From land access to productive farms: why readiness comes first

01Land is the start, not the finish

“Land access creates the opportunity. A supported farming enterprise makes it productive.” That was the central message from Willem Basson, Founder & CEO of Agrihelp and AgrihelpTech, on Day 2 of the Agri X Fusion Red Meat Value Chain Collaboration Summit.

As he noted, national attention has turned again to state-acquired land and title deeds for black farmers, and to the finance, skills, infrastructure, mentorship and markets those farmers need. These aren’t optional extras after land is allocated. They determine whether a new farmer can build an economically viable business.

The stakes for red meat are high. Gerhard van der Burgh of BFAP showed that about 41% of the national cattle herd and 86% of goats are already in small-scale hands, much of it outside the measured market. And as Wandile Sihlobo, Presidential Envoy on Agriculture and Land, put it, the goal is not to replace one farmer with another, but to make the pie bigger.

02Lessons from the past

Willem pointed to research from Rust de Winter. In 2005, a study by ICRA, the Limpopo Department of Agriculture and the Agricultural Research Council, titled “Can We Get Them There?”, used farm visits, interviews and workshops to understand why agricultural opportunities didn’t always become sustainable production. Farmers faced uneven soils and grazing, constrained irrigation water, uncertain rainfall and unresolved land claims, all of which affected confidence and investment.

His conclusion: what was never systematically evaluated was whether each farmer, on their own farm, had the capacity, resources and conditions needed to participate meaningfully in agriculture.

03The readiness test

Before support can be planned properly, Willem argued, three questions need answers. Does the farmer have the knowledge: the skills, experience and management capacity to run the enterprise? Does the farm have the infrastructure: land, grazing, water, fencing and handling facilities? And is the support in place: finance, mentorship, extension services and access to markets, alongside the animals, feed, herd health and biosecurity the enterprise needs?

A weakness in any one of these can stop a farmer from succeeding commercially. Importantly, a readiness assessment identifies a starting point and a development need. It isn’t a permanent label on a person.

04A living digital farmer profile

“South Africa’s challenge isn’t just a shortage of agricultural support,” Willem said. “It’s the absence of a coordinated, readiness-driven system that turns that support into real impact.”

His answer is a living digital farmer profile: one record that brings together the farmer’s identity, experience and goals; land, tenure, water and infrastructure; livestock breeds, herd structure and health; and costs, production, markets and risks. Rather than a once-off registration form, it is updated as conditions change, and the same profile informs the farmer, the extension practitioner and programme managers. AgrihelpTech uses Cropin Grow as the operational field-data platform behind it.

05Support on the ground

The Minister of Agriculture, Willie Aucamp, said government is seeking funding from National Treasury for 4 000 agricultural extension officers, as part of the President’s programme for 10 000, and committed to integrating farmers of all races and scales into the economy and removing barriers to entry. Extension support of this kind is exactly what a readiness test and a living farmer profile need to work.

06Everyone can participate

Development financiers echoed the point. Lwandiso Makupula of the IDC said: “We’re not trying to make everyone a commercial farmer. It’s not practical… but everyone can participate.” Aggregation brings the volumes and quality that markets need. Prof Cobus Oberholster agreed that it is not bad news to be small: the answer is aggregation, as wool producers have shown for decades. Gerhard van der Burgh added that more than half a million households keep 50 or fewer cattle, holding about 41% of the national herd.

07From evaluation to improvement

Willem showed how a structured livestock evaluation, developed with the Gauteng Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, goes beyond a simple cattle count. It looks at grazing capacity (hectares per large stock unit), livestock appearance (body condition, coat, hooves, parasites and more) and farm management (feed, water, shelter, parasite control and veterinary practice), and combines them into a report with priorities.

Findings are translated into a simple traffic-light view: green to maintain, yellow to improve, red to prioritise. Every gap then becomes a practical action with an owner, a deadline and evidence of completion, organised into a scheduled Plan of Practice. Farm visits are recorded with dates, locations and photographs, and the evaluation is repeated to measure the change. The same mapped records can also help officials respond faster when a disease such as foot-and-mouth is suspected, with diagnosis and control always led by the State Veterinary Services.

08From farm gate sellers to value chain owners

Readiness is the first step. Dr Mashego Maleka of AFASA described where it should lead: from individual subsistence to co-operative wealth creation, from price takers to price makers, and from selling raw produce at the farm gate to owning the processing, logistics and brands that feed the nation.

In Sekhukhune, he showed, more than 120 000 communal cattle and goats operate at under 22% commercial off-take because of market isolation. Winter losses from drought and poor fodder reach 18%, and the district has no export-grade or Class-A abattoir. AFASA’s blueprint is a vertically integrated, hub-and-spoke system: feed and fodder hubs, digital aggregation with RFID ear-tags and mobile auctions, a central Class-A abattoir with cold storage, and contracted off-take to retail, mining-sector canteens and export, designed to be replicated in other districts.

09Measuring what matters

Visits, training sessions and grants show what was done. They don’t prove that a farm improved. Willem’s point was to measure outcomes: herd condition and productivity, grazing and water reliability, market access, costs, sales and, ultimately, commercial viability.

His closing message: the success of agricultural land reform should be measured by successful farmers, productive farms and commercially viable agricultural enterprises. That demands collaboration, with farmers, government, extension services, industry partners, financial institutions and buyers each playing a role. Understand each farmer. Assess each enterprise. Act on the gaps. Measure the improvement.