By Majaha Nkonyane | 2018-03-22

The Swaziland National Agricultural Union (SNAU) is keen on employing a more  vibrant strategy despite numerous challenges that they face.

This was revealed  by Ministry of Agriculture Under Secretary Emmanuel Mbingo who was speaking during the strategic plan  review that was held at Bethel Court in Ezulwini.

“I cannot  over emphasise on how agriculture is the main driver of our economy and contributes significantly in terms of income generation and employment creation directly and indirectly.

 Farmers all over the world are facing numerous challenges such as decreasing land, climate change, and inadequate access to equipment,  resources and  others,” he said.

The union was  noted to be a good vehicle for donors and government to reach the smallholder farmers, which generally is a group that is difficult to reach and  target  for  the donor as they usually live in sparsely populated rural areas with weak infrastructure.

In addition, the organisation’s successes are associated with collaborations with different ministries and organisations  offering  sustainable livelihood options for farmers in the country.

 In the  past years,  SNAU  collaborated with the ministry of agriculture, SwaziBank, COSPE, and MFU.

Furthermore, it was also noted that national farmer organisations like SNAU are expected to play significant roles in the development of smallholder agriculture.

 They can also  mobilise local institutional support towards the implementation of government and donor assisted programme, such as facilitating service delivery, mobilisation of resources for farmers and collective marketing.

 The union also has plans to revive their work in the next three years as they are planning to liaise with their stakeholders in order to get a clear line of their operations.

 “We have engaged a consultant to help us in reviewing the strategy to have a neutral feedback before we start praising ourselves.

A number of stakeholders here have been consulted and a draft strategic plan has been developed with the help of a local consultant from  November 2017,” SNAU Executive Director Lwazi Mamba said. The strategic plan was further meant to guide implementation of programmes  for the next three years (2019-2021).

  It is also meant to give SNAU an important opportunity to mainstream and align its strategies and programmes towards agricultural development and vision 2022.

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