Profitable farmers and private agricultural sector urged to help evolving farmers

Commercial farmers and the private agricultural sector have again been urged to help emerging farmers.

Peter Setou of Vumelana Adivsory Fund, a non-profit organisation dedicated to helping beneficiaries of land reform to develop their land, has been speaking at an agricultural summit at Bela Bela in Limpopo.

He says a substantial part of agricultural land transferred to beneficiaries is not economically viable at present. But Setou believes this can be turned around.

“We have been emphasizing the fact that getting the private sector involved and putting together community or private partnerships is really one of the quickest ways through which you can actually address the current challenges. The last two days of this conference has really been addressing that fact for example, to say the private community really have a valuable role to play and some of the examples that have been presented today actually is proof to the fact that this can be replicated and if replicated we will have more and more hectarage which is put into productive use”.