Farmer's Weekly (South Africa)
Access to financing unlocks success for KZN land reform beneficiaries
Members of the approximately 42-member Gugulethu community in KwaZulu-Natal’s deep-rural Middelrus area are not easily deterred from achieving their collective goals.
After receiving a 345ha farm in 2007 as part of South Africa’s land restitution programme, the community experienced one disappointment after another in its efforts to operate a profitable commercial farming business. But its members never gave up and, today, with the help of the non-profit, private sector Upper Midlands Agricultural Transformation Initiative (UMATI), this vision is on the way to being realised.
a farm, but no support
The Gugulethu Community Trust (GCT) owns Gugulethu Farm on behalf of the community’s members. GCT chairperson Bheki Nene, together with fellow committee members Nathi Nene, Zakhele Shezi and Sebenzile Dladla, manage the farm’s day-to-day operations.
Bheki says that Gugulethu Farm’s previous owners grew seed and commercial potatoes, yellow maize and green mealies, and the farm came with equipment and infrastructure such as tractors, irrigation, sheds, a mechanised potato sorting system, cold storage rooms and a small maize mill.
“The problem was that our community had no money for production inputs when the government bought the farm for us,” he explains.
With limited government support to get the GCT’s commercial crop production started, the community decided to lease the farm to
help, and setbacks
Bheki says that after the failed joint venture, the community still did not have enough money to buy all of the expensive inputs needed for a large-scale commercial fresh produce agribusiness. So there was understandably much excitement when KZN-based representatives of an international non-profit ‘development facilitator’ approached the community in mid-2014, promising to arrange a no-interest production loan. The organisation added that it would train the community in crop production and business management.
“Over the 2014/2015 summer, with the organisation’s help, our farm’s fresh produce production went well,” recalls Bheki.
“The problem came when the organisation failed to arrange the marketing and distribution logistics it had promised.”
The Gugulethu community tried to sell what it could by itself, but they had to leave most of their crops to “rot in the soil”, according to Bheki.
Unsurprisingly, the community broke off its relationship with the organisation.
In late 2016, the GCT tried to establish a commercial maize and potato production partnership with a local businessman. But this, too, failed as it turned out to be a highly unfavourable set-up.
as an operating company to lease Gugulethu Farm from the trust and facilitate more effective farm management practices. Instead of a large group of people managing the operation, it would now be a small group of directors answerable to the trust.”
Bheki and Nathi point out that while Graham remains a production adviser, it is up to SebenzaNgamandla’s directors to make and implement any final management decisions regarding the agribusiness’s operations.
When the potato crop was almost ready for harvesting, Delta provided the community with valuable training in correct on-farm potato sorting and packing practices so that the highest prices could be achieved at the Durban market.
making up the difference
Bheki explains that because SebenzaNgamandla’s first standalone potato crop was grown from retained and uncertified seed, final yields averaged 25t/ha across the 10ha rather than the ideal of at least 40t/ha. Thus, although they were able to repay the loan, they still did not have enough money to cover all of the production costs for their next potato crops.
“To boost our farm’s income, in early 2019, we also grew 5ha of vegetables and green mealies with our input costs funded by the Dutch government,” says Bheki. “The harvest was sold via Durban market and directly to informal traders.”
‘ Before this, there was very little employment in the area’
At the same time, the Gugulethu community entered into a project with French company Groupe Soufflet, which had been contracted by Heineken to source barley grown by black farmers.
According to Nathi, SebenzaNgamandla’s first-ever barley crop was not particularly successful due to unfavourable weather, late planting and damage caused by birds. The final yield averaged 3t/ha.
With SebenzaNgamandla still short of funds for planting its 2019 potato crop, UMATI again came to its assistance.
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