Emerging agri producers need a ‘leg up’

Agro-processing has

been identified as a key

opportunity for emerging

black farmers to gain export

and domestic market access

– but a lot more still needs to

be done to help the sector.

Around six years ago,

the Land Bank introduced

loan options for smaller

scale farmers who could not

access finance but CEO of

the agricultural development

bank, Tshokolo Petrus

Nchocho, said that while

there had been no defaults on

loans, challenges remained.

There was not enough

integration in the agriculture

sector to ensure the kind of

support the sector needed, he

added.

“The sector is dualistic

in nature with little sign

of improving integration.

You have co-ops and

organisations that are still

predominantly exclusively

black or white,” he said,

pointing out that this set of

dynamics was holding back

the growth of the sector.

“Role-players are not

single-minded around

priorities and are not pulling

in the same direction of

growth and inclusivity,”

Nchocho commented.

He added that there should

also be more

synergy and

integration

with

government

departments

that were

involved

in the

agriculture

value chain.

“Their

programmes

are clear, but establishing

and driving complementarity

programmes takes a lot of

investment in designing and

propagating cooperative

arrangements. It takes a lot of

energy,” said Nchocho.

Minister of Trade and

Industry, Dr Rob Davies,

agreed telling FTW recently

that his department was

finding solutions for closer

collaboration with other

government departments.

“For example, the agricultural

sector falls under the

Department of Agriculture,

Forestry and Fisheries (Daff)

but agroprocessing

–

beneficiation

of raw

produce – falls

under our

jurisdiction.”

Davies said

that agroprocessing

was an area

where small

farmers and

local producers could take

advantage of diversified

opportunities, pointing out

that with growth in Africa’s

fast-moving consumer goods

(FMCG) sector, a number of

international investors had

seen the gap to set up agroprocessing

plants in South

Africa.

“A key characteristic

of agro-processing is its

strong up- and downstream

linkages. Upstream, the

sector links to primary

agriculture across a variety

of farming models and

products. Downstream, agroprocessing

outputs are both

intermediate products to

which further value is added

and final goods that are

marketed through wholesale

and retail chains, as well as

through a diverse array of

restaurants, pubs, shebeens

and fast-food franchises,” he

explained.

A producer FTW spoke to

on condition of anonymity

said that what held emerging

farmers back was a lack of

training and mentorship.

“It all comes down to

training, having agricultural

and basic business skills,

understanding how to source

funding and then how to sell

to markets.”

He suggested that

instead of focusing on

land expropriation, the

government should bolster

agricultural and business/

entrepreneurial training.

“This could be jointly

funded by government and

the private agricultural

organisations.”

The RSA Group – which

acts as fresh produce agent for

farmers – has, in conjunction

with Dutch cooperative, Icco,

introduced a programme to

help emerging farmers gain

market access.

“This includes training

on a number of aspects,

from proper planting and

harvesting methods to

how to package and class

their produce,” explained

Vusi Mlambo, enterprise

development manager at RSA.

He added that transport

to market remained a small

farmer’s biggest barrier

to market. “Transport is

expensive and often doesn’t

cater for smaller loads,” said

Mlambo.

INSERT AND CAPTION

Role players are not

single-minded around

priorities.

– Tshokolo Petrus Nchocho