During the tenth episode of African Farming, the agricultural television show on Mzansi Wethu (channel 163), Praveen Dwarika, AFGRI Managing Director of Lemang Agricultural Services, explained to the show’s host, Angie Khumalo, what AFGRI’s role is to ensure that things run smoothly on a farm.

Theo van Rooyen started farming at the age of 57 on his farm Kleinvlei in Ceres in the Western Cape. Van Rooyen is not scared to learn or afraid to upskill himself with training.

Most of Van Rooyen’s products are exported overseas. And when you’re running a serious business like that, you want to make sure your inputs come in timeously and that after harvesting, you reach the market at the right time. AFGRI focusses on these critical areas, which is why they form partnerships with the farmers to make sure that it’s a smooth process.

“Forming relationships with input suppliers is indeed very important in farming. Increasing yields is a matter of timing; making sure your fertiliser seeds chemicals are on your farm at the right time. And at AFGRI we not just form relationships with farmers, but also with input suppliers, because they play a pivotal role in the success of farms.

“Connecting farmers with suppliers means a farmer don’t always need to go to a store to book his chemical seed fertiliser, for example. Through the relationships that we form with suppliers we can get them to the farms when it’s planting season and chemicals need to be applied, this way they make sure the inputs are there on time. But logistics on a farm goes a lot further than that. On a farm such as Leo’s, once the crop is harvested, it needs to be on a truck or a ship to its destination.

“At AFGRI we go a step further. For example, we offer foreign exchange cover, to make sure the farmer gets the best possible price. This means the farmer can have foreign exchange contracts with AFGRI to ensure he secures his price. In this way he knows at what currency and value he’s trading at.”

For information: visit, www.afgri.co.za