The Eastern Cape Department of Agriculture officially launched the R100 million worth 2025/26 Cropping Season in Bhaziya Village, Mthatha today.
The event, held during World Food Security Month, served as a platform for MEC for Agriculture, Nonceba Kontsiwe, to champion the role of youth in the sector and detail the provincial government’s multi-pronged approach to tackling food insecurity and poverty.
MEC Kontsiwe, committed to encouraging and supporting young people to join agriculture, deliberately used the youth-owned agribusiness, Jay Jay Farming, in Mputi village near Mthatha, to showcase excellence and the opportunities available in the sector.
The 2025/26 summer cropping season will cover approximately 23,000 hectares, comprising grain, vegetable and fodder crops. This builds on the success of the 2024/25 season, during which the Department successfully planted 22,584 hectares of maize, yielding more than 112,920 tons of grain. About 90% of the total targeted hectares are dedicated to grain production.
