SECRETARY-GENERAL
investor and individual farmer was arranged. The farmer, who owned the land, would receive 60 per cent of the end value of the crops, while the investor, who brought in machinery and other inputs, would have 40 per cent.
The modernization of agriculture through the interface between land owners and investors and between public and private players assumes that government through Parliament
has to supervise and monitor the process. The supervision process would guarantee that land owners were not victimized, all taxes involved were paid, water management (including environmental protection) was properly administered and the marketing process was facilitated. This supervisory role requires not only education and vocational skills; it calls for a legislative machinery to sustain policies and regulations.
In this view, written with an eye on South Africa, I wish to call on Parliamentarians in the Commonwealth to rethink agriculture. It is befitting that the debate at the 59th Commonwealth Parliamentary Conference in Johannesburg, will focus on suggesting effective solutions to Commonwealth developmental challenges. In the debate package, the issues of land access and ownership, parliamentary
intervention in the informal economy and entrepreneurship, the possibility of attaining the Millennium
Development Goals by 2015, transfer of technology and research for agricultural productivity and education for local employment needs in small states, all promise to enrich the debates on the parliamentary role on agriculture as a sector, and upon which millions of men and women in the Commonwealth depend.
Commonwealth gallery
Presenting a gift to the President of the New South Wales Legislative Council, Hon. Don Harwin MLC, (right).
VIEW FROM THE
Assisting Scottish Member Ms Patricia Ferguson, MSP, (right) to record her visit in the CPA Secre- tariat guest book.
h Commissioner to ormer British Columbia Mr Gordon Campbell s a Queen’s Diamond to Mr Andrew Imlach cretariat in May.
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