to 2015, a trend which is expected to continue into 2016, with drought as one of the major contributing factors to this decrease in value.

FIGURE 3: GROSS VALUE OF AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTS, 2016

Source: Stats SA 2016

The value of South African exports of agricultural vegetable products increased to R 44, 901 million in December from R 41. 151million in November 2015. Exports of vegetable products in South Africa averaged at R 23, 181 million from 2014 until 2015, reaching an all-time high of R 44, 901 million in December of 2015 and a record low of R 2, 816 million in January of 2015 (Trading Economics, 2016).

The agricultural sector is seen as a critical employer with larger scale farming operations not only creating many jobs in rural communities, but also being a catalyst in creating downstream business and employment opportunities within the agri-processing and manufacturing sectors

65,605 66,913

68,093

70,577

75,416

70,994

60,000

62,000

64,000

66,000

68,000

70,000

72,000

74,000

76,000

78,000

2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015

Rands (Millions)


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(FEM, 2015). The agriculture sector has strong linkages with many sectors including tourism, manufacturing, wholesale and retail among others. Backward linkages in manufacturing are created during the purchase of fertilisers, chemicals and implements, and forward linkages are established through the supply of agricultural raw materials to the manufacturing industry. Agricultural products such as vegetables, fruit, dairy products and meat are marketed through retail shops straight from the farm. The agricultural sector therefore directly and indirectly creates employment for a significant number of people.

Statistics South Africa (2014) reported that more than 75% of all national farm operation costs were attributed to labour, reiterating the centrality of labour concerns to the sector. Such a labour intensive industry with linkages to many other value chains offers shared benefits for skills development in the sector. Partners up and down the value chain will benefit from improved operations and efficiencies while employees will have improved quality of life with improved skills levels. The South African food security will be enhanced through sustainable farming practices in small-scale and commercial farming alike.

1.2.2. Economic outlook for the sector

Business Monitor International (July, 2016) holds a mixed outlook for the South African agricultural market. This is due to the effects of the drought and El Niño on corn and wheat. The weak rand, weather volatility and falling farm incomes are forecast to exert downward pressure on the market. However, in the longer term it is predicted that revenue in the sector will be boosted by a growth of about 40% from food consumption due to the growth of the middle class and disposable incomes. BMI estimates that annual food consumption revenue will reach over R609 billion in 2018.

In the 2015/2016 financial year corn production was expected to decline by 38.8% and sugar production to decline by 20.2% due to the severe drought and El Niño. However, poultry production will increase by 1.2% and pork production will rise by 2.1%. The effect of the drought and climate change on skills development will be taken up in Chapter 2.

1.2.3. Employer Profile

The AgriSETA members’ data base includes some 19,834 employers. When one looks at this data disaggregated by sector and province, the numbers do not add up exactly due to overlap of provincial or sectoral boundaries. 17,139 employers are categorised as small, (1-49 employees), 1,611 are medium (50-149 employees) while only 653 members are categorised as large (more than 149 employees). Among registered employers, there were 13,946 employers in the primary sector, most of them small companies. The primary sector constitutes 70 % of all registered employers, followed by fibre (11%) and red meat (6 %). The sugar, coffee/tea and tobacco subsectors have the fewest registered employers, jointly accounting for about 1% of all registered employers in the sector.

The provincial distribution of employers registered with AgriSETA is reflected in the pie chart below, with provincial distribution by employer size in figure 4.


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FIGURE 4: PROVINCIAL DISTRIBUTION OF EMPLOYERS REGISTERED WITH AGRISETA

Source: AgriSETA members’ database, 2016

What we see in the figure above is that the Western Cape is the most represented province in the AgriSETA membership database, followed by Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal and Mpumalanga all with membership numbers in the 2000s, and the Eastern Cape, Northern Cape and the Free State having memberships totalling the mid to high 1000s. Northwest and Limpopo have the lowest number of AgriSETA members. We know that the AgriSETA database does not represent all farming enterprises in the country, and thus must be treated with a fair degree of caution when applying it to a national context. For instance, Limpopo is a known farming province, but is underrepresented in AgriSETA numbers. Nevertheless, there are significant number of stakeholders expressing an interest in skills development in the agricultural sector.

If representation of farms in the sector on the AgriSETA database must be taken into account, then even more so the size of the employers. 88% of members are categorised as small employers, with less than 50 employees. The size of farming units is important in determining what training interventions should be provided.

What these figures reveal is that AgriSETA needs to meet the needs of two distinct constituencies: top levy payers and small-scale farmers. The needs of a large commercial farm differ from those of a subsistence farmer. There is a need to work towards supporting the skills development needs of top levy payers because of their large contributions and ability to absorb labour, but there is also a democratic responsibility towards ensuring that the large majority of small-scale farmers attain skills that make them sustainable for the sake of the food security of their communities. These issues are further taken up in chapter 2.

1.3. LABOUR MARKET PROFILE

Turning from the employer profile, we will now look at the employee profile of the agricultural sector. The labour market trends presented here have largely been drawn from Quarterly Labour Force Survey (QLFS) data from StatsSA, supplemented with data from the AgriSETA WSP and

Eastern Cape, 9%

Freestate, 7%

Gauteng, 17%

KwaZulu-Natal, 14%

Limpopo, 1%

Mpumalanga, 12%

North West, 3%

Northern Cape, 8%

Western Cape, 29%


9

membership databases. It is important to recognise the limitations of both these datasets so that unfounded extrapolations are not made.

The QLFS data does not distinguish between employment figures for agriculture, fisheries and forestry or between the informal and formal sectors. Data for domestic workers is aggregated with agricultural data and the data only reflects the economically active population between the ages of 15 and 64. Where possible, this data will be compared to the AgriSETA WSP data, which is also limited in its scope in that it only represents about 10% of employers affiliated with the SETA.

South Africa recorded an unemployment rate of 24.5 % in the fourth quarter of 2015 (narrow definition) (StatsSA, QLFS, Q4, 2015). If people who are no longer actively seeking work are included, the broad unemployment rate rises to 35.22% (StatsSA, QLFS, Q4, 2015). South Africa now has a NEET (not in employment, education or training) youth population of approximately 3,4 million people. The sheer scale of the crisis demands each and every sector’s involvement and the particular impact of this youth bulge is addressed in chapter 2.

Over the twelve-month period from January 2015 to January 2016, employment in the agricultural sector decreased from 891 000 to 877 000. Departing from this downward trend, the QLFS conducted by StatsSA in the first quarter of 2016 put the agricultural sector amongst the few industries that experienced a quarterly increase in employment levels (16,000 employment opportunities were observed). BMI has attributed some of this growth to huge sums being invested in the “Proudly South African” food campaign to encourage consumers to buy domestically grown and produced goods.

1.3.1. Provincial distribution of employees

The table below indicates that the Western Cape has the highest number of agricultural employees at 228 000, this is followed by KwaZulu-Natal at 136 000 employees and Limpopo at 120 000 employees (StatsSA, 2016).

TABLE 5: DISTRIBUTION OF EMPLOYEES BY PROVINCE IN AGRICULTURE, FISHERIES AND FORESTRY

Province 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 Western Cape 135 000 107 000 142 000 162 000 131 000 214 000 228 000

Eastern Cape 66 000 63 000 58 000 67 000 88 000 89 000 95 000

Northern Cape 54 000 57 000 48 000 45 000 60 000 43 000 40 000

Free State 63 000 62 000 62 000 70 000 54 000 64 000 72 000

KwaZulu Natal 114 000 95 000 98 000 96 000 102 000 141 000 136 000

North West 35 000 33 000 32 000 42 000 42 000 57 000 54 000

Gauteng 31 000 74 000 51 000 53 000 55 000 34 000 37 000

Mpumalanga 81 000 84 000 106 000 77 000 89 000 92 000 95 000

Limpopo 70 000 94 000 121 000 102 000 121 000 126 000 120 000

Total 649 000 671 000 718 000 713 000 742 000 860 000 877 000

Source: Statistics South Africa, 2016. Quarterly Labour Force Survey.1st

Quarter 2016

These employment statistics reveal a bias in AgriSETA WSP data, where Limpopo was shown to have a minimal employer profile. What this QLFS data indicates is there is room for substantial engagement with Limpopo, to up their provincial contribution towards skills levies, thereby increasing the skills resources pool across the board.

This QLFS data is further broken down in the bar graph below, to examine the household levels of agricultural activity by province.


10

FIGURE 5: SUBSITENCE AGRICULTURAL ACTIVITY PER HOUSEHOLD, %

Source: Statistics South Africa, 2016. Quarterly Labour Force Survey.1

st Quarter 2016

1.3.2. Gender

Figure 6 below gives the breakdown of the agricultural sector by gender as reported in the first quarter of 2016 (StatsSA, QLFS, Q1, 2016).

FIGURE 6: GENDER DISTRIBUTION OF LABOUR IN THE AGRICULTURAL SECTOR

The male to female ratio for agricultural labour is fairly consistently found to be 2:1, as

indicated above. This StatsSA data is corroborated by WSP data submitted by employers in 2016

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

Livestock Poultry Vegetables Crops Other

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

Jan-Mar 2015 Apr-Jun 2016 Jul-Sep 2015 Oct-Dec 2015 Jan-Mar 2015

Female Male


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which shows that 62.8% of employees engaged in various occupations within the sector are male. The data further shows that across all the sub-sectors, with the exception of Coffee / Tea, more males are employed than females. There are no current AgriSETA initiatives focused on encouraging more women to enter the agricultural industry.

1.3.3. Race

WSP (2016) data reveals that black Africans comprise the majority of employees in the sector at 64%, followed by Coloured employees at 23% and whites representing 12% of the agricultural workforce. Asians only represent 1% of workers in the agricultural sector.

FIGURE 7: EMPLOYEES BY RACE

Source: AgriSETA WSP Submissions, 2016

WSP data from all the sub-sectors shows only 601 employees with disabilities out of 244,224 employees within large Agricultural enterprises were selected for training.

1.3.4. Age

Half of the people employed in the agricultural sector by employers submitting WSP, are between the ages of 35 and 55. Young people below the age of 35 constitute 42% of people employed whilst 8% are above the age of 55. In total, 92% of the workers are below the age of 55.

These demographic realities were validated in interviews with stakeholders, who all commented on the need for skills transfer from those exiting the workforce to those coming up the ranks. The issue of unskilled youth presents a difficulty for skills transfer, because some base level qualification is needed to enter the skilled workforce in the first place. This presents challenges for skills development, because of the double hurdle of experienced employees exiting at a rate not able to be matched by the numerous youth demographic. Analysis of WSP submissions by employers in 2016 shows that the majority of employees are in the primary sub-sector (48%) followed by the grain sub-sector (11%) and poultry at 19% each. Coffee & Tea, sugar and fibre sub-sector has the least representivity of workers.

1.3.5. Occupational categories

This chapter concludes by looking at the reported existing skills levels in agricultural enterprises as reported WSPs for 2016. The necessary skills vary from highly skilled managerial and professional occupations to fairly low level skills for elementary occupations. The majority of the workforce comprises elementary occupations, while managers comprise 6% of the workforce.

Africans, 64%

Coloured, 23%

Indian, 1%

White, 12%


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FIGURE 8: EMPLOYMENT CATEGORIES WITHIN LARGE ORGANISATIONS

Source: AgriSETA WSP Submissions, 2016

1.4. CONCLUSION

Having a firm sense of the agricultural sector’s contribution to the economy in terms of production and employment, we can now more readily identify key skills issues that speak to this economic reality. The remainder of this document covers the following issues that speak to Sector Skills Planning. Chapter 2 identifies key skills issues as framed by government legislation, policies and frameworks, and identifies key macro socio-economic and environmental factors that function as key change drivers in addressing skills development in the agricultural sector.

Where Chapter 2 offers a high-level overview and Chapter 3 becomes much more granular. In chapter 3, the mismatches between the demand and supply of skills in the sector are examined by drawing on the views of industry stakeholders and validating these views through secondary data analysis. Chapter 4 points to key partnerships in the sector, examines existing partnerships and asks what future partnerships might be necessary to address the skills gaps identified in Chapter 3. The final chapter draws together these macro and granular skills issues and asks what the key skills priorities should be for AgriSETA over the next five years. These priorities will act as a guiding set of objectives that will inform the planning processes of the AgriSETA’s annual performance and strategic plans, where they will be quantified and operationalised.

Managers, 6%

Professionals, 3%

Technicians and Associate Professionals, 6%

Clerical support workers, 5%

Service and Salesworkers, 4%

Skilled Agricultural and related Trade workers, 12%

Plant and Machine Operations, 13%

Elementary Occupations, 51%


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CHAPTER 2: KEY SKILLS ISSUES aving outlined the agricultural sector profile in chapter one, this chapter is concerned with two specific areas that shape the key skills issues in the agricultural sector. Firstly, the

alignment of sector skills planning to national strategies and plans will be analysed to provide a snapshot of the key policy and planning documents that shape skills planning in the agricultural sector. Secondly, the bulk of this chapter will be concerned with identifying factors that are driving change in the sector, which are influencing the need for a particular skill set or rendering them irrelevant in an ever-changing world.

2.1. ALIGNMENT OF SECTOR SKILLS PLANNING TO NATIONAL STRATEGIES AND PLANS

The following section draws attention to the national strategy and planning documents that frame AgriSETA’s mandate for skills development. All of these legislative and policy frameworks speak to AgriSETA’s Constitutional mandate, as a Public Institution governed by the Public Finance Management Act, to develop skills programmes in accordance with the Skills Development Act,

H


14

(1998), the Skills Development Levies Act (1999), and the National Qualifications Framework Act (2008).

There are two seminal strategic documents that underpin AgriSETA’s mandate for skills planning, namely: the White Paper on Post School Education & Training (2013) and the National Skills Development Strategy III (NSDS III) (2011 – 2016). Both of these documents highlight the SETAs roles in developing clear, sector-specific linkages between education and the workplace through an analysis of the demand and supply of skills in their sector. These documents call for credible institutional mechanisms for skills planning, programmes that are occupationally oriented, and responsive higher and further education and training institutions. Furthermore, attention should be given to the needs of local, community enterprises, co-operatives and the like, with a focus on developing their skills capacities to meet the needs of their particular environments, thereby closing the gap between the rural and urban South African economies.

The NSDS III is informed and guided by the following overarching government plans: The National Skills Accord as one of the first outcomes of the New Growth Path, the Industrial Policy Action Plan, 2013/14 – 2015/16 (IPAP), the Comprehensive Rural Development Programme, the Human Resources Development Strategy for South Africa 2030, the National Development Plan 2030 (NDP), and the Integrated Sustainable Rural Development Strategy (ISRDS). Collectively, these government plans and programmes recognise the need for correcting structural imbalances in the economy through “decent employment through inclusive growth”, “a skilled and capable workforce to support an inclusive growth path”, “vibrant equitable and sustainable rural communities contributing towards food security for all”, to “protect and enhance our environmental assets and natural resources”, with the support of “an efficient, effective and development-oriented public service” (NDP). All these priorities speak to the need for relevant and targeted skills provision that promotes economic sustainability in the agricultural sector, as well as meeting the needs of all South African communities, both rural and urban, in terms of food provision and sustainable livelihoods.

Other agricultural sector-specific policy frameworks that buttress skills planning vis-à-vis job creation include the 2014 Agricultural Policy Action Plan (APAP), the DAFF Integrated Growth and Development Plan (IGDP) (2012), and the 2012 Midterm Review for the Department of Rural Development & Land Reform. The IGDP names its four sector strategic objectives as addressing issues of (1) equity and transformation, (2) growth and competitiveness, (3) environmental sustainability and (4) governance. The DRDLR Review pays particular attention to the role of mentorship in ensuring the success of emerging farmers.

As part of the National Infrastructure Plan, the Strategic Integrated Projects (SIPs) take their mandate from the Presidential Infrastructure Coordinating Commission (PICC) and encompass a combination of 18 projects which are intended to address the infrastructure needs of specific sectors or geographical areas. The agricultural skills sector’s contribution to the SIPs is concerned with developing trades which can be taken up in the agricultural sector.

Cutting across all these policies, strategies and plans, we see a focus on:

1. The need for occupationally oriented skills training that offers in-the-field experience and mentorship

2. The need for high quality, up-to-date industry relevant training to ensure competitiveness 3. The imperative to include rural areas in economic development, job creation and food

security 4. Environmental concerns related to food security and ecological sustainability.

These focus areas are also borne out with regards to the contextual factors driving change in the agricultural skills sector, to which we now turn.


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2.2. CHANGE DRIVERS

In this section key themes and issues driving change and influencing skills demand and supply in the agricultural sector are addressed. These change drivers were identified through a thematic synthesis of internal stakeholders’ views, policy documents, existing research and stakeholder engagement, and pertinent current affairs issues reported in the media over time.

2.2.1. Legislative loopholes affecting skills development

Wiltshire (2016) has drawn attention to a legislative loophole with regards to skills development in the agricultural sectors. She notes that employers receive no subsidies for training temporary farmworkers, which comprise a large part of the agricultural workforce. This is because “the Skills Development Act defines learners dichotomously as either (fully) employed learners (18.1) or (fully) unemployed learners (18.2). This means that temporary (partially) employed learners are not specifically catered for”. This has a detrimental effect on temporary farmworkers who will not receive any skills development while they are employed or unemployed, because “skills development legislation is premised on the assumption of labour market security and does not recognise the growing numbers of casualised workers in South Africa (52%)” (ibid).

2.2.2. Land and agrarian reform

The government places high value on the need for land reform as a form of redress for historical issues of dispossession. There is a target of transferring 30% of agricultural land to black ownership by 2025 (Xingwana, 2008). However, the success of land reform to date has been limited with no increase in production or economic growth. This is because many beneficiaries lack the necessary production skills and business acumen to farm effectively. The DRDLR’s 2012 Midterm Review highlighted the need for mentors and strategic partners to help emerging farmers succeed. However, it was reported in July 2016 that land reform had the potential to “deter investment in agribusiness activities” and that the “growing exodus of South African farmers” could have a “detrimental impact on the agribusiness sector, depriving it of knowledge and skills” (BMI, 2016). The 2014 APAP noted that small commercial farmers, of which land reform beneficiaries are a subset, are disappearing “at an alarming rate”, with smaller farms being taken out of the market by bigger producers who survive because of economies of scale. These findings, supported by research and already existing programme interventions, point to the urgent need to retain existing skills in the sector, to mentor emerging farmers in management skills and enterprise development in the field (Kane-Berman, 2016, stakeholder interviews, 2014, CDE, 2008).

2.2.3. Agricultural co-operatives

It was reported by BMI that 80% of farmers in sub-Saharan Africa are smallholders. It is argued that, in the long term, African farming will have to move away from subsistence agriculture to be competitive and profitable in the genetically modified farming sector (BMI, 2016). For this reason, “partnerships with food companies, the development of co-operatives and greater access to credit” are needed to develop the sector more generally (BMI, 2016). Agricultural co-operatives are explicitly mentioned in the policy documents outlined above as requiring support to ensure their sustainability. Indeed, there have been calls for a new rural development subsector to be established to cater specifically for the needs of co-operatives, in response to both stakeholder needs and the policy directive contained in the NSDS III (Internal Consultation, Internal Stakeholder, 2015-16). These co-operatives face the dual challenge of needing technical production skills as well as corporate governance skills. Smaller agricultural co-operatives do not stand a competitive chance in the market, with major retailers buying directly from commercial farms in both urban and rural areas (Kane-Berman, 2016). Furthermore, collective ownership


16

often entails disputes and conflict which works against efficient management of business concerns (ibid; Internal Stakeholder, 2015-16). Supporting these observations, in stakeholder engagements with primary agricultural co-operatives in Katlehong in Johannesburg’s East Rand in 2014, it was noted that technical skills training was badly needed, as well as corporate governance and financial management skills.

2.2.4. Climate change, drought and food security

The 2015/2016 drought, a result of the worldwide El Niño effect, is said to be the worst to hit the country since 1992, and has shifted the domestic maize market into a net important situation (BMI, 2016, GrainSA, 2015, AgriSA). Maize production is expected to decline by 38.8% year-on-year, while sugar production will decline by 20.2% 2015/16 (BMI, 2016). Already only 45.6 % of South Africans are food secure (HSRC, 2014), and the drought could have further deleterious effects on food security. The drought, along with other challenging environmental factors, could act as a disincentive from pursuing an agricultural career. National food security depends on a “capital-intensive agricultural sector based on economies of scale” (Kane-Berman, 2016), and thus smaller producers are even more at risk during the drought – a difficult economic and environmental climate in which to take risks. Subsistence and smaller commercial farms should be offered support, but equally commercial farms need to attract those with “green” knowledge skills to ensure food security for South Africans generally.

2.2.5. The Green Economy

There is an increasing emphasis on the “green economy” in government policy documents (see, NDP, NGP). In the agricultural sector, this refers to the use of environmentally sustainable farming practices. These sustainable practices require new knowledge and skills that cuts across farming enterprises of all sizes. The need for green knowledge is conveyed through industry-specific training interventions across different subsectors. Green knowledge, at this stage, is largely a higher NQF level skill. Research and development on the role of green knowledge in the agricultural skills sector should be conducted. For instance, there is need for the up-skilling of farm workers in energy-efficient methods, resource sustainability, agro-processing and other green technologies. This should also be done through coordination with other sectors, given the cross-cutting nature of environmental concerns (Environmental Sector Skills Plan, No date).

2.2.6. The youth bulge and skills development

Youth, people aged 15 – 35, comprise 36% of the South African population, and 70% of the unemployed (StatsSA, 2016; Merten, 2016). It was reported that black Africans today, aged between 25 and 35, are less skilled than their parents would have been. This presents a huge challenge for skills development generally, and specifically for the agricultural sector, with a waning interest in agriculture and rapid urbanisation. Confirming this, Mr Jerry Madiba, CEO of AgriSETA, has commented that “young people do not find agricultural careers attractive” (Kane-Berman, 2016, p.6). The South African Confederation of Agricultural Unions (SACAU) has called on stakeholders to recognise agriculture as a “high skilled business with great opportunities for the youth” (AgriSA, 2016). But when youth are largely unskilled or undereducated, there needs to be major upskilling across the board before they can take advantage of available employment opportunities. Demographically, there is a generalised mismatch between the demand for skilled labour, and the supply of unskilled labour.

2.2.7. Technology and mechanisation

Development and production concerns in agriculture place an emphasis on technological advancement, to increase productivity to keep up with increasing demands for food, however there has not been a concomitant focus on technological skills advancement in the sector. The


17

threatening maxim of the sector is that “as agriculture becomes more mechanised, the unskilled labour force is replaced by a significantly smaller skilled labour force” (Employment Conditions Commission, 2013). However, BMI (2016) reported that, “the agricultural mechanisation rate in Africa is the lowest in the world”. Nevertheless, South Africa’s situation is somewhat different to the rest of Africa. For instance, South Africa, Morocco and Tunisia comprise the majority Africa's new tractor sales (BMI, 2016). Thus, to remain competitive globally, skills training in agriculture needs to keep up with technological progress. Internal consultation with AgriSETA staff reveals that there is an increasing demand for artisans and technically qualified workers in response to increased mechanisation in the sector.

2.2.8. Trade agreements

Poultry Imports

The African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) is a US Trade Act that enhances market access to the US for qualifying Sub-Saharan African countries based on certain conditions (AGOA, 2016). To gain access to these markets, South Africa is currently negotiating a large US poultry import deal which would lead to the import of over 65 000 tonnes of US poultry a year (BMI, 2016), putting the South African poultry industry under severe pressure. The outcomes of this deal are being monitored by agribusiness experts, but the knock-on effect of this type of deal could have implications for skills development in the sector.

Brexit & EU trade agreements

While the effects of Brexit on South African agribusiness are yet to become clear, what is clear is that South Africa would have to renegotiate its trade agreements with the UK. Senior agricultural economist in Agricultural Business Chamber, Mr Wandile Sihlobo, commented that, “market access benefits that existed through the agreement would no longer apply” (Mchunu, 2016). Agricultural subsidies are one of the key issues related to Brexit. The UK is a critic of current European subsidies which have historically had an impact on African farmers’ export capacity (Sow & Sy, 2016). The outcome of renegotiated trade agreements will have to be monitored.

2.3. IMPLICATIONS FOR SKILLS PLANNING IN THE AGRICULTURAL SECTOR

In this chapter we have seen that the legislative and policy frameworks established by government, coupled with the contextual change drivers and industry specific perspectives on skills development point to the following 5 skills implications that need to be addressed in AgriSETA’s Sector Skills Plan.

5 Skills Implications

1. Practical skills transfer through mentoring and on-the-job training 2. Improved quality of agricultural extension services qualifications 3. A focus on entrepreneurship and enterprise development for emerging farmers 4. Addressing the corporate governance training needs to strengthen co-operatives 5. The development of green knowledge qualifications

Chapter 3 will elaborate on the specific demand and supply of skills in the agricultural sector to identify gaps and mismatches in skills provision, providing evidence that the skills issues identified in this chapter articulate with what is happening on the ground.


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CHAPTER 3: EXTENT OF SKILLS MISMATCHES Hapter 3 reflects the research completed on skills demand and supply in the Agricultural sector. The outcome is the result of an analysis of previous Sector Skills Plans, 2014/15 and

2015/16 WSP data, as well as engagement with AgriSETA stakeholders. Engagements included interviews, surveys and limited focus groups with external partners, stakeholders and AgriSETA member companies, as well as consultation with internal stakeholders, conducted between 2015 and 2016. Effort was taken to ensure cross sectoral inputs were obtained by reaching out to large levy payers, industry bodies, government departments as well as emerging small scale entrants into the sector.

The key themes emerging from this chapter corroborate the skills implications identified at the end of chapter 2. The overarching issues framing skills supply and demand draw attention to challenges with South Africa’s rural/urban divide and adequately servicing the needs of the rural sector. Furthermore, attention was drawn to the struggle with accessing or securing what could broadly be called specialised services. Either services were too costly for small enterprises to

C


19

afford or the supply of government specialised skills, especially with regards to research and development, were not considered cutting-edge enough. Overall, skills shortages were experienced with regards to literacy and numeracy skills, sustainability practices, business management capacities, corporate governance and the quality of technical and research services.

Section 1 of this chapter provides a high level view of the skills demand issues as they pertain to the various stakeholder groups. Section 2 of gives an overview of skills supply by agricultural sector training institutions. Finally, Section 3 identifies a specific set of scarce and critical skills for the sector. These demands have been formulated into a Pivotal skills list, which will frame the skills development priorities of AgriSETA going forward.

In this document, scarce skills refer to those occupations in which there are a scarcity of qualified and experienced people, currently or anticipated in the future, either (a) because such skilled people are not available or (b) they are available but do not meet employment criteria. While, critical skills refer to specific, key or generic and “top up” skills within an occupation.

The skills demands data presented in this chapter is disaggregated by the AgriSETA subsectors, as outlined in chapter 1. It is also disaggregated by the needs of small-emerging and co-operative farmers, and the needs of commercial farmers.

3.1. EXTENT AND NATURE OF SKILLS DEMAND

General Skills Needs

The analysis of all stakeholder engagements has highlighted the relative scarcity of a general set of skills across all subsectors and stakeholder categories, for both skilled and unskilled labour.

Unskilled labour

The Agricultural sector has a relatively large proportion of unskilled labour. The analysis points to the following skills needs listed below across subsectors and stakeholder categories. This list was corroborated through consultation with the Farm and Allied Workers Union.

TABLE 6: GENERAL PRIORITY SKILLS FOR UNSKILLED LABOUR

General priority skills for unskilled labour

• Language & literacy skills – reading and writing • Numeracy skills

• Business skills – income and expense analysis • Basic agricultural skills – horticulture, tools & implements, biosecurity • Employee skills - occupational health and safety, worker’s rights, time management

• Life skills – personal health and wellbeing, HIV Aids awareness, alcoholism awareness

Skilled labour

Through cross-referencing the survey results (external stakeholder engagement 2016) and the WSP submissions, analysis indicates that there is a cross-cutting set of general skills needs across subsectors, and to a large degree, across farming types. This can in part be attributed to the ambition which small-emerging farmers have of becoming commercial farmers, thus small-emerging farmers have the same general skills needs in the skilled labour category as commercial farmers.

TABLE 7: GENERAL PRIORITY SKILLS FOR SKILLED LABOUR

Farming constituency General priority skills for skilled labour


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Farming constituency General priority skills for skilled labour

Subsistence farmers • Mixed farming techniques

• Sustainable farming

• Climate adaptation

Small-emerging, cooperative, and commercial farmers

• Financial management

• Basic business skills – income and expense analysis

• Business management

• Marketing

• Adaptability – fore planning

• Knowledge of current affairs

• Compliance with legislation and regulations

• Organisational governance

• General Agricultural

• Agricultural maintenance

• Occupational Health and Safety

• Driver training

• Machine operator

• Sustainable farming

• Agriculture economics

• Global agriculture market trends

• Long term planning

Skills Needs Per Sub-Sector

The analysis conducted has identified the skills issues as they pertain to each stakeholder grouping within each sub-sector. The skills issues, gaps, as well as the emerging skills needs as identified through the survey and WSP submissions analyses are outlined in the table below. First, the needs of small-emerging farmers and co-operatives are addressed.

TABLE 8: SMALL-EMERGING FARMERS & CO-OPERATIVES TOP SKILLS NEEDS

Subsector Skills and/or Qualifications Gaps OFO Code

Fibre

Hand and machine shearing 734101

National Certificate: Agri Trade Processes 325703

National Certificate: Agricultural Equipment Service &Repair 653301

National Certificate: Agricultural Extension 213201

National Certificate: Animal Production 841601

National Diploma: Agricultural Extension 213201

National Diploma: Animal Production 841601

National Diploma: Plant Production 841601

National Diploma: Specialist Agricultural Machinery Technician 734101

Predation management 134915

Wool – Nutrition 311503

Red meat

“Blokman” 222101

Meat Inspector 325703

Livestock Mixed Crop and Livestock skills 841601

Horticulture

National Certificate: Agricultural Machinery Technician 734101

National Certificate: Perishable Produce Export Technology 325703

General Education and Training Certificate: Horticulture 841601

Further Education and Training Certificate: Manufacturing Technical Maintenance

653301

National Diploma: Agri Sales and Service Management 222101

National Certificate: Horticulture 841601



21

TABLE 9: COMMERCIAL FARMERS’ SKILLS NEEDS


Fibre

Hand and machine shearing 734101


National Certificate: Agricultural Equipment Service &Repair 653301




National Certificate: Farming 841601

National Certificate: Fruit Packing and Grading Processes 841601

National Certificate: Mixed Farming Systems 841601


National Certificate: Plant Production 841601


653301

Pest control Further Education and Training Certificate: Pest Control Operations NQF 4 599504

Seed

Further Education and Training Certificate: Seed Marketing 225103

Further Education and Training Certificate: Seed Processing and Packaging Control

122301

Further Education and Training Certificate: Seed Production 122301

Education and Training Certificate: Seed Research and Development 122301

National Certificate: Seed Analysis 311502

Grain

Further Education and Training Certificate: Grain Milling 734101

General Education and Training Certificate: Grain Handling Processes 734101

National Certificate: Agri Sales and Services 222101

National Certificate: Grain Milling 734101

Sugar


653301

General Education and Training Certificate: Horticulture National Certificate: Agricultural Machinery Technician

653301


National Certificate: Fruit Packing and Grading Processes National Certificate: Horticulture

841601




Milling



653301



Poultry General Education and Training Certificate: Poultry Production 841601

National Certificate: Abattoir Slaughtering Processes 134915

Biosecurity

FETC: Perishable Produce Export Technology 325703

National Certificate: Abattoir Supervision 134915



National Certificate: Perishable Produce Export Technology National Certificate: Poultry Processing

325703

National Certificate: Poultry Production Vaccination 225101

Tobacco National Certificate: Tobacco Production 841601


22



National Diploma: Agricultural Extension 213201


National Diploma: Plant Production 841601

National Diploma: Specialist Agricultural Machinery Technician 734101

Predation management 213202

Wool – Nutrition 311503

Red meat



National Certificate: Mixed Farming Systems 841601


Dairy specific training 851501


National Certificate: Abattoir Supervision" 134915

National Certificate: Agri Sales and Services" 222101

National Certificate: Farming" 841601

National Certificate: General Abattoir Processes" 134915

National Certificate: Perishable Produce Export Technology" 325703

National Diploma: Agri Sales and Service Management" 222101

Horticulture

Certificate: Gardening and Horticulture 841601










Pest control Further Education and Training Certificate: Pest Control Operations NQF 4 599504

Seed

Further Education and Training Certificate: Seed Marketing 225103

Further Education and Training Certificate: Seed Processing and Packaging Control 122301

Further Education and Training Certificate: Seed Production 122301

Further Education and Training Certificate: Seed Research and Development 122301

National Certificate: Seed Analysis 311502

National Certificate: Seed Processing and Packaging 122301

National Certificate: Seed Research and Development Operations 122301

Grain

National Diploma: Grain Handling Management 734101

National Certificate: Grain Handling Processes 734101

National Certificate: Agricultural Equipment Service and Repair 653301

General Education and Training Certificate: Grain Handling Processes 734101





National Certificate: Grain Milling 734101

Aquaculture


National Certificate Animal Production - level 2 -4 - ABALONE specific 841601

Further Education and Training Certificate: Perishable Produce Exportation 133301


23


National Certificate: Fisheries Observation: Inshore 841101

Sugar

Certificate: Gardening and Horticulture 841601









Further Education and Training Certificate: Manufacturing Technical Maintenance 653301

Milling

Further Education and Training Certificate: Manufacturing Technical Maintenance 653301



Poultry

Biosecurity 311303

General Education and Training Certificate: Poultry Production 841601

Health and welfare of birds 225101


National Certificate: Abattoir Supervision 134915

National Certificate: Poultry Processing 831302

National Certificate: Poultry Production 841601

Tobacco

National Certificate: Tobacco Production 841601

Further Education and Training Certificate: Tobacco Services 831113

National Certificate: Cigarette Filter Rod Production 734101

National Certificate: Cigarette Packaging 734101

National Certificate: Cigarette Production 734101

Tobacco Valuator 325703

The following table presents the top emerging skills and future demand needs by subsector drawn from the results of the external stakeholders’ survey (2016).

TABLE 10: TOP EMERGING SKILLS AND FUTURE DEMAND NEEDS BY SUBSECTOR

Subsector Top Emerging Skills and Future Demand Needs

Horticulture

Operations management

Junior management

Farming technology/mechanisation maintanance

Sustainable farming, adaptation and alternative energy specialists

Hydro & irrigation specialists

Machine operators

Forklift drivers, tractor drivers, truck drivers, packers and sorters

IT

Process engineering

Project management

Soil specialists

Health and Safety

Mechanical engineering

Financial management

Agro-economics

Agricultural research


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Subsector Top Emerging Skills and Future Demand Needs

Red meat

Veterinarians

Auctioneers

Marketing

Business management

Pest control

Irrigation

Legal compliance

Marketing

Trade & tariff expertise

Production management

Seed

Sustainability

Sales


Junior managers

Trading

Business management

Grain

Grain handling

Information Technology

Operations management

Aquaculture

Mechanical engineering


Agro-economics

Agricultural research

Milling

Junior managers (milling supervisor)

Millers

Machine operators

Poultry

Farm managers

Nutritionist

Veterinarians

Poultry examiners

Tobacco Financial management

Marketing

3.2. SCARCE AND CRITICAL SKILLS/OCCUPATIONS IDENTIFIED BY STAKEHOLDERS

A series of key-informant interviews were conducted with top levy payers and top industry players. The findings emerging from these interviews corroborate the skills needs outlined above. Overall, stakeholders across occupations, sub-sectors and farming types, expressed having challenges with recruiting and retaining skilled staff in rural areas. Furthermore, they highlighted the need for technical and specialised skills that were being lost when experienced professionals exited the workforce. The challenges with these scarce skills are outlined below, and are included in the PIVOTAL list.

Veterinarian

The need for veterinarians in general, as well as those with such specialisations as veterinary epidemiologist; veterinary parasitologist; veterinary pathologist and veterinary surgeon, were identified by numerous stakeholders across subsectors. In particular public institutions interviewed indicated that they experience skills shortages in this area. This appears to be a relative shortage as there are many qualified veterinarians in urban areas but a scarcity in rural areas to deal with the needs of farmers. Stakeholders experience difficulty both in recruitment and retention. The analysis revealed that qualified individuals tend to run their own practices in


25

urban areas or take their skills overseas where they are in high demand. There is need for interventions that create incentives for qualified individuals to live and work in rural areas.

Agricultural scientists

Small-emerging farmers require these specialised services but indicated that they cannot afford to employ these individuals in their operations due to the high costs involved therein. These stakeholders also indicated in most instances that they cannot afford to hire the services of specialised consultants and rely on the services offered by state institutions, but they feel the quality of state service is not of a high enough standard to rely on.

State institutions have identified the need for more individuals with specialisation in these fields, particularly in the area of research specialists. The view of these institutions is that researchers are aging and not enough qualified individuals are entering the marketplace.

Commercial stakeholders agree that these skills are scarce, finding difficulty in attracting and retaining individuals such as agronomists due to the deep rural locations of their operations. The scarcity is such that they experience a large amount of skills poaching within the industry.

Farm Managers

The need for training and support for emerging farmers in business, leadership and managerial skills to assist agrarian reform efforts was identified across subsectors and stakeholder groupings as being urgent. Stakeholders feel that modern farm management requires a new set of skills such as agronomy, leadership, legal compliance and agricultural economics.

A large number of stakeholders feel that farm managers are aging and not enough skilled younger people want to take up such work due to the locations in rural towns away from services. These shortages can be cited as critical as existing farm employees need new skills to become farm managers.

Small-emerging farmers and co-operatives require training in the areas of business and supply chain management, and practical skills through exposure to commercial operations to develop the skillset required to manage farms. There is a need for interventions to increase the number of individuals undertaking mentorships on commercial operations.

Agricultural Produce Inspectors

Large commercial growers indicated that they have the ability forecast their labour needs, and take appropriate steps to train and prepare persons to take up vacancies. This can most probably be attributed to having access to the finances and resources required to do so. Scarcity of skills was noted where a degree of specialisation is required, such as poultry inspectors and poultry examiners.

Agricultural Engineers

Government institutions identified the need to direct funding to increase the number of graduates in engineering fields, due to many qualified individuals leaving the country. There is an immediate need to direct engineering graduates into agricultural workplace experience programmes so that they can acquire the specialist skills needed to stay in the sector.

Commercial stakeholders indicated that there is scarcity across the industry, with a high level of competition within the industry as well as from other industries, which makes it difficult to retain engineers. Due to the changing nature of farming, with more and more mechanisation taking place, both government organisations as well as private companies are finding it difficult to recruit and retain engineers in fields such as electrical and mechanical engineering.

Industrial Machinery Mechanic


26

Large organisations indicated that increasing mechanisation in agriculture has led to a skills shortage of sufficiently trained individuals to service and repair plant and equipment. Stakeholders have indicated that there is an absolute scarcity in artisans who are qualified in this field. While there is an increase in the demand for mechanised equipment such as tractors across sub-sectors, few individuals want to live in rural areas where they would find employment. The shortage is such that individuals are quickly poached soon after becoming qualified and so stakeholders have become hesitant to fund this qualification feeling that they often do not see the benefits or return on investment.

FAWU reported that they believe there are many individuals in possession of these skills through years of experience but they are not qualified and thus require Recognition of Prior Learning so that they may proceed to acquire the further training and qualifications needed.

Mobile Plant Operator

Both small-emerging and commercial farmers have indicated that increasing mechanisation has led to a skills shortage of sufficiently trained individuals to operate equipment. Commercial farmers were of the opinion that the quality of applicants for training programmes was generally low; many unable to meet the minimum requirements for artisan training courses that would allow them to meet the demand for machine operators. There is a need to address the number of qualifying candidates to undergo further training.

Operations Managers

Many managers are aging and not enough skilled younger people want to take up such work. Secondary agricultural stakeholders in all subsectors indicated that they face issues in attracting and retaining qualified individuals as operations managers, resulting in a shortage of these scarce skills across the supply chain. This is in most part due to rural areas being unappealing to live in due to poor availability of services such as basic education for children. As a result, many exit and take their skills into other industries.

The cost of managerial training is high as quality training is offered primarily by higher education institutions located far away from agricultural operations. There is a need to direct funding, such as rural allowances, towards these as stakeholders feel that they are unable to satisfy the demand through current available public and private funding. One stakeholder currently trains 20 individuals a year but sees the need for training up to 100 a year if more funding was available.

In secondary agriculture, many operations managers require the initial background in agricultural sales before moving to junior manager. There is a pivotal need to address learnerships at this fundamental level to support the career path that leads to the operations manager occupation.

Mixed Crop and Livestock Farm Worker

Basic farming skills for unskilled and semi-skilled labourers were identified across subsectors as being scarce, by both small-emerging and commercial farmers.

Although training of these skills is available in the form of learnerships, stakeholders feel that learnerships are often out of reach to most unskilled labourers due to the geographical location of training colleges. The lack of reading and writing skills, that are an entry requirement, result in many stakeholders struggling to find candidates to undergo the learnerships. The unit standards of the learnerships are vital skills that are required for the development of unskilled labourers and a pivotal intervention is required in order to fund training providers to offer these components as short skills courses in the rural areas.


27

Top levy payers and top industry players, including FAWU, indicated that there is need to define career paths for unskilled and semi-skilled labourers. Currently the youth feel that agricultural jobs available to them are low paying, dead-end jobs with no future prospects. They associate the jobs available to them in the sector with the oppression of their parents and only enter into them reluctantly. Many commercial and small-emerging farmers complain about the reluctance of workers to perform their jobs with enthusiasm, which they feel impacts negatively on productivity.

Research and Development Manager

Government research institutions indicated that senior researchers and research managers are aging and that there is a gap insofar as younger qualified individuals have not yet reached the required levels of experience to undertake these tasks.

Agricultural researchers were identified by commercial farmers as being of relative scarcity, which corroborates the opinion of government institutions. Rapid technological advancement and mechanisation within the farming sector has created a gap when it comes to the skills required to research, understand and implement these new technologies.

Agriculture Consultant – Extension Officer

Government institutions have identified specialised support services such as GIS & remote sensing, renewable energy specialists and biosecurity practitioners as being scarce due to the nature of these new emerging occupations. There is a general need across the sector for Agro-economists, a critical specialisation in short supply. Legal specialists in agricultural compliance were identified by commercial stakeholders as being scarce, as well as qualified auctioneers.

Finally, the following skills were identified across subsectors as being in need or emerging in the near future:

• Climate change - adaptation technologies

• Implements technicians • Marketing • Financial Skills • Legal Skills/ legislation changes

• Marketing • Foreign exchange management • Information technology management/ programming • Agronomy

• Agricultural economists

These emergent and scarce skills need to be taken into account in sector skills planning, to ensure that a pipeline is developed that will meet the future farming needs of stakeholders. There is a significant educational and workplace experience lead time for many of these professionals, and thus should be addressed with a sense of urgency.

3.3. EXTENT AND NATURE OF SKILLS SUPPLY

This section aims to examine the extent of occupational skills supply in the sector, the state of education and training provision and challenges that may be affecting the supply of skills to the agricultural sector. Furthermore, this section supplies details on the learners currently enrolled at training institutions, as well as the learners graduating into the labour market.

State of Education and Training Provision

South Africa’s agriculture skills are produced in high schools, agricultural colleges, TVET colleges and Higher Education institutions. High schools can offer Agricultural Sciences, Agricultural Management Practices and Agricultural Technology as choice subjects in Grades 10 to 12 if they


28

have qualified agricultural teachers and the required practical facilities. In most instances, it is the specialised agricultural high schools that offer the latter two subjects, as these subjects require learners to have access to farms and agricultural production facilities (Department of Basic Education,2013). These students can progress to take agriculture as a focus area at TVET colleges or universities.

The DAFF plays a pivotal role in human capital development in the agricultural sector. It runs a Career Awareness Programme that focuses on the promotion of agriculture, forestry and fisheries as careers and livelihoods of choice (DAFF, 2015). This is particularly aimed at school-going youth in order to build a skills base to address scarce and critical skills identified in the sector. The Career Awareness Programme is used as a vehicle to eliminate the negative perception towards agriculture and forestry and to raise the profile of fisheries, especially to the inland schools.

The role of AgriSETA in skills supply

AgriSETA strives to build a system where its skills development interventions respond to the socio-economic needs of the country, including the improvement and development of South African Human Resources. It fulfils its skills development mandate though, bursaries, internships/workplace experience, learnerships (including New Venture Creation), artisan development, adult education and training, land reform and mentoring, skills programmes and graduate placements.

The long term plan of skilling new entrants in the sector is done through close consultation between the sector, agricultural schools and colleges, TVET Colleges and HET institutions to teach relevant skills. There are other avenues for training for those who are already employed in the sector, for example skills programmes and learnerships. Currently, AgriSETA has 92 registered learnerships aimed at addressing identified scarce skills.

The chart below shows the number of qualifications falling under each agriculture sub-sector as well as the range of NQF levels covered. What is noticeable is that AgriSETA learnerships range from NQF level 1 to 5. However, if one takes into consideration the scarce and critical skills outlined above, it is clear that these qualifications pertain to the higher NQF levels. This draws our attention to the fact that funding should be ring-fenced for bursaries and HET internships. This issue will be returned to later in this chapter.


29

FIGURE 9: DISTRIBUTION OF AGRISETA LEARNERSHIPS

Source: AgriSETA, 2016

Higher Education and Training Institutes

A total of 14 universities and 6 universities of technology offer agriculture related qualifications. These range from NQF level 6 to NQF level 10 and there are currently 400 HEI and 138 agricultural colleges’ qualifications registered on the SAQA database. In 2014, a total of 20,227 learners were enrolled for agricultural programmes at the country’s higher education institutions. The level of enrolment is on an increasing trend, a good indication that future skills challenges could be addressed, if properly channelled into the workplace.

The table below shows the distribution of all the South African Qualification Authority registered agriculture qualifications including those for AgriSETA, Umalusi and QCTO.

FIGURE 10: DISTRIBUTION OF SAQA REGISTERED AGRICULTURE QUALIFICATIONS

Source: The South African Qualifications Authority

0

5

10

15

20

25 F

arm

ing S

ecto

r -

(NQ

F

Range 1

to 5

)

Seed -

(N

QF

Range 3

to 4

)

Red M

eat

- (N

QF

Range 2

to

4)

Tobacco -

(N

QF

Range 3

to

4)

Gra

in -

(N

QF

Range 2

to 5

)

Sugar

Pro

cessin

g -

(N

QF

R

ange 2

to 5

)

Poultry

- (

NQ

F R

ange 1

to

3)

Sugar

- (N

QF

Range 2

to

4)

Tea -

(N

QF

2)

Mill

ing -

(N

QF

3)

Fru

it -

(N

QF

3)

Hort

iculture

- (

NQ

F 1

)

Landscapin

g -

(N

QF

3)

Pest C

ontr

ol -

(NQ

F 4

)

56

114

160

4 14

48

4 0 1 3 0 1 15

118

0 20 40 60 80

100 120 140 160 180

Do

ctr

ate

s

Ma

ste

r's

Ba

che

lors

Advanced

Dip

lom

as

Po

st G

radu

ate

D

iplo

mas

Dip

lom

as

Ce

rtific

ate

s

CHE Other


30

The qualifications cut across all the subsectors of agriculture and are adequate to equip personnel in the sector with the required skills. Provision of higher learning through universities and universities of technology is adequately represented in all the country’s 9 provinces.

Colleges of Agriculture

South Africa has 12 colleges offering agriculture qualifications that fall under the auspices of the DAFF, and are administered and managed by the representative provincial Departments of Agriculture. These colleges offer qualifications mainly at NQF Levels 5 – 7 that include national certificates, higher certificates, diplomas and degrees in a range of qualifications accredited with The Council on Higher Education (CHE). Three colleges; Madzivhandila College, Tompi Seleka College and Tsolo College; operate as farmer training centres offering short courses and learnerships at NQF Levels 1-4 that are accredited with the AgriSETA. The table below shows the provincial distribution of the 11 colleges of agriculture and the programme offerings.

TABLE 11: COLLEGES OF AGRICULTURE

Provinces Colleges Programmes

Eastern Cape

Fort Cox Crop & Animal Production; Animal health; Agribusiness; Marketing and Forestry

GADI Animal Production; Agricultural management; Pastures & Crops and Agricultural Technical Services

Tsolo Animal production; Crop production

Free State Glen Animal Production; Agricultural management; Crop Production; Agribusiness

Kwa-Zulu Natal

Cedara Crop Production; Animal Health; Mechanical Engineering; Animal Production; Agricultural Economics; Soil Science; Ecology

Owen Sithole Crop Production; Animal Health; Mechanical Engineering; Animal Production; Agricultural Economics; Soil Science; Ecology

Limpopo Madzivhandila

Animal Production; Plant Production and Mixed Farming; Irrigation Management; Agribusiness

Tompi Seleka Animal Production; Plant Production

North West Taung

Agricultural Management; Plant Production; Animal Production and Irrigation; Engineering

Potchefstroom Agricultural Management; Plant and Animal Production

Western Cape Elsenburg Resource Management; Research and Technology; Veterinary Services; Plant and Animal Production.

Source: iGroDeals, 2016

Due to the colleges being managed at provincial department of agriculture level, they are diverse in terms of the nature and quality of programmes offered and the accreditation status of their programmes.

Training Provider Perspectives

AgriSETA has 491 accredited training providers offering qualifications from NQF level 1 to NQF level 5. Interviews conducted by AgriSETA revealed that there is adequate provision of agricultural training, particularly at lower NQF levels (NQF Level 1 and 2) although provision at NQF levels 3 and 4 is becoming more available.

A survey conducted with skills development practitioners in the agriculture sector in July 2016 revealed that personnel in the agriculture sector will require skills such as Business and Financial Management, Computer literacy, Marketing, Communication, team building and AET programmes


31

to be more effective. This view is corroborated by the findings of the Skills Demand survey, the results of which are reported above.

3.4. EXTENT OF OCCUPATIONAL SKILLS SUPPLY

Higher Education Institutions

There is a high dropout rate of students in undergraduate programmes according to DHET data sourced from the Institute of Race Relations for 2013 and 2014. The initial phase of university seems to be the most challenging as the dropout rate tapers off as professionals advance in their careers.

The chart below shows the universities’ throughput rate for agricultural programmes for 2013 and 2014 respectively.

FIGURE 11: UNIVERSITIES THROUGHPUT FOR AGRICULTURAL STUDENTS GRADUATING IN 2013-2014

Source: Institute of Race Relations, 2016

The graph above shows that on average, just over 20% of the learners enrolled for agriculture related qualifications graduated. This puts a strain on skills supply to the sector as the majority of enrolled learners dropout, negatively affecting the skills pipeline to address identified gaps. The survey conducted with skills development practitioners (External Stakeholder Engagement, 2016) reported dropout rates of less than 20% for all the respondents, which is a vast improvement on the DHET figures cited above. A total of 3,703 and 3,878 degrees, diplomas, and certificates were awarded in 2013 and 2014, respectively. The table below shows how the graduates were distributed across the various agricultural qualifications.

Under-graduat

e diploma/certificat

e (3 years)

Bachelor’s

degree (3

years)

Bachelor’s

degree (4 years or more)

Under-graduat

e diploma/certificat

e (3 years)

Bachelor’s

degree (3

years)

Bachelor’s

degree (4 years or more)

2013 2 014

Learners who did not graduate 7,112 1,092 1,928 6,746 1,299 3,083

Graduates 1,313 336 1,295 1,328 367 1,309

0

2,500

5,000

7,500

10,000

No

. o

f L

ea

rne

rs


32

FIGURE 12: NUMBER OF POST-SCHOOL GRADUATES IN AGRICULTURAL SECTOR

Source: Institute of Race Relations, 2016

Skills Supply from AgriSETA Discretionary Grants

As part of its skills development mandate, AgriSETA implemented professional, vocational, technical, and occupational skills development programmes that result in full or part qualifications in the 2015/16 financial year. A total of 13,647 learners were enrolled whilst 11,275 learners were certificated. The graph below shows the distribution of learners enrolled and certificated in the 2015/16 financial year.

FIGURE 13: SKILLS DEVELOPMENT INTERVENTIONS

Source: AgriSETA 2015/16 QMR4 Summary Sheet

Surveys conducted with stakeholders in the agriculture sector (External Stakeholder Engagement, 2016) buttress the need for recognition of prior learning (RPL) in the sector. In March 2016, the agriculture sector had over 800 000 unskilled workers (StatsSA, QLFS, 2016) and programmes such as recognition of prior learning, sustainable farming, planning and basic business management were identified as imperative to improve human resources productivity in the sector. Concerted efforts should be channelled towards improving the productivity of the resources already in the sector through AET and RPL.

Skills Supply through Mandatory Grants

In addressing scarce and critical skills needs in the sector, there are various skills development interventions that the AgriSETA and the employers in the sector undertake. In 2015/16, employers

0

400

800

1,200

1,600

Ag

ricu

ltu

ral

busin

ess a

nd

m

ana

ge

me

nt

Ag

ricu

ltu

ral

pro

du

ction

o

pe

ratio

ns

An

ima

l scie

nce

s

Foo

d s

cie

nce

te

chn

olo

gy

Pla

nt

scie

nce

s

Applie

d

hort

icu

ltu

ral

busin

ess …

So

il scie

nce

s

Fore

str

y a

nd

w

ood

scie

nce

s

Ag

ricu

ltu

ral

me

cha

nis

atio

n O

ther

Gra

du

ate

s

2013 2014

7,709

3,770

933 335 330 302 268

7,815

2,496

519 175 132 41 137 0

2000

4000

6000

8000

10000

Nu

mb

er

oh le

arn

ers

Entered Completed


33

submitting training reports have indicated a total of 51 093 training interventions being attended by employees. There was a higher proportion of males trained (51.4%) as compared to females (48.6%). The majority of those who received training were in elementary occupations (86.1%) followed by Skilled Agricultural, Forestry, Fishery, Craft and Related Trades Workers (3.4%) and Plant and Machine Operators and Assemblers (2.9%). This is almost in line with the occupational breakdown of employees in the sector. Given the seasonality of employment in the sector, employers provide training to the temporary workers they employ so that they are effective and efficient in their roles.

TABLE 12: EMPLOYEE TRAINED BY OCCUPATIONAL CATEGORY AND GENDER

Occupational Group Male Female Total

Managers 429 147 576

Professionals 585 169 754

Technicians and Associate Professionals 1117 365 1482

Clerical Support Workers 221 385 606

Service and Sales Workers 267 141 408

Skilled Agricultural, Forestry, Fishery, Craft and Related Trades Workers

1 092 692 1 784

Plant and Machine Operators and Assemblers 1 373 110 1 483

Elementary Occupations 21 191 22 809 44 000

Total 26 275 24 818 51 093

Source: AgriSETA, ATR Data, 2016

3.5. SKILLS SUPPLY CHALLENGES

A total of 126,000 people including 8,000 skilled agriculture resources who were previously employed in the agricultural sector were unemployed as at March 2016 (StatsSA, QLFS, 2016). Interviews and surveys conducted with employers in the agriculture sector revealed that the following challenges were being experienced in the sector:

i) Immobility of labour in the market, there are some people who are not willing to relocate to where their skills may be required

ii) There are some people who enter into the agriculture sector especially at low levels without a passion for it

iii) Due to the geographical spread of the farms, it is difficult to get a critical mass to be trained

iv) Retaining skilled individuals interested in the sector after training v) There are high costs involved in brining individuals to urban centres for training which

uses much of the budget that could otherwise increase the number of learners trained. vi) The young generation is not willing to start at the bottom and work their way up

3.6. CONCLUSION

The aim of this chapter has been to analyse the extent of the skills mismatch in terms of demand and supply in the sector. However, it is important to note that when trying to measure demand against supply, attaining a qualification and the supply of skills, are not synonymous. Indeed, a numeric comparison of skills supplied and demanded would overlook the essential component of workplace experience and broader contextual factors that influence the sector as a whole. In this chapter we have seen that the overarching issues framing skills supply and demand


34

draw attention to challenges with South Africa’s rural/urban divide and adequately servicing the needs of the rural sector. Furthermore, attention was drawn to the struggle with accessing or securing what could broadly be called specialised services. Two important points must be made about the data presented in this chapter, which points to the current skills gaps in the sector.

First, the AgriSETA learnerships span NQF levels 1-5, however those who would benefit most from these interventions are often deemed ineligible because they do not have the requisite literacy and numeracy skills. Two, the critical and scarce skills mentioned by employers are often skills that pertain to the higher NQF levels, not supported by AgriSETA learnerships. These two findings point to two very clear key skills priorities that must be addressed. In terms of the unskilled workers gaining access to SETA opportunities there is a need to offer RPL and AET, so that these workers might engage in SETA learnerships to improve their livelihoods. In terms of the scarce and critical skills, if AgriSETA is to meet the requirements of its constituents, it needs to ring-fence funding for bursaries, experiential learning and mentorships, so that these gaps are addressed.

3.7. SCARCE & CRITICAL SKILLS LIST

Given the preceding evidence of stakeholder engagement and analysis, the following scarce and critical skills list has been compiled to guide AgriSETA in its skills development priorities going forward.

TABLE 13: SCARCE AND CRITICAL SKILLS LIST

Occupation code

Occupation Specialization / alternative title

225101 Veterinarian Animal Doctor; Veterinary Epidemiologist; Veterinary Parasitologist; Veterinary Pathologist and Veterinary Surgeon

213202 Agricultural Scientists Plant Breeders, Plant Pathologists, Animal Scientists, Plant Scientist , Soil, and Pasture Scientists

314201 Agricultural Technician Seed Research Technician, Seed Production Technician, Irrigation Technician

131101 Farm Manager Agronomy, Horticulture, Crop, Mixed Crop, Livestock, and Ornamental Horticultural Managers, Aquaculture and Mariculture Farmer

325703 Agricultural Produce Inspectors

Meat Inspector, Fruit and Vegetable Inspector, Produce Inspector, and Quality Controller

214905 Agricultural Engineer Agricultural Product Process Engineer, Irrigation Engineer, Agricultural Structures and Facilities Engineer, Crop Production Mechanisation Engineer

214906 Agricultural Engineering Technologist

Agricultural Product Processing Engineering Technologist, Agricultural Structures and Facilities Engineering, Aqua Culture, Engineering Technologist, Crop Production Mechanisation, Engineering Technologist, Irrigation Engineering Technologist, Natural Resources Engineering Technologist

215101 Electrical Engineer

Control Engineer, Electric Power Generation Engineer, Electrical Design Engineer, Electromechanical Engineer, Illumination Engineer, Power Distribution Engineer, Power Systems Engineer, Power Transmission Engineer

214401 Mechanical Engineer

Air-conditioning, Automotive, Diesel, Fluid Mechanics, Heating and Ventilation, Machine Design and Development , Maintenance Management, Mechatronics, Piping, Pressurised Vessels, Rotational Plant, Structural Steel, Thermodynamics

653301 Industrial Machinery Agricultural Machinery Mechanic, Farm Machinery Repairer


35

Occupation code

Occupation Specialization / alternative title

Mechanic

734101 Mobile Plant Operators

Agrochemical Spraying Operator, Tractor driver, Harvester Operator, and Farm Equipment /Machinery Operator.

134915 Operations Managers Abattoir Manager, Abattoir Veterinarian, Feedmill Manager, Sugar Mill Manager, Pet Food Mill Manager, Seed Processing Plant Manager

134903 Small Business Manager

Entrepreneurial Business Manager, Owner Manager

132401 Supply And Distribution Manager

Acquisitions, Depot, Freight Forwarding Customs Clearing, Freight, Goods Clearance, Parts, Procurement, Purchase, Supply Chain Executive, Supply Chain, Supply Lead Manager

841601 Mixed Crop and Livestock Farm Worker

Agronomy, Horticulture, Crop, Livestock Mixed Crop and Livestock skills

122301 Research and Development Manager

Product Development Manager, Research Managers

213201 Agriculture Consultant

Agriculture Advisor, Agriculture Economic Advisor, Agriculture Extension Officer, Agriculture Field Officer, Agriculture Mentor, Animal Husbandry Consultant / Advisor, Farm Consultant / Advisor, Farm Economic Techniques Advisor, Field Husbandry Consultant / Advisor, Landcare Officer

821101 Crop Production Farm Worker / Assistant

Basic farm skills

122101 Sales and Marketing Manager

Marketing and sales, Brand Manager; Product Manager; Sales Account Manager

N/A AET Language, Numeracy, Life Skills

To be developed

Sustainable Farming Specialist, GIS Specialist, Remote Sensing Specialist, Renewable Energy Specialist

3.8. PIVOTAL LIST

The Grant Regulations (DHET, 2012) defines PIVOTAL (Professional, Vocational, Technical and Academic Learning) as “programmes that result in qualifications or part qualifications on the National Qualifications Framework”. AgriSETA understands PIVOTAL programmes to be programmes that respond to the supply of identified skills demands. PIVOTAL programmes in the main respond to the scarce skills list.

The AgriSETA’s PIVOTAL list was derived through a number of measures. These included the list of scarce and critical skills, the national list of occupations in high demand, analysis of performance information and interaction with key stakeholders. A series of surveys were sent out and telephonic interviews were undertaken with major agriculture players, subsectors and industry representatives throughout all the provinces within South Africa to determine key skills gaps, future perceived skills gaps and to identify which programmes and models would best mitigate these gaps. The identification of the PIVOTAL list was preceded by the identification of scarce and critical skills lists, which, in turn, was informed by labour market demand analysis.

Interventions to implement the AgriSETA PIVOTAL list are informed by the status of supply such as the existence of registered qualifications, the adequacy of accredited providers and appropriate or relevant learning interventions to address the qualifications and skills in demand.

The PIVOTAL list is not ranked in order of priority


36

TABLE 14: THE AGRISETA 2017/18 PIVOTAL LIST

OFO code

Occupation Specialisation/ alternative title

Pivotal programmes Quantity to be suppor-ted by seta

225101 Veterinarian

Animal Doctor; Veterinary Epidemiologist; Veterinary Parasitologist; Veterinary Pathologist and Veterinary Surgeon

Bursaries 12

213202 Agricultural Scientists

Agronomists, Plant Breeders, Plant Pathologists, Animal Scientists, Plant Scientist , Soil, and Pasture Scientists

Graduate and Post Graduate Bursaries and internships

126

131101 Farm Manager

Agronomy, Horticulture, Crop, Livestock Mixed Crop and Livestock, and Ornamental Horticultural Managers

Internships

Bursaries Learnerships

516

325703 Agricultural Produce Inspectors

Meat Inspector, Fruit and Vegetable Inspector, Produce Inspector, and Quality Controller

Internships Bursaries

132

214905 Agricultural Engineer

Agricultural Product Process Engineer, Irrigation Engineer, Agricultural Structures and Facilities Engineer, and Crop Production Mechanisation Engineer

Bursaries 20

653301 Industrial Machinery Mechanic

Agricultural Machinery Mechanic, Farm Machinery Repairer

Apprenticeships RPL

230

734101 Mobile Plant Operators

Agrochemical Spraying Operator, Tractor driver, Harvester Operator, and Farm Equipment /Machinery Operator.

Learnership

RPL Skills

86

134915 Operations Managers

Abattoir Manager, Abattoir Veterinarian, Feedmill Manager, Sugar Mill Manager, Pet Food Mill Manager, Seed Processing Plant Manager

Bursaries

Internships learnerships

134

841601 Mixed Crop and Livestock Farm Worker

Agronomy, Horticulture, Crop, Livestock Mixed Crop and Livestock skills

Learnerships, Skills Programmes and NCV

3 980

122301 Research and Development Manager

Product Development Manager, Research Managers

Bursaries 15

213201 Agriculture Consultant

Agriculture Extension Officer Bursaries Internships

10

N/A Adult literacy and numeracy

Adult Education and Training AET 827


37

CHAPTER 4: SECTOR PARTNERSHIPS o achieve the relevant and targeted skills provision that promotes economic sustainability in the agricultural sector, as well as meeting the needs of all South African communities, both rural and urban, in terms of food provision and sustainable livelihoods, AgriSETA recognises

that it must create partnerships with:

• SETAs in other sectors

• Public service and government • Public TVET colleges • Large employers and industry bodies within the sector • Co-operatives, NPOs and community based organisations

The purpose of this chapter is to assess the nature of partnerships that AgriSETA has established and propose measures for deepening such partnerships in the future.

T


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4.1. ASSESSMENT OF AGRISETA PARTNERSHIPS

Over the period of NSDSIII, AgriSETA has worked with various sector stakeholders to develop skills for the sector. Some of the partnerships established have been of a short term nature – often linked to a narrowly defined project (e.g. training of a targeted beneficiary group through an AgriSETA funded learnership programme), others evolving to being more medium to long term in nature.

4.1.1. SETAs in other sectors

The AgriSETA currently does not have any joint projects it is running with other SETAs outside of the normal inter-SETA collaboration.

The AgriSETA recognises the need for skills development along value chains. In mid-term horizon, AgriSETA aspires to engage a number of SETAs in areas of common interest. Specific SETAs it has identified for cross SETA collaboration and partnership are:

• Foodbev: There are a number of secondary agricultural industries that share skills needs with industries located in the food and beverages sector. There are overlaps in relation to producers in the citrus fruit and wine industries and a need to develop a set of skills interventions that recognise the need for a more coordinated approach to beneficiation (i.e. the production of fruit products from fruit).

• FPM SETA: The FPM SETA is engaged with Forestry, a responsibility of DAFF. There are common skills needs between Agriculture and Forestry, including the need for effective extension services. The two SETAs need to work together on such services. There are a number of secondary production processes that fall between the two SETAs, including leather, hemp, cotton, and new industries such as the Eastern Cape goats hair initiative. A joint approach is needed to work in these industries, so as to maximise the potential for job creation.

• W&R SETA: In working with co-operatives one of the most difficult challenges is access to markets. The logical market is supermarkets located in the Wholesale and Retail sector. There is a trend of established farmers supplying supermarkets directly and forming direct relationships rather than trading through intermediaries. A partnership approach whereby cooperatives contracted to supply produce to a supermarket and/ or local markets such as the Pretoria and Johannesburg markets, is provided with training from AgriSETA needs to be explored.

• H&W SETA: A serious skills shortage in the sector is animal health. Many qualified Vets are located in towns and equity is a challenge. Veterinary schools are located in the H&W sector. The needs of animals are most keenly understood in the Agricultural sector. The SETAs need to focus on not only vets, but also animal health technicians and nurses. The partnership could include para-professionals.

4.1.2. Public Service and Government

With a major emphasis placed on land and agrarian reform, agricultural co-operatives, climate change, drought, mechanisation, new technology and the youth bulge, AgriSETA has strengthened linkages with several of its role players in public service and government particularly, The Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (DAFF), The Department of Rural Development and Land Reform (DRDLR) and local municipalities such as the KwaZulu Natal Department of Agriculture.

• DRDLR: This is a co-funded project between National Skills Fund (R44 million) and AgriSETA (R20 million). The aim of this project is to identify those beneficiaries of land reform who might be supported to establish viable agri-businesses on their newly acquired land. These


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beneficiaries include co-operatives, emerging farmers as well as subsistence farmers. In the FY2015/16 220 beneficiaries were supported through learnerships, skills programmes and mentorships. Funding for the FY2016/17 has already been allocated.

• National Rural Youth Service Corps (NARYSEC) (Youth Development): This is a joint project that aims to motivate and incentivise young people to work on the land and thereby have a stake in their rural communities rather than gravitate to towns. The driving force of this programme is to provide future employment opportunities, enterprise development and further studying opportunities. 470 young people were given access to training, although it is not clear at this stage how successful the programme has been. An assessment of the project must be done prior to any extensions being made to this project.

• DAFF (Farm Together): This partnership supports agricultural co-operative development through mentorship and learnerships. DAFF and DRDLR have provided the farms and projects, whilst the AgriSETA provides and quality assures the training required to develop, skill and mentor farmers to sustainably run and manage co-operatives with the ultimate goal of moving emerging farmers to commercial farmers. A total of 2009 individuals from 256 co-operatives have been trained and the project is hailed a success and will continue.

• DAFF (Extension Officer Programme): This is a long term project with DAFF that focuses on the development and training of extension officers. This is funded from ring-fenced skills development funds within DAFF. AgriSETA has trained 233 extension officers nationally and a further agreement has been signed to extend the project.

• DAFF (Career Awareness Programme): This focuses on the promotion of agriculture, forestry and fisheries as careers and livelihoods of choice. This is particularly aimed at school-going youth in order to build a skills base to address scarce and critical skills identified in the sector. The Career Awareness Programme is used as a vehicle to eliminate the negative perception towards agriculture and forestry and to raise the profile of fisheries, especially to the inland schools.

• KZN Department of Agriculture: The focus of this partnership project is on larger co-operatives. It seeks to develop farmers beyond the basic technical skills in order for them to become effective in farm management. The project comprises learnerships in plant production, animals, horticulture, mixed farming systems, and poultry. The qualifications are mainly at level 1 and 2. Those targeted (for farm management) will start at NQF level 3 with technical skills, and then engage in NQF level 4 and 5 management programmes. Currently, 84 workers and members are being trained.

• The Land Bank: With some 300 emerging market farmers on its books, there is an opportunity for the AgriSETA to partner with The Land Bank to help emerging farmers graduate to commercial status. In doing so, this will support the implementation of the Sector Infrastructure Projects (SIPS) (in particular, those that are aligned to the local government sector) and other local economic development activities, as part of achieving Goal 6 of the National Skills Development Strategy III (NSDS III).

4.1.3. Public TVET colleges

Agricultural and TVET colleges are core to the development of skills in the sector, and it is critical that AgriSETA partners with these colleges in order to attain the objectives of NSDSIII.

The AgriSETA has initiated and funded several projects with 17 public colleges in its sector (Mthashana, Umfolozi, Waterberg, Nkangala, Gert Sibande, Taletso, Boland, South Cape, Sivananda, Westcol, Maluti, Motheo, Goldfield, Mildlands, Lovedale and the East Cape Midlands TVET Colleges). AgriSETA in partnership with these TVETs and Agricultural colleges currently offers 92 registered learnership programmes aimed at addressing the identified scarce skills.


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A Higher Education Quality Committee that was set up to advise the Minister of Higher Education and Training on the status and location of Public Colleges had the following salient findings (CHE. Advice to the Minister of Higher Education and Training on the Status and Location of Public Colleges. 2013):

i) The mission and vision of the colleges are poorly aligned with the focus and purpose of the programmes offered and requires reviewing and refinement.

ii) There is no shared or common governance structure across the colleges and the structures that are in place function in an ad-hoc manner and have little or no influence on operational and academic matters

iii) There are inadequate policies, systems and procedures to ensure and support quality assurance

iv) There is inadequate provision of student support services, including academic support, counselling services and recreational services, which impact on the overall learning experience and well-being of students and contributes to high drop-out rates.

v) Agricultural colleges appear to be generally well-equipped with basic infrastructure for the programmes offered, although there are some cases where there is a mismatch between the available facilities and programme requirements.

The incorporation of the agricultural colleges into DHET will enable greater coherence and standardisation of agricultural qualifications as well as alignment of agriculture education standards. Close collaboration between DHET and DAFF will remain important to ensure curriculum relevance and alignment to sector needs.

AgriSETA has finalised a memorandum of agreement with Agricultural Colleges for funding. The AgriSETA plans to invest R28.3 million over three years on the development and support of these Colleges. This fund will be used for capacity building, curriculum or learning programme development, lecturer training and development, and infrastructure.

4.1.4. Large employers and industry bodies within the sector

• Tongaat Hulett: AgriSETA has partnered with Tongaat Hulett Sugar in a programme aimed at the development and delivery of Extension officers within the South African sugar industry. The primary focus of this programme and partnership is to deliver high calibre Extension Officers that are capable to assist emerging sugar farmers in KZN receive the support they need to sustainably farm. Through its partnership with the Owen Sitole College of Agriculture, Tongaat Hulett has been able to solidify its relationship with the school, ensuring development of the College into a Centre of Excellence in the field of sustainable agriculture, and remains in accordance with the standards of Agricultural Training Institutions (Tongaat Hulett Corporate Services Executive 2016).

• Green partnerships: AgriSETA will explore possible partnerships to provide support to viable Green business initiatives that show potential for job creation. Research needs to be conducted to identify new industries that must be supported with skills development in this area.

• Other: AgriSETA will also look to partner with entities that aim to produce safe and healthy food, conserve natural resources, ensure economic viability, improve quality of life in farming areas and ensure animal welfare

4.1.5. Partnerships with Co-operatives and NGOs

More recent initiatives to assist small farmers have been taken by individual farmers, commodity organisations, agricultural co-operatives and training associations, non-profit organisations, and large companies. Massmart, for example, aims to attract 1 500 small farmers to


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its supply chain in the next few years following conditions laid down by the Competition Commission for its takeover by Walmart. (IRR 2015)

Agricultural co-operatives are explicitly mentioned in the policy documents outlined in chapter 1 as requiring support to ensure their sustainability. In response to both stakeholder needs and the policy directive contained in the NSDS III, there has been a greater need to support co-operatives in development of skills in technical production, corporate governance and mentoring support. Small agricultural co-operatives do not stand a competitive chance in the market, with major retailers buying directly from commercial farms in both urban and rural areas. This makes the case for developing co-operatives into larger sustainable farming operations, whilst ensuring access to markets.

The number of registered co-operatives has increased, thanks to government investment, from 4,061 in 2007 to 22,619 in 2010 and 43,062 in 2013 (Companies and Intellectual Property Commission 2014), However, a recent survey carried out on the status of co-operatives in the Free State by the provincial Department of Economics, Tourism and Environmental Affairs (DETEA) found the following results:

• Only 37% of the 220 contacted co-operatives were considered still to be in operation • 21% No longer functioned • 31% Never got going

• 11% Status unknown

In the case of the 139 defunct co-operatives, the main reason given for the failure of a cooperative, or for it not having been started up successfully, was state contracts that had been promised (or expected) but did not materialise. A lack of business skills was a close second, followed by conflict between members of the cooperative (Wessels, 2016).

There are currently some 450 co-operatives and other small and emergent enterprises that are receiving support from AgriSETA, some funded by the SETA, others by DAFF and the National Skills Fund.

As the support of co-operatives forms part of the National Development Plan (NDP), AgriSETA will look to provide a more focused approach through the provision of business development skills, along with corporate governance, mentorship and technical skills to ensure the sustainability of a cooperative. AgriSETA will look to focus some of its partnerships with SETAs and Government Departments towards co-operatives.

4.2. APPROACH TO FUTURE PARTNERSHIPS

Partnerships are integral to the implementation of skills development activities such as research, training and sustainability. AgriSETA will look to continue with its successful programmes, applying a focused approach to the development of new partnerships that meet the skills demand of the sector. The emerging farmer, co-operatives and sustainable farming will continue to be the focus of future partnerships.


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CHAPTER 5: SKILLS PRIORITY ACTIONS his chapter aims to synthesise the findings of the previous chapters and establish a set of skills priority actions for the sector. The intention of these recommended skills priority actions is that they articulate the macro concerns of the agricultural skills sector as they find expression

in national policy and global change drivers (chapter 2), as well as the skills concerns identified by employers and training providers in terms of their skills needs (chapter 3). This chapter is not a strategic or operational plan, but rather serves to identify priorities that should be taken forward and further developed in the AgriSETA Strategic Plan and Annual Performance Plan.

4.1. KEY FINDINGS

In this section the key findings emerging from the reviews and analysis offered in the preceding chapters are summarised.

T


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Cutting across key change drivers, the demand for skills in the agricultural sector and the supply of skills by training institutions is a call for mentorship. An aging workforce, skills exodus, urbanisation, attractiveness of the profession and equity efforts without the requisite technical and business support, are all reasons cited as reasons for a diminishing number of young skilled agricultural managers and professionals. Large and small farming enterprises speak of struggling to attract and retain the required level of skill. Stakeholders require skills transfer to less experienced staff members, emerging farmers require mentorship in business management skills and co-operatives require mentorship in enterprise development.

A second key finding was that co-operatives, largely based in rural and peri-urban areas, require specific types of support to flourish and contribute to the food security of their constituencies. In this regard, both policy frameworks and key stakeholders speak to the need for corporate governance training and support, coupled with the requisite production skills training. The dual needs of co-operatives segue into the last two key findings that speak to crosscutting needs in the sector: 1) The quality and relevance of technical knowledge, extension services and the like, and 2) the need for business management and entrepreneurial skills in the ever-changing farming space. Each of these will be dealt with in turn.

First, key stakeholders identified the higher NQF level skills as being in scarce supply. Here, professions such as agricultural scientists, extension officers, engineers, technicians and research specialists were mentioned. This finding also points to the ever-changing nature of the agricultural sector. Technology is developing, manual techniques are being mechanised, and there is a need to keep abreast of cutting-edge technologies and research to remain globally competitive. Furthermore, there is a need to develop sustainable farming processes supported by environmentally-conscious principles, which also requires professional and research-based support for the development of relevant qualifications. This need is of course exacerbated in times of ecological stress such as drought, El Niño, and climate change, as experienced in recent years.

Finally, it has been shown that training providers and employers highlighted the need for business skills in the sector. It was not enough to have production knowledge; one also needed to know how to run an organisation, navigate markets, and secure development finance. These skills would clearly need to be scaled to the size of one’s enterprise, but the generic need maintained across stakeholders.

The change drivers underpinning these key findings introduced in chapter 2, namely, land reform, climate change, the youth bulge and technological advancement in the sector are all phenomena that will impact on skills development in agriculture with a fair degree of certainty. While the magnitude of technological advancement might be tempered because of the fairly slow rate of mechanisation in African agriculture (BMI, 2016), the remaining three drivers have already come to pass and need to be addressed with a sense of urgency. This is especially so because upskilling young employees or unemployed youth have considerable lead times. Completing a qualification is only the beginning of a career pathway, while experienced professionals are exiting the sector every year. It would take a minimum of 10 years for someone to reach managerial level if they were beginning their post-school training today, by which time technology would have advanced and operations changed. Thus, it is critical that learning interventions concerned with higher NQF level qualifications are addressed as a matter of urgency. If managerial and technical leadership is not developed and retained in the sector, this presents a risk to economic growth and development generally, but specifically to the food security of South Africans.


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4.2. RECOMMENDED ACTIONS

In accordance with the key findings summarised above, the following 5 key priority actions have been identified as necessary steps that need to be taken in offering stakeholders the support they need to address skills challenges in the agricultural sector.

4.2.1. Policy provisions that create incentives to support rural skills development

In line with the NDP and other national policy frameworks that highlight rural development as a key programmatic focus of government, it is recommended that AgriSETA, in partnership with other relevant departments, create an incentive-based framework to support skills development in rural areas. A number of key stakeholders remarked on the difficulty in attracting and retaining skills in rural areas. For this reason, tax incentives, salary incentives and training incentives should be devised that make it attractive both for the youth to remain in rural areas in agricultural professions, but also for training providers and experienced professionals to be located in rural areas to facilitate training and mentoring programmes. This is already being done to some extent by the DRDLR in their mentoring programme which pays mentors R10 000 per month.

A second policy recommendation based on the findings of the SSP research is drawn from Wiltshire’s (2016) work on temporary farm workers. In this regard it is recommended that, “special legislative provision is required for subsidised skills training of temporary farmworkers” through defining temporary learners as a separate 18.3 category in the Skills Development Act. This type of amendment would allow temporary workers to access workplace skills training during periods of unemployment, or “give preference to employing successful learners the following peak season” (ibid). Workers would be able to access workplace training out of peak season, while employers could claim back the skills levy on their temporary employed worker’s wages.

TABLE 15: POLICY PROVISIONS SKILLS PRIORITY ACTIONS

Skills Priority Action Outcome Outputs

Policy provisions that create incentives to support rural skills development.

Rural & temporary skills development is incentivised.

Rural skills development is incentivised through tax structures. The Skills Development Act is amended to include temporary workers in its levy and subsidy structure.

4.2.2. Support co-operatives in corporate governance and enterprise development

It was found through stakeholder engagement, internal consultation, as well as in alignment with the NDP and the NSDS III, that co-operatives should be supported and developed to close the gap between rural and urban development. In particular, it was noted that co-operatives require support in terms of corporate governance and enterprise development skills, to ensure their autonomy and sustainability. Accordingly, it is recommended that AgriSETA develop unit standards and learning pathways that address the specific skills needs of these co-operatives and that they are recognised as subsector in their own right.


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TABLE 16: CO-OPERATIVE SKILLS PRIORITY ACTIONS


Support co-operatives in corporate governance and enterprise development.

Corporate governance and enterprise development unit standards are available to agricultural co-operatives.

Corporate governance and enterprise interventions, currently located in special projects, are developed as accredited qualifications. Rural Development recognised as an AgriSETA subsector.

4.2.3. Mentorship and career pathways clearly mapped to support equity and youth development

In accordance with the needs of attracting and retaining youth in agricultural careers, as well as in the interests of skills transfer from experienced professionals to emerging farmers and early career professionals, it is recommended that AgriSETA formalise a mentorship programme for the top ten scarce skills, including: farm managers, agricultural scientists, and operations managers. Alongside this, career pathways should be mapped across the supply chain by subsector to create a pipeline for youth to move from unskilled to skilled occupations.

TABLE 17: MENTORSHIP AND CAREER PATHWAY SKILLS PRIORITY ACTIONS


Mentorship and career pathways clearly mapped to support equity and youth development.

Emerging farmers mentored by experienced professionals. Career pathways for youth mapped across the supply chain by subsector.

Mentorship programme accredited through AgriSETA structures in partnership with DRDLR. Career pathways mapped by subsector with a focus on youth development.

4.2.4. Improve the quality of skills supply to the sector

Drawing on the key findings of this review, it is recommended that the quality of the skills supply to the agricultural sector is improved. Specifically, it is recommended that the translation of research and development activities into accredited learning programme curriculum, coupled with on-the-job training, is undertaken to remain locally relevant and globally competitive. It is imperative that the comparatively large amount of money spent on agricultural extension services1 translates into quality skills provision. According to the survey of industry stakeholders (Stakeholder Survey, 2016), this should include developing learning pathways that cater for technological advancements in the sector, as well as having training providers that can offer recognition of prior learning for those located in rural areas.

TABLE 18: QUALITY OF SKILLS SUPPLY SKILLS PRIORITY ACTIONS


Improve the quality of skills supply to the sector.

Agricultural extension services are well-resourced, skilled, experienced and up-to-date with latest R&D.

Education and training capacity of service provider and extension officers continuously evaluated for relevance and quality.

1 South Africa spends three times as much on agricultural extension services as a proportion of agricultural GDP as the global

average, at 2.7% compared to 0.9% (Kane-Berman, 2016).


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4.2.5. Establish a cross-cutting focus on green knowledge in all skill provisions

The ecological challenges associated with climate change today present the agricultural skills development sector with a two-fold problem. They need to be able to adjust to the contextual stresses of farming in a precarious ecological climate in the short-term, as well as developing knowledge, technologies and skills that will allow for sustainable farming in the long term. In targeting these two components it is recommended that the AgriSETA adopt an approach of insisting on a cross-cutting focus on the promotion of green knowledge across all subsectors and enterprise sizes. This means that qualifications developed catering for subsistence, all the way to commercial farming, must include an integrated focus on green knowledge.

TABLE 19: GREEN KNOWLEDGE SKILLS PRIORITY ACTIONS


Establish a cross-cutting focus on green knowledge in all skill provisions.

Skills development needs of the sector include a cross-cutting focus on green knowledge.

Green knowledge integrated into all learning programmes.


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Documents

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