Johannesburg — ALTHOUGH SA is one of six countries in the world to be a net food exporter, the country's most impoverished provinces are not receiving their share of the profits, Michael Sudarkasa, CEO of Africa Business Group, said yesterday.

Addressing a rural development breakfast meeting in Johannesburg yesterday, Mr Sudarkasa said SA produces about 20-million tons of food (maize, wheat and fruit) valued at more than R180bn a year, yet many people in rural communities go to sleep hungry.

He said the pillars of the South African economy - such as mining and agriculture - are bringing in the most foreign currency and are responsible for the balance of trade, but they are not obliged to invest some of their profits in rural development.

This is contributing to the challenge of urbanisation.

Statistics SA reported in 2006 that 43,74% of SA's population lived in rural areas, mainly in KwaZulu-Natal, the Eastern Cape, Limpopo, Mpumalanga and the North West, amounting to 19,2-million people. In the past, this figure was estimated at more than 60%, highlighting the fact that more people are leaving rural communities for the cities.

Southern Africa is undergoing the most rapid urbanisation on the continent, with an urbanised population of 57,3%.

"Urbanisation is a significant trend across Africa and Africa's urban population of 373,4-million is expected to double by 2030, reaching more than 1,2-billion urban Africans by 2050," Mr Sudarkasa said.

He expressed concern that urban economies are failing to absorb the flow of migrants, hindering municipalities' abilities to deliver basic services.

South African agriculture comprises 50 000 commercial farmers and 240 000 small farmers. The study showed that it is predominantly white-owned large farming institutions that are becoming more integrated into the global agriculture and agribusiness industry.

However, their markets could decline as the number of economically active dwellers is shrinking due to migration. Meanwhile, the predominantly black-owned small farms are still struggling to survive due to rising production costs and strong competition.

The study recommended that SA align municipal and provincial government agencies and national government stakeholders to co- ordinate rural economic development meaningfully.

Mr Sudarkasa said SA should also identify each province's key economic driver, link the sectors to the rural regions and improve education strategically. Rural infrastructure development, training and technology should also reach communities, he said.

Sakhile Ngcobo, head of external and corporate affairs at De Beers, said the partnership between De Beers and Botswana has led to high levels of social and economic development and growth in the neighbouring state. De Beers is changing the way it conducts business in all countries where it operates, he said.

Its partners are now required to locate portions of their business in towns where mining is taking place, and agreements include commitments to spend specified percentages of profits on the development of surrounding communities.

The company is also helping to build alternative economic pillars in communities where mining was coming to an end.

"In the Namaqualand, where diamond-mining activity is diminishing, the company has partnered with the Northern Cape and the Namakwa District to develop growth and development strategies that will sustain the communities beyond the mining era," Mr Ngcobo said.