24 January 2024
By: Peter Lebogang Mashala
The African Farming Agri-Imbizo 2024 is a significant event for agricultural innovators, paving the way for a brighter future for South African agriculture.
The inaugural African Farming Agri-Development Imbizo will take place on 8 and 9 February 2024 at the Birchwood Hotel and Conference Centre in Johannesburg.
Founded in 2020, the African Farming brand (print, online and television) strives to promote black commercial farming in South Africa by providing informative and inspiring content, and creating platforms to help farmers develop and grow.
The two-day event will be held under the theme “Creating a Better Future through Inclusive Growth and Shared Success”, and its primary goal will be to facilitate interactions, linkages and collaborative efforts within the agricultural industry. The Imbizo will be an unparalleled opportunity to connect with and empower the next generation of agricultural changemakers.
More than 250 farmers, entrepreneurs and industry leaders will come together during the imbizo to network, discuss and find solutions and strategies to overcome challenges related to finance, markets, skills and training and project development. The platform will connect willing investors with potentially profitable agricultural ventures and highlight available opportunities.
On Thursday 8 February, the Minister of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development, Thoko Didiza, will open the imbizo. This will be followed by robust discussions in various panels. The conversations will focus on creating an enabling environment for black farmers to break into the mainstream and make a meaningful contribution to the economy.
Nick Serfontein, a legendary figure from the Sernick Group and Bonsmara breeder, will set the tone after the minister’s speech. He will take the audience through Sernick’s impactful farmer development programme that has established scores of black commercial beef farmers. The programme allows them to participate in Sernick’s red-meat value chain, which includes feedlotting and retail. Nick will give insights into building a successful vertically integrated value chain operation.
Another leading commercial farmer, Kallie Schoeman from Schoeman Boerdery, will discuss how the group’s integrated bean contract-growing business has been able to establish scores of black crop farmers, and how commercial farming can serve as the flywheel for agricultural development.
Throughout the day, the imbizo will focus on exploring efficient commercialisation models for crop, horticulture and livestock farmers in South Africa. The event will feature talks from farming legends, including Vito Rugani from Greenway Farms and Rugani Juice, Dr Obakeng Mfikwe from KMF Farm Holdings and Lekatu Simbras and Simmentalers, and Duncan Serapelwane from Moalosi Bonsmaras.
These business leaders will share lessons for overcoming farming challenges by implementing the best agricultural practices and innovative strategies to build successful commercial operations.
During the second half of the day, the imbizo will focus on exploring market opportunities for farmers and ways to remove barriers and accelerate growth in the industry. The session will zoom in on companies such as PepsiCo, which recently acquired Pioneer Foods, Thebe Investments, which has taken over Botha & Roodt Market Agents to create GrowFresh Market Agents and invested in various farming and agro-processing companies, and FarmSol, an implementing partner of Siqalo Foods and SAB/AB Inbev. These companies are changing the game in supporting and enabling farmers to become part of the supply chains for large food manufacturing and retail platforms.
The imbizo’s second day, Friday 9 February, will focus on equipping farmers and agripreneurs with tools to modernise. Topics such as “Navigating challenges and building a sustainable farming business” will be discussed, along with different financing models and development strategies for farmers with ambitions to take their businesses to the highest levels. The panels will consist of farmers who have successfully scaled up their businesses in recent years, as well as experts and decision-makers in the finance sector who have implemented innovative models to help farmers reach these levels.
According to editor Peter Mashala, the African Farming Agri-Development Imbizo 2024 is not just another event but a platform for action.
Peter says the main idea behind the imbizo is to bring together decision-makers in major corporates and agribusiness – buyers, funders and business support experts – to interact directly with farmers. “The goal is to fully understand each other’s challenges and come up with solutions from both ends.”
Peter explains that many black farmers have mastered production but often struggle to find suitable markets for their produce or build a case for funding expansion of their businesses. “Therefore, bringing everyone in the room to discuss face-to-face will open opportunities for farmers and these companies to find each other,” he says.
For more information and to book, go to https://projekte.landbou.com/african-farming-agri-development-imbizo/index.html
