The Western Cape agriculture department has announced that the closing date for funding applications to the Comprehensive Agricultural Support Programme (CASP) was extended from 31 July until 16 August 2021.
This move was made to accommodate policy changes surrounding the fund application forms following the implementation of the Protection of Personal Information Act (also known as the POPI act or POPIA).
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Renshia Manuel, the founder of GrowBox, a wholesale nursery on the Cape Flats, reached out to Food For Mzansi after having difficulty accessing CASP application forms from her extension officer.
According to Manuel, an extension officer informed her that she would not be able to access the CASP application form until national policy surrounding the POPI act was clarified.
“I saw the online notice of the CASP funding, and I took a screenshot and immediately sent it to the extension officer as I’ve got his details on my phone. He replied and said that he could not send me the form because of the POPI Act,” she said.
The extension officer replied with, “We are not allowed to share application forms due to the POPI Act.”
What’s the deal?
According to Daniel Johnson, spokesperson for the Western Cape’s minster of agriculture, Dr Ivan Meyer, the CASP application forms has to be reviewed to ensure compliance with legislation. Prospective applicants are now able download the revised form from the department’s website.
“It is important that we comply with the law when dealing with personal information of our clients and this is also indicated in our general notice,” he said upon request from Food For Mzansi for clarification as to why prospective applicants could not access the form.
What is CASP?
CASP is a national governmental initiative that was started in 2003. The aim of CASP is to support the country’s various departments of agriculture and help them provide assistance to emerging or small-scale farmers.
According to the Western Cape department of agriculture, CASP has six pillars. These are information and knowledge management, technical and advisory assistance, and regulatory services; training and capacity building; marketing and business development; on-farm and off farm infrastructure and production inputs; and financial assistance through the Micro-Agricultural Financial Institution of South Africa.
Are you a potential beneficiary?
Agriculture related projects that include vulnerable communities in the Western Cape are considered according to the following four levels:
- the hungry and the malnourished;
- household food security and subsistence;
- farm and business level activity; and
- agricultural macro-system: consumer and economics environment.
Application requirements
- Your project must be a land reform initiative.
- It must contribute to food security.
- The project must have a minimum lease agreement of five years (at the date of application), as a food security project.
- It must have a minimum lease agreement of nine years and eleven months (at the date of application) as a commercial project.
- Projects that benefit women, youth and disabled persons are prioritised.
- Projects that have the potential to enhance job creation are prioritised.
- Projects must have the potential to become economically viable and sustainable.
- Projects should demonstrate the potential impact of the grant on the viability of the project.
Application process
- A CASP request form can be obtained from certain district offices of the provincial department of agriculture. It is important to ensure that a completed CASP request form and a detailed business plan be handed in to the nearest provincial district office.
- This will ensure that your project is registered at the district office. This serves as a recommendation for the application process.
- It is important that the detailed business plan outlines the financial needs of the business entity.
