Congress Mahlangu
Agrilink, a project aimed at increasing employment opportunities in agriculture, has raised R11,3-million to assist small farmers in acquiring skills that will enable them to compete with their more established counterparts in the commercial markets.
The USAid-funded project was launched in October last year as a pilot in the Eastern Cape. Agrilink provides entrepreneurial and business skills training to small-scale farmers that includes business planning and management of finances and assets.
Agrilink has set up strategies to improve productivity and development in the small-scale farming sector. It facilitates access to credit for emerging small farmers, who in the past had difficulty securing loans because of high-risk profiles.
Agrilink project manager Ronald Ramabulana says the project’s success in the Eastern Cape will have positive spin-offs for the rest of the country, particularly for rural areas where many people are engaged in small-scale farming for food security purposes. “There is a need for people to move beyond food security and take up farming as a business activity, not just to support their families but to compete with established farmers on the markets.”
It works closely with the government and various agricultural unions, such as the Chicory Growers’ Association, the Eastern Cape Agricultural Union and the National African Farmers’ Union.
Agrilink’s approach tallies with the government’s integrated land and agricultural policy by prioritising rural poverty and the development of small-scale farming as a driving force for job creation and income generation.
Local farmer William Mdwayingana welcomes the initiative in the area. He singled out the acquisition of 14 Nguni bulls for breeding purposes as a much-needed boost for cattle farmers in the Eastern Cape. “The Nguni bulls provided [by Agrilink] for artificial insemination would enable small cattle farmers to meet the needs of the market and compete on equal terms with other established farmers.”
USAid-South Africa Agribusiness adviser Dorvin Stockdale says Agri-link 2 will be introduced in the Northern Province, KwaZulu-Natal and Mpumalanga. The extension of the programme is informed by data provided by the Department of Agriculture and Land Affairs regarding priority areas where there are large numbers of emerging farmers.
Buhle Dlulane, CEO of Uvimba Finance, an agricultural finance institution for emerging farmers, says: “Unlike in the past many farmers are now able to draw business plans and make projections. This has made Uvimba’s mandate to help emerging farmers much easier.”
Uvimba works closely with Agrilink to identify untapped potential among emerging farmers. Agrilink has also secured the services of Gauteng-based Enterprise Management and Innovation, a financial services and business development firm, for its empowerment programmes.