Agriculture is a key job driver and a provider of opportunities for entrepreneurship, South African president Jacob Zuma has said in his state of the nation address yesterday (13 February) in Cape Town.

The country’s agricultural support programme is producing new exporters, Zuma said. For example, the first 88 smallholder farmers in the programme supplied the United Nations World Food Programme with 268 tonnes of maize and beans, which were sent to Lesotho at the end of 2012. 

“We expect this number to increase,” he said. 

Also on the agenda is the South African government’s plan to continue to promote the country’s fisheries sector, Zuma said. Fisheries provide 27,000 jobs to the national economy.