PROGRESS REPORT ON THE ALIGNMENT OF SERVICES BETWEEN THE DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE, FORESTRY AND FISHERIES AND ITS ENTITIES AND PROVINCES PRESENTATION TO THE PORTFOLIO COMMITTEE ON AGRICULTURE, FORESTRY AND FISHERIES DATE: 27 F EBRUARY 2015

I NTRODUCTION  Government delivers services to citizens through two main machineries of state— directly through government departments (at national, provincial or local spheres), and through public entities (including associated institutions and state owned entities). There are currently five Public Entities reporting to the Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, namely the Agricultural Research Council (ARC), Perishable Products Export Control Board (PPECB), National Agricultural Marketing Council (NAMC), Onderstepoort Biological Products (OBP) and NCERA farms.  There is currently possible misalignment and duplication of effort between what the DAFF does and what its Public Entities and the Provincial Departments of Agriculture (PDAs) do. However, through the Medium Term Strategic Framework (MTSF) and the implementation of the Agricultural Policy Action Plan (APAP) the misalignment and the duplication are being addressed.  The MTSF and APAP having been informed by the National Development Plan (NDP), force the machineries of government to work together instead of working against each other and duplicating efforts. 2

INTRODUCTION cont….  The APAP environmental scan looked at the sector as a whole and identified what needs to be done, what it will cost, where and who will drive and who will support. The role-players here include the three spheres of government and its entities and the industry.  The Strategic Plans of the DAFF, Public Entities and Provinces are now informed by one agenda and each institution will have its own Plans talking to the same agenda for the sector.  APAP Implementation Plans are also on track and will be implemented from 1 April

CURRENT AREAS OF MISALIGNMENT AND POSSIBLE DUPLICATION BETWEEN DAFF AND PUBLIC ENTITIES  The current duplication of effort between the ARC and the Research Directorate in the DAFF and between the NAMC and the Marketing Directorate in the DAFF are being addressed as indicated earlier.  The NAMC was established in terms of the Marketing of Agriculture Products Act, No 47 of 1996, as an advisory body to provide strategic advice to the Minister on all agricultural marketing issues, to improve market efficiency and market access by all participants, to optimize export earnings, and to improve the viability of the agricultural sector.  As part of executing its mandate derived from the Act, the NAMC has in certain circumstances duplicated the work carried out by the Department in broad areas such as trade, marketing support, livestock development programmes, etc. The Department noted the duplication and has initiated a process of collaboration to eliminate the overlaps and streamline the functions between the Department and the NAMC on matters relating to agricultural marketing. This issue of the clarification of the roles and responsibilities between the Department and the NAMC will further be clarified in the Marketing Act that is currently undergoing a review. 4

CURRENT AREAS OF MISALIGNMENT AND POSSIBLE DUPLICATION BETWEEN DAFF AND PUBLIC ENTITIES cont….  The areas of duplication between the Directorate: Policy Research Support and the ARC are:- Diagnostic services (including the rendering of tests and/or identification for genetic material) – DAFF has a Directorate for this purpose with infrastructure in various parts of the country to perform diagnostic services. The ARC, on the other hand, maintains laboratories and related infrastructure for similar purposes. There is a need to harmonize and integrate the provision of these services to avoid duplication. Foresight and Economic Research – There is a glaring gap in the services and focus of the ARC related to economic research to the extent that the Department sources this service most often from the Universities, and to a limited extent from the NAMC on some aspects. Research Frameworks and Agenda – This is the competency of the DAFF, and the current ARC Act is being amended to rectify the conflict.  The PPECB and the OBP’s functions compliment what the Branch: Agricultural Production, Health and Food Safety in the DAFF is doing. 5

CURRENT AREAS OF MISALIGNMENT AND POSSIBLE DUPLICATION BETWEEN DAFF AND PDAs  The current duplication of effort between the Department and the PDAs is in the following areas:- Support to smallholder farmers, which takes place at grassroots level. Technology Transfer and Extension Services - The DAFF and the PDAs provide funding Enterprise Resource Planning(ERP) for the recruitment of extension officials as well as the provision of technology transfer and extension services. The ARC also has the mandate to provide technology transfer to farming communities for the technologies they develop. More often there is conflict when the ARC officials provide services in the Provinces without the involvement of the PDA officials, who are mandated to provide direct support for agrarian development. Monitoring & Evaluation of conditional grant projects is often inadequate and one of the PDAs biggest areas of double reporting is the requests from the DAFF and Department of Rural Development and Land Reform (DRDLR,) which are not always synchronised. 6

CLOSING THE MISALIGNMENT AND DUPLICATION GAPS BETWEEN DAFF, PUBLIC ENTITIES AND PROVINCES  There are task teams established through the APAP process and two of the task teams amongst others are for Research and Innovation and for Market Access. The composition of the task teams are made up of the DAFF, DRDLR, ARC and NAMC. These task teams will plan together and share responsibilities and this will address the issue of duplication and misalignment.  DAFF is in the process of developing a framework (norms and standards) for producer support (primarily focused on financial and technical (non-financial) support) to address the gaps that exist where support is provided by a myriad of stakeholders, including government departments, without a national framework.  The lack of a national framework has created unnecessary confusion with regard to the roles and responsibilities of different stakeholders, the nature of services they are meant to provide, the gaps that exist and a guide for appropriate packages of support per category of producer. 7

CLOSING THE MISALIGNMENT AND DUPLICATION GAPS  To promote synergy between the DAFF, Public Entities and Provinces, the DAFF has recently developed an integrated planning framework, which defines the collaboration of activities between DAFF, Provinces and Public Entities. The framework defines how strategic planning processes and reporting should be undertaken between DAFF and these role-players. It spells out how the DAFF should take a lead in informing the Public Entities on Priority Areas since their mandates are derived from the DAFF. This framework will be implemented fully from 1 st April  The activities of this framework are informed by the Government Planning Cycle.  The Deputy Director Generals (DDGs) of DAFF, are also allocated to Provinces and Public Entities to ensure adherence to performance with respect to government policy and priorities. This will greatly assist in identifying areas of misalignment and duplication.  The DDGs ensure that the Department engages with the detail of the annual budget and corporate plans of the Public Entities and Provinces with the purpose of preparing advice to the Minister on the subject matter. 8

CLOSING THE MISALIGNMENT AND DUPLICATION GAPS cont….  The Annual Reports of the Public Entities are also submitted to the Director-General for submission to the Minister.  The Director-General meets with the Head of Department (HODs) and the Chief Executives Officers (CEOs) of the Public Entities at MINTECH on a quarterly basis to discuss implementation of the plans and to prepare for MINMEC, where necessary.  The Director-General also meets with the CEOs of the Public Entities quarterly to discuss matters of operational performance. 9

CLOSING THE MISALIGNMENT AND DUPLICATION GAPS cont….  Each Public Entity will submit to the Director-General of the Department an annual budget and corporate plans contemplated in Chapter 6 of the Public Finance Management Act,1999 (Act No. 1 of 1999) for submission to the Minister: Strategic objectives and outcomes identified and agreed on; Strategic business initiatives; Key performance measures and indicators; Risk management plans; Fraud prevention strategy and plan; and Financial plan reflecting revenue and expenditure projections and balance sheet management. 10

CONCLUSION  We need a paradigm shift to:- Ensure radical socio-economic transformation; Ensure that what we do contributes to local economic development, job creation and food security; and To work efficiently and effectively, doing more with less. 11