Partnership aims to bring emerging farmers into commercial sector

A PARTNERSHIP between the Black Business Council (BBC) and JSE-listed companies will provide emerging farmers in the Eastern Cape with an opportunity to become commercial farmers.

The BBC Grain Production Project will be launched in Elliot today. It involves Ikhephu Agri Secondary Co-Operative Farms, mentors and market leaders among the top JSE companies that participate in the agricultural value chain.

BBC president Danisa Baloyi said that, to keep pace with the growth in human population, more food will have to be produced over the next 50 years than during the past 10 000 years.

Baloyi said other challenges were climate change, water shortages and dwindling oil reserves.

She said one of the key challenges facing emerging farmers was the lack of collateral and security.

“It means they often cannot access production finance and hence cannot use their resource base to its fullest capability. It has therefore become imperative that any financial product or solution to enable emerging farmers to access production finance and support must overcome the inherent financial risks. That is why the BBC and our partners – BHBW, Land Bank, Unigrain, Tongaat Hullet, Dupont, Knynoch and VBS Mutual Bank – have embarked on a journey to create a model with the aim of assisting emerging farmers to become self-sufficient.”

Baloyi said the initiative’s aims included transforming the agricultural sector, enabling emerging farmers to move up the value chain, providing access to finance and markets, improving business skills and fostering entrepreneurship.

“What will success look like? Contributing to GDP, transforming the agricultural sector, creating jobs, food security and sustainable skills transfer.”