This is part of the department's Covid-19 agriculture relief fund of more than R1.2 billion in which a  voucher system was put in place for farmers who qualified for the relief. Aggrey Mahanjana, group managing director of NERPO, says it is almost three months since these relief vouchers were issued to farmers for the collection of inputs, but some of the farmers are still idling with the vouchers. OFM News' Christal-Lize Muller spoke to Mahanjana...

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He says some farmers received vouchers as early as June 1 this year and it is almost the end of August and still some of these farmers haven't managed to use the vouchers because the service providers couldn't deliver services. Mahanjana says this is especially in the case of animal feed. "Farmers are worried, because they are in a deep drought period and winter and animals need supplementary feeding." These farmers have received support from government through the Covid-19-relief fund, but they are not able to make use of this help. 

Mahanjana says when he asked government about the matter, the response was that the validity of the vouchers has been extended to the end of September. It is disappointing for NERPO, because the voucher system had to be in place as early as June when the drought and winter conditions started to hit livestock farmers.

He says the department has, only in provinces where farmers started to make noise about service providers and the availability of their inputs, extended the validity of vouchers and this extension wasn't made known publicly. 

Together with that, NERPO is aware of some farmers, who qualified for the relief fund but never received vouchers. "We believe there is a lot of people, not even farmers, who were not supposed to get vouchers but received vouchers."

Mahanjana says there are still gaps in the system with regards to relief funds and the distribution of vouchers. NERPO believes the answer to problems and distribution of money can be solved through the implementation of a farmer register. If this technology is used, no middle man will be involved and money will go directly to farmers. The immediate resolution to the problems surrounding the department's Covid-19- agriculture relief fund vouchers is to appoint credible service providers as it seems that the current service providers appointed do not have the capacity to supply inputs and especially animal feed because they are not in the feed industry.

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