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Oktober 2016
18
When Grain SA and the
Jobs Fund join hands
I
t is common knowledge that Grain SA has long been committed
to farmer development and assisting previously disadvantaged
farmers in the commercialisation process. Another important
part of the development programme has been the study group
programmes.
There are also more than 5 700 subsistence farmers who attend
these meetings. These farmers farm from 1 ha to 10 ha. We have
seen how the knowledge transferred has impacted them positively
and made a direct contribution to their household security. When
you farm 1 ha and manage to increase your yield from 1 t/ha to
6 t/ha, it makes a significant difference.
However, we have also seen that the message needs to be spread
much further and that the farmers need timely assistance in
accessing correct production inputs. We also know that mentorship
of the farmers during the critical summer months makes a big
difference to the end results.
To this end a project was begun in 2014 with the support of the ARC
(mentorship), Monsanto (Round-up Ready hybrid maize seed with
Round-up for 1 ha) and Omnia (correct fertiliser at 25% discount).
Since we believe that the success of any development programme
is directly linked to the involvement and a sense of ownership by
the beneficiaries, we asked each farmer to contribute R1 500/ha. By
October that year the project was launched with 855 farmers.
Additional partners came on board, namely Sasol Nitro (donation
of top dressing), Bayer (insecticide), TWK (discounts on knap-sack
sprayers) and Grain SA (project management and additional funding
for fertiliser).
GRAIN SA
…and the story of two farmers
JENNY MATHEWS,
SA Graan/Grain
contributor
Life after the project
Past experience has shown that farmers must be assisted for
a limited period of time and their contribution should increase
each year until they can fund the planting themselves.
If this is not the case, then farmers participate while they re-
ceive grants and when the grants stop, the whole effort stops.
We do not want this to happen.
Initially the farmers will only contribute 25% of the produc-
tion costs and industry will contribute 30% (in the form of
discount) – the balance for the inputs will be carried by the
Jobs Fund. However, the support will only continue (on a de-
creasing basis) for four years.
In year five the farmer will carry all the costs. In this way, we
are hoping to have sustainable production on all the hectares
after the end of the project. The farmers will know what to do
and they will have grown accustomed to bearing the costs of
the inputs.
JANE MCPHERSON,
programme manager: Farmer Development,
Grain SA
The Mngadi’s
Mr Inhlanhla Mngadi and his brother Thula are true farmers.
Their love for working with the soil is undeniable.
The Mngadi brothers became involved with Grain SA and
the Jobs Fund project in 2015. They have access to land on
the banks of the Bushman’s river in the Kwa-Dlamini area,
30 km from Estcourt. They have great passion for agriculture
and are eagerly learning wherever and whenever the oppor-
tunity presents itself. They attend every training workshop
and study group meeting that take place and put what they
learn into action.
The brothers planted 2 ha white maize through the project
and harvested an outstanding 11 t/ha. Previously they had
planted all 9 ha which they have access to and harvested
the equivalent to what they achieved on 2 ha in this drought
season!
The Mngadi’s sold their maize to Afgri and have invested
their profits straight back into the Grain SA Jobs Fund pro-
ject for the new season. They intend planting 8 ha next sea-
son. The brothers saw the fruits of their hard work and are
ploughing everything back to grow their business.
They employed no-till practices this year and practiced good
chemical control of weeds, which resulted in their successful
yield. They also worked diligently to keep communal livestock
out of their lands.
The crop was harvested by hand and threshed by a thresh-
ing machine sponsored by Grain SA. This provided part
time employment for eight of their community members. I
cannot wait to see the strides these two will take into the fu-
ture – potential commercial farmers indeed!
GAVIN MATHEWS,
mentor