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5: Brothers Mngadi say they feel like they are ‘lying in white gold’ – delighted with their yields this season!
Oktober 2016
20
GRAIN SA
All 855 farmers involved in the project planted their maize crops
and saw overwhelming results. Their successes attracted much
interest and increasingly more farmers began asking to be part of
the project.
Imagine our excitement when we heard that the Jobs Fund had
turned the spotlight to the agricultural sector. Since their explicit
mandate is job creation, income generation and poverty alleviation,
we felt we could submit a proposal to expand on the project we had
already set in motion.
Included in the proposal were a few important elements such as:
An individual farmer is part of the project for four years and
thereafter he/she should continue on his/her own.
The number of farmers increases by 850 per year up to a
maximum of 3 400 farmers (which means that in the last year
10 200 ha will be in production).
Each farmer will start with 1 ha and may increase the area to a
maximum of 10 ha each.
The mentoring to farmers will be reduced by 25% per year so
that the farmers gradually learn to do all activities themselves,
understanding the impact of their actions.
The Jobs Fund projects all work on the basis of 1:1 funding so
they will only match the funding that is put up by the other partners.
In this instance the cash deposited by the farmers together with
the funding from our other partners, including the discounts
offered by the input suppliers, counted as our ‘own contribution’ and
were then matched by the Jobs Fund. The Jobs Fund contributes the
full cost of the mentoring and also assists with the shortfall in the
cost of production inputs.
The 2015/2016 season was one of the driest in living memory. This
presented challenges and regrettably the farmers could only plant
1 248 ha instead of the planned 1 803 ha.
Nonetheless we have been encouraged to see the amazing results
achieved where farmers were able to plant.
Witnessing the amazing harvests has seen many new farmers
seeking us out. 3 023 farmers working 4 317 ha have signed up for
the 2016/2017 season.
We are really excited to see that farmers are suddenly seeing hope
for their farming enterprises. The true investment made by a project
such as this is in the individual. While farmers are expected to make
an own financial contribution, they are supported with knowledge
and financial assistance.
The percentage of their own contribution will increase each year
with the end-goal being that by the fifth year the farmer will be in
a position to plant without any further financial support and will
consequently be an independent farmer.
The potential to change the demographics of agriculture in South
Africa through this network of partnerships is huge and exciting.
When Grain SA and the Jobs Fund join hands
5
“
Give a man a fish, and
you feed him for a day.
Teach a man to fish,
and you feed him
for a lifetime
– Chinese proverb
“