Farmers plant seeds for alternative models

Some industry bodies have been open to talks on alternatives to the government’s 50/50 policy.

In March this year, AgriSA gave a presentation to Parliament on alternative models.

The organisation has compiled an idea bank that incorporates agricultural projects that are examples of best practice in land reform.

The examples it put forward point to the need for a three-way partnership between commercial farmers, the beneficiaries and the partners providing the financing. One example AgriSA gave was that of the Rhebokrand dairy trust, a scheme in Humansdorp in the Eastern Cape.

Rhebokrand’s ownership is shared by a workers’ trust, which holds 52%, and a dairy trust, made up of commercial farmers, which holds 48%. The land and fixed assets are the property of workers, and the dairy trust owns the cows and moveable assets.

According to AgriSA, the financing came from government grants and a loan by the commercial farmers involved in the project.

The forestry sector, meanwhile, has developed five different models tailored to the specific needs of its industry. They include a structure in which the beneficiaries take ownership of both the land and the trees and have a management contract with the previous owner; a joint venture in which the beneficiaries contribute the land and the former owner the trees; and a model in which the beneficiaries own the land but the former owner retains the trees and pays a market-related rental for the plantation.

But AgriSA concluded that the sector needs an “unrestricted voluntary range of options” as well as a menu of financing and risk-aversion products. It also needs greater policy certainty. —