Farmers, agriprenuers, economists, and experts in agriculture from across the African continent gathered at the African Agri Investment Indaba in Cape Town where the first day of the three-day event focused on how financing has the potential to unlock agricultural opportunities.
Notwithstanding the difficulty of operating a farming entity in Africa, delegates at the African Agri Investment Indaba were told there are opportunities out there for them to grab.
The impact of SA’s energy crisis
In a panel discussion on integrating infrastructure development with agriculture production, processing and marketing to foster Africa’s food growth, South Africa’s energy crisis was labelled as the biggest contributor to the failure of agriculture.
Wendy Green, country head of Daystar Power, said it is unfortunate that food production is getting a whipping from power utilities forcing farmers to look for alternatives with a tight budget.
“Unfortunately, the time is now for farmers to get themselves alternative power supply because Eskom will not get better anytime soon, then what happens in the meantime? If there was a time when farmers needed to get another power supply it is now.
“Energy is very much relevant to agriculture, same as technology and finance, those three components are the deal breakers for any farming operation. They need to be secured without fail,” she said.
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Operating vs capital cost
Green added that energy needs to remain an operating cost and not a capital cost, which is what many farmers are experiencing now, which leads to a lack of growth and investment in food production in Africa.
Renee Andrews, deputy chairperson of Business Western Cape and managing director of Isiqalo RR Enterprises, said for Africa to work, all interlinking industries need to work.
“There is a lot that we need to get right, importantly, we need to get the basics right. Farmers need to go back and know who their market is before they could be looking for financing,” she said.
Financing barriers
Andrews explained that to ensure no one is left behind, smallholder farmers need assistance when approaching financial institutions to ensure that they tick all the necessary boxes to work their way through the commercialisation space.
“Lack of agricultural knowledge and its dynamics are some of the hampering factors to our farmers for them to unable to reach the necessary financial support, but as lenders and advisers that is where we come in,” she added.
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No money, no agriculture
Meanwhile, Dr Menghestab Haile, regional director for Southern Africa Bureau, WFP in South Africa, said while agriculture had the potential to create jobs and sustain Africa, it could not do so without financial assistance.
“For Africa to transform the agricultural sector, we need to unlock finances for farmers, we need to work together and ensure agriculture is profitable,” he said.
Speaking on the sidelines of the indaba, Letlhohonolo Moatshe from Genetics Farming in Venda, Limpopo said his wish is to take away how to navigate exports into Africa.
Exploring export opportunities
“For me what is important in attending this type of event is that as a farmer I want to see my business getting into Africa through exporting. While there are policies out there, we also need to see what opportunities are there for us as farmers.
“It is never easy to get this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to be amid funders, so I will be utilising this moment to sell our business and explore export opportunities,” he said.
While the first day focused on banking and microfinance in agribusiness, the second day went deep into achieving food security, the battle of the narrative.
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