PROJECTS
| Akwandze Agricultural Finance |
Project Title
Small scale sugarcane grower irrigation infrastructure capitalisation project
Project Partners
TSB sugar
Mpumalanga Cane Growers Association
Lima Rural Development
Location
Mpumalanga, Kwa-Zulu Natal
Funding
| Jobs Fund | R 50 m |
| Akwandze | R 75 m |
| Total Project Cost | R 125 m |
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Project Challenge
Akwandze aims to ensure that small to medium scale black sugarcane farmers have access to adequate, cost effective and appropriate financing with favourable terms. In addition, it ensures the interdependence between financial and technical services. This is done through the provision of a package of other associated farmer support initiatives such as on-site service back up, training and capacity building. The main purpose of this intervention is to double the total annual tonnage of sugarcane produced by SSGs in Nkomazi from its current 450,000 per year to 850,000 per year over a period of five years. This will be done by firstly recapitalising the irrigation infrastructure of 1,281 SSGs which will then assist in the rehabilitation of 10,000 hectares of SSG’s sugarcane land. Then Akwandze will extend its lending capacity to the 1,281 SSGs replanting, ratooning, fertilizer, herbicides for weed control, labour wages for hand hoeing (weeding) and labour wages for irrigation labour.
It is then envisaged that this will lead to improved and more efficient method of sugarcane growing amongst SSGs. As stated above, the improved and more efficient sugarcane growing coupled with an increase in available funding, will lead to a rise in the number of SSGs as well as the tonnage they produce. These two factors will in turn lead to an increased demand in farm labour and the creation of new jobs
Expected Project Impact
The project aims to increase production from 450 000 tons cane per annum to 850 000 tons per annum over a five year period
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