Agriculture Minister John Steenhuisen's budget vote speech was valuable, underscoring a message of continuity from the previous administration, with an added focus on relentless implementation.

Listen to this article 8 min Listen to this article 8 min The national government departments are primary policy-making bodies. Thus, it is always wise to listen to the leadership of each department when they make significant speeches. Tuesday, 16 July 2024 was one such day when the political leadership of the Department of Agriculture, Minister John Steenhuisen, tabled his budget vote speech.

The speech was valuable, underscoring a message of continuity from the sixth administration, with an added focus on relentless implementation.

Steenhuisen said that "the Agriculture and Agro-processing Master Plan (AAMP), adopted in 2022, is the framework upon which the inclusive growth of the agricultural sector is premised. The AAMP adoption process has enjoyed broad sectoral support, and I wish to clarify that I have no intention of reinventing the wheel. Instead, the focus will rather be on accelerating the implementation of the objectives of the AAMP and ensuring that my department upholds its commitments contained in the plan."

This view deserves support. The strength of the AAMP is its "value chain deep dives", which is the clear focus on each commodity, unpacking the challenges and opportunities, and notably the interventions to accelerate growth.

Untapped potential...