The South African Government proposed to implement Agri-parks across the country, aiming to revitalise agriculture, catalyse rural industrialisation and support emerging farmers.  An Agri-park is defined as ‘a networked innovation system of agro-production, processing, logistics, marketing, training and extension services, located in a District Municipality. As a network it enables a market-driven combination and integration of various agricultural activities and rural transformation services.’.  The Agri-parks initiative has the potential to uplift and educate rural farmers, which is an important goal considering the poverty that is experienced in the country.  The Agri-park model consists of three components, namely the Farmer Production Support Unit (FPSU), the Agri-Hub (AH) and the Rural Urban Market Centre (RUMC).

A Water Research Commission project was requested to evaluate the impact of Gauteng Agri-parks on the quantity and quality of water resources. It was found that water is the most important problem for all Gauteng Agri-park farmers.  Mr Takalani Mutavhatsindi from the Rooiwal Agri-park in Pretoria said: “We have been suffering for many years, we are crying for water” and his wife, Tshifiwa, said: “We need water badly, look at our crops, it is dry”. One of the outcomes for the Rooiwal Agri-park in Pretoria, was that there is an important opportunity to link the Agri-park with the waste water treatment works adjacent to them, so that they can use the treated effluent.  This possibility requires future research to reduce and manage the risks of re-using waste water for irrigation.