AGRICULTURE NEWS - The announcement was made by Jaco Minnaar, GSA chairperson, during his address at the organisation’s annual congress in Bothaville.
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Minnaar said this money would not be used to finance farmers, but would rather be made available as surety or collateral for farmers who needed to apply for financing from finance institutions.
He added that this would create a type of safety net that could unlock as much as R40 million in financing by banks or input financiers for these farmers.
Jannie de Villiers, CEO of GSA, said the money was being drawn from funds that GSA had accumulated over several years that had been specifically ring-fenced for farmer development. De Villiers said the initiative would be open to farmers who were members of GSA or part of its development programmes, and that strict criteria would need to be met to ensure applicants had the capacity to service their loans.
