A study by the Land Bank has shown that emerging farmers are failing because of a lack of government intervention and flawed agricultural policies, the bank said on Tuesday.
“Emerging farmers need a stable environment. The industry has had to adjust to the market, so the cost of financing farmers has increased,” Land Bank agricultural researcher Moraka Makhura said during the launch of the study in Midrand.
The study looks into the results produced by emerging farmers who were supported by the Land Bank in the last decade.
It concludes that many farmers were working with land that was not viable for crop production.
“How can we expect farmers to succeed when they are placed on a unit that is not well irrigated? They won't be able to learn in conditions like these,” Makhura said.
About 40 percent of farmers involved in the study were successful because of prior knowledge of farming and a steady form of income, he said.
The Land Bank is a specialist agricultural bank that provides financial services to commercial farmers, as well as emerging farmers from previously disadvantaged backgrounds. - Sapa