As you might be aware, the Land Bank sneaked through news of horrible financial results on New year’s Eve, revealing an annual total comprehensive loss of more than R2.8 billion.
However, the Land Bank, which defaulted on R50 billion of its debt in April last year, appears set for another state bailout even as the government battles to stave off a fiscal debt crisis. And to make matters worse, the auditor-general warned of insufficient audit evidence for reported credit losses.
This week Dr John Purchase, Agbiz chief executive, joins journalists Dawn Noemdoe and Duncan Masiwa, on Farmer’s Inside Track, Food For Mzansi’s award-winning podcast. He plays about cards about the banks future.
“A number of farmers have not been financed by the Land Bank this season due to its shocking financial status,” says Purchase. National Treasury also knows this, and that is why they have already made provision in the supplementary budget in June to provide R3 billion to the Land Bank to meet its obligations.”
It is no secret that the dire state of the Land Bank is also due to Treasury’s oversight failure, says Purchase. He says the medium-term budget policy statement that was delivered in October last year clearly states that government made another R7 billion available to support the Land Bank.
National Treasury is fully aware of the dire situation, and they are doing what they can within their means to support them. “But the bank will need to come up with a restructuring plan. It will have to look at a new business model to make it sustainable going forward.”
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Listen to the full interview with Purchase, and many other guests, on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts or most of the world’s biggest podcast platforms. You can also scroll down to listen to it right here on Food For Mzansi.
Other podcast highlights:
Besides the interview with Purchase, this week’s Farmer’s Inside Track also boast other highlights for the agricultural sector:
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Book of the week: Food For Mzansi fans chose Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones by James Clear as their book of the week.
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App of the week: We catch up with founder and CEO of Farmer Assistant, Linah Maphanga, who founded the business and app that aims to connect small-holder farmers with the entire agricultural value chain.
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Farmer’s tip of the week: For those feeling discouraged to start their own venture, urban farmer Vuthlari Chauke says, “Feel the fear and enter the space anyway.” She also advises that thorough product and market research is vital to penetrating any market.
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Mzansi Flavour: Chef Unaty Daniel went from engineering to waitressing, but in the end it was food and cooking that stole her heart. Be sure to check out her interview and mouth-watering mopane worm chocolate tree and ginger crumbled soil recipe.
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The HEALTH SQUARED Agri Update: This week Bianca Viljoen, the director of marketing, distribution and rewards at Agility Agri unpacks how Agility can help to contribute to the well-being of your employees.
How to listen to Farmer’s Inside Track
Option 1: Click here to listen on Spotify (all mobile and other devices).
Option 2: Click here to listen on any Apple device.
Option 3: Click here to listen on Google Podcasts.
Option 4: Click here listen using this player. Just click “play”.
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