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THE
GRAIN AND OILSEED INDUSTRY
OF SOUTH AFRICA – A JOURNEY THROUGH TIME
ႊ
IT’S THE ACTION, NOT THE FRUIT OF THE ACTION THAT’S
IMPORTANT. YOU HAVE TO DO THE RIGHT THING. IT MAY
NOT BE IN YOUR POWER, IT MAY NOT BE IN YOUR TIME,
THAT THERE’LL BE ANY FRUIT. BUT THAT DOESN’T MEAN
YOU STOP DOING THE RIGHT THING. YOU MAY NEVER
KNOW WHAT RESULTS FROM YOUR ACTION. BUT IF YOU
DO NOTHING, THERE WILL BE NO RESULT.
Mahatma Gandhi
FOCUS ON MR VICTOR MONGOATO
FDP Working Group Chairperson since 2012
’
Land only has value if it is used. We must ensure that people who receive land
are in a position to produce food and fibre for our country.
‛ – Victor Mongoato
Victor shared an interesting insight on the terms used to describe the black
farmers: ’We use the term ‘developing’ farmer as we feel that this could ap-
ply to any farmer of any size who wants to develop. We do not use the term
‘emerging’ farmer. This seems to show that we are under something we have
to emerge from.’ And in the case of farmers who have been included in the
250 Ton Club, the term ’New Era Commercial farmers’ applies.
He added that through the FDP Grain SA is striving to unite agriculture and move
away from splitting the industry along racial lines saying that all farmers are
working together to ensure food security for South Africa.
Victor elaborated further on the main challenges facing developing farmers:
’Training and skills development is crucial for farmer development, but
training alone is not enough. Many of our farmers don’t have tractors and
other implements required, or they lack production finance. Different areas
have different challenges. In the eastern parts of the country (Mpumalanga,
KwaZulu-Natal and Eastern Cape), for example, where the rainfall is higher,
the pH of the soil is low and more lime supplementation is needed. In many
of the communal areas, the lands are not fenced and the crops are often
damaged by livestock. There is also a shortage of combine harvesters
and storage facilities. We have vast tracts of land that are not yet utilised
optimally. This leaves room for our farmers to expand and to produce food
for the country and for the SADC region.’
As far as challenges for farmer development he highlighted two main issues:
• Many institutions ‘farm for’ developing farmers and call it ‘farmer develop-
ment’. Our farmers do not want others to farm for them; they want to be
empowered to do it themselves. Wherever the government has tried to get
contractors to farm for people, this has failed. We must invest in individual
farmers and assist them to become successful farmers in their own right.
• The so-called ‘group farming’ projects are a mistake. Experience has shown
that it is almost impossible to farm as part of a group.
Mr Victor Mongoato
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