Emphasising innovation, sustainability, and growth as essential pillars for farmer development, industry leaders strategised on ways to reshape the farming narrative at the 2024 Mzansi Young Farmers Indaba, currently underway at Lavender Kontrei Market in Pretoria North.
David Mthombeni, a farmer and deputy chairperson of the Agricultural Development Agency (Agda); Stephen Gouws, the managing director of John Deere in Africa and the Middle East; Sakhumzi May, an agricultural economic advisory executive at Land Bank; and Kgampi Bapela, the head of agro-processing and agriculture at Industrial Development Cooperation (IDC), delved into funding and insurance for farmers.
Funding the future
May highlighted that for many black farmers, a lack of capital remains a major barrier to growing and sustaining their businesses. He said to address this challenge, Land Bank and the department of agriculture, land reform and rural development have created a blended finance scheme that provided access to capital through a combination of a loan and grant portion.
“The goal is to help black farmers develop sustainable businesses that can contribute to economic growth and job creation in South Africa. We have dispersed over R600 million in blended finance within the past financial year,” he said.
Bapela pointed out that there is a common misconception that the IDC does not want to support primary agriculture. This is not the case, as the IDC does provide funding and resources to farmers, he argued.
“We do [fund primary agriculture], but as IDC, we do not look at the transaction as a deal on its own. The success of the Poultry Sector Master Plan demonstrates the IDC’s commitment to supporting black farmers in South Africa.
“The plan has provided access to funding and resources that have helped farmers succeed, and it has proven to be an effective model for supporting the agricultural sector. I can report today that in the past 36 months since we launched the scheme, we have been able to achieve 95% of that target,” he said.
The IDC has provided farmers with the latest equipment and technology, giving them access to the best available resources, he added. This has helped farmers improve their productivity and efficiency, and it has positioned them for success in the future, Bapela explained.
Gouws said in 2016 John Deere launched the SMART project – specifically for Africa, mechanisation for a higher yield, access to finance, reliability, and training and technology – to connect small-scale farmers without access to mechanisation with those who do.
“We are here for the farmers, we are here celebrating the successes and will also be there in the tough times, and this year is unfortunately one of those tough times,” he said.
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Empowering farmers through education and compliance
Mthombeni emphasised the vast potential within agriculture, highlighting the challenge of bridging the gap. “The question is what are we doing as the citizens of this country? That’s where Agda is playing the role and that is where we need each and every one of you involved,” he told farmers.
According to Mthombeni, between August and November 2023, they helped high-potential farmers with their business plans to secure funding.
“We had five business plans, out of those five business plans it was one business plan that made it through. So educating our people is very critical,” he said.
Mthombeni stressed that farmers often do not comply with regulations, not because they do not want to, but because they do not know how to. “This lack of knowledge can be a major barrier to compliance,”he said.
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