Eswatini’s farmers are struggling to make ends meet despite the country’s vast agricultural potential.
The Minister of Finance, Neal Rijkenberg, speaking at the launch of the Smallholder Agriculture Productivity Enhancement and Marketing Project (SAPEMP) on March 27, 2025, emphasized that while agriculture is widely recognized as a solution to unemployment and poverty, the sector’s fundamental economics remain flawed.
“The land is sitting idle. Why? Not because people can’t farm, or they’re not smart enough, or anything else. We are not getting it together where it’s worth someone waking up every day, putting in a whole day’s sweat equity, and making money at the end of the day,” Rijkenberg said.
Rijkenberg pointed to the economic realities facing Eswatini’s smallholder farmers, arguing that they do not earn enough to justify their efforts.
While projects like SAPEMP aim to boost agricultural productivity, he insisted that a broader restructuring of the sector is necessary to make farming financially viable.
“What we are getting wrong in our agriculture space is the basic economics of it. Because farmers are not making money,” he stated, urging stakeholders to rethink the way the industry operates.
The Minister, himself a passionate advocate for agriculture, stressed the need for better economic structures to ensure that small-scale farmers can thrive. He highlighted the success of the Eswatini Water and Agricultural Development Enterprise (EWADE) in grouping farmers into cooperatives, which has transformed some communities but left others lagging.
Rijkenberg believes that the successful model pioneered by EWADE should be expanded nationwide. He emphasized that Eswatini’s agricultural sector has failed in the past because smallholder farmers were not effectively grouped into profitable cooperatives.
“We have to use that same structure now and roll it out across the country in other farming mechanisms. Let’s leverage what we are getting right,” he said.
Beyond restructuring farm ownership models, Rijkenberg stressed the need for greater focus on agro-processing. He pointed to existing initiatives, such as collaborations with Taiwan on fish production, as examples of how smallholder farmers can boost their incomes.
Another key challenge identified by the Minister is land size. Unlike commercial farmers in other countries, Eswatini’s farmers typically own small plots, making large-scale farming difficult.
However, Rijkenberg expressed optimism that innovative approaches like tunnel farming could help smallholder farmers achieve high yields despite their land constraints.
Rijkenberg assured the farming community that the Ministry of Finance and the government remain committed to supporting agriculture. He called on development partners and private investors to play their part in ensuring that Eswatini’s farmers can earn a sustainable income.
“As the Ministry of Finance, we fully support this initiative. As a government, we are fully behind the Ministry of Agriculture, and we will continue to do so,” he declared.