All about crowd farming: Part 2

Now you can live in a city and still take part in a farming enterprise. As noted last week ( FW, 22 Nov), the MyFarmBook app, developed by Ntuthuko Shezi, uses ‘crowd farming’ to enable you to invest in a farmer’s operation. In doing so, you provide the money the farmer needs to expand his or her operation, then you are paid back, with interest.

Investment opportunities currently include ‘Easy Cow’, where for about R600 you share a cow with 19 other investors; alternatively, you can invest in a macadamia tree for R2 000.

Each investment has a direct impact on the farm by creating jobs and enabling farmers to produce healthy food. Moreover, the return on investment is competitive compared with conventional investment options, says Shezi. By reinvesting these returns, you will enjoy compounded earnings.

Tangible

The beauty of the system is its tangibility, because the investor is investing in living, breathing livestock and/or crops that grow, and not normal shares, which are invisible to the eye and sometimes complicated to understand.

You can even visit the farm and see your investments ‘growing’. Shezi hopes to be able to add pecan nuts and other cash crops to the list of investments in the near future.

Animals are insured. If one dies it will be replaced, says Shezi, thereby making your investment safe.

Shezi recently partnered with MTN, and numerous upgrades to the app, such as live tracking, are on the cards. This will include a geo fence that ensures the owner is alerted if the animal moves out of a specified area. This should give investors further peace of mind, allowing them to monitor their investment online.

• For more information on the livestock investments, visit livestockwealth.com or facebook.com/livestockwealthZA. • Greg Miles is a livestock farmer and Internet marketer. Email him at farmersweekly@caxton.co.za. Subject line: Online farmer.