A group of South African farmers have arrived in Tripoli, Libya to help revive commercial agriculture in the oil-rich north African country.
Libya imports about 75% of its food needs, and efforts to achieve self- sufficiency through a state farm program have proved unsuccessful.
The South African farmers were invited by the Libyan government as part of its efforts to use private sector partnerships to diversify its economy and improve food security. They will visit a 40,000 hectare olive plantation in the Khadra District, cattle and dairy farms at Khoms and poultry production facilities at Hira.
Some state farms have maintained a degree of commercial production but others have reverted to subsistence level, say local consultants. A key impediment has been state interference in the input supply chain, leading to inefficiencies.
Group leader Theo de Jager, deputy president of Agriculture South Africa, on Sunday told the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) that the delegation would assess the commercial potential of the farms, and how they could be integrated into downstream processing.
“We have the expertise to conduct large-scale commercial production throughout the value chain,” he said in Tripoli on arrival Sunday.
The Karoo olive farmers would be approached to revive the giant Khadra plantation, which was established by Italians in the 1930s.
Source African Press Agency
