Farmers need to buy into FarmSol’s vision and meet certain criteria to participate in the development programme and qualify for financial assistance.
Applicants should be South African, actively farming and plant at least 50 ha of barley, hops or non-genetically modified yellow maize to qualify for a production loan. The list of eligible crops will be expanded, as FarmSol secures off-take agreements with new clients.
No differentiation is made between business types. Hence, the farming entity may be run by a sole proprietor, as a closed corporation, private company or cooperative. The entity should, however, be at least 51% black owned. A clear business plan, indicating loan repayment ability for loan applications, should accompany the application.
Applicants should meet an acceptable score on the FarmSol Farmer Selection Scorecard to access loans, and those who access loans automatically qualify for farmer support.
Loan applications should be accompanied by an unabridged company registration or cooperative registration, tax clearance certificate, members, directors and beneficiaries’ names and ID copies, proof of banking details, BEE certificate or Exemption, title deed, lease agreement or permission to occupy for communal land, and proxy letter for signatory.
Companies should preferably be registered for VAT, with this registration accompanying the application.
Field service support workers are available to help farmers make the applications, which should be submitted via email. The time it takes to process the application will depend on the nature of the applications.
South Africa’s agricultural sector is one of the world’s most diverse, consisting of corporate and private intensive and extensive crop ...