Amidst the ongoing drought in South Africa bringing hundreds of farmers to their knees, emerging farmers in the Taung district in the Northern Cape are committed to helping their fellow farmers in need. Michael Donaldson, a lucerne farmer at Donaldson Farming, said he approached emerging farmers to be part of…
The Land Bank will now take respected mentors into consideration when deciding whether to fund emerging farmers. During the African Farmer’s Association of South Africa (Afasa) annual congress in Johannesburg, Portia Zulu, provincial manager of Land Bank, said emerging farmers must overcome different challenges. Zulu was part of a panel…
Emerging farmers’ access to financing should be combined with technical support, said the executive head of the Land Bank. Mr TP Nchocho, with the undersigning of a memorandum of an agreement (MoU) between the bank and Pick ’n Pay, said access to finances cannot solely be the main catalyst for…
Irate smallholder farmers want to know how K2 million, which was allocated in the 2017 budget under the Emergent Farmers Assistance Fund to help them mechanise their farms, was spent. At least 1 000 smallholder farmers were to benefit from the money. Scores of farmers who spoke to Africanfarming.com on…
The Land Bank insurance branch in cooperation with TWK Agri has developed a new asset insurance product tailored for the agricultural sector. It also caters to the needs of small and emerging farmers. Kobus Stapelberg, manager or corporate insurance at TWK Agri, said their research showed general comprehensive insurance which…
Commercial farmers find it heart-breaking to see unused land. That is why they help emerging farmers, said Milan Thalwitzer of the Bosveld Group. At the media launch of this years’ Nation in Conversation series at the Nampo harvest day, Thalwitzer said in his district alone he is aware of 40…
A South African farming community is taking it on themselves to aid local emerging farmers and communities to achieve commercial viability and self sustainability. Commercial farmers and supporting partners launched the Harry Gwala Agri Organisation on 8 March in the Harry Gwala region in KZN. The non-profit organisation will serve…
The approval of a R1.3 billion (US$93million) loan from the World Bank to South Africa’s Land Bank, is a significant boost for the country’s emerging farming sector. The loan is noteworthy since it is a long-term loan spread over 25 years. It advances the country’s target to create 1 million…
At least R2 billion (ZMK1,47 billion) had been spent to support emerging farmers in the past 22 years by the South African government, yet there was not much evidence of where and how this money had been spent. So say dr. Langa Simele of the African Farmers Assosciation of South…
