Date Posted: Tuesday 23-Jun-2009
Submitted by George:
5-08-09
SA farmers are flocking to accept an invitation from the Republic of Congo government to start commercial farming.
Like many other countries, the central African nation is concerned about food security. It has offered SA farmers free land, exemption from taxes and import duties for five years, and freedom to take profits out of the country.
In addition, the farmers will retain the rights to sell the businesses they establish in the Republic of Congo (Congo-Brazzaville) or leave them to their heirs.
In return, they must establish a commercial farming sector that will ensure food security within five years, in a nation that imports almost all its food because of a severely neglected agriculture sector.
Andre Botha - SA farmers are top-class
"Congo-Brazzaville is a dumping ground for third-grade French food products," says Andre Botha, chairman of Agri-Braz, a co-operative formed by farmers' representative body AgriSA.
"The French, Congo-Brazzaville's former colonial masters, are not happy with us. They know what SA farmers can achieve."
Congo-Brazzaville has undertaken to help farmers with infrastructure such as roads, telecommunications and railways.
Botha says fertiliser manufacturers and others have expressed interest in the venture, and logistical challenges are being addressed - such as the development of home-schooling packages for children of relocating farmers.
About 94% of Congo-Brazzaville's people live in cities and towns, making it Africa's most urbanised country. "The remaining 6% live in 90% of the country and there is almost no commercial agriculture taking place, despite abundant fertile arable land," Botha says.
"There is about 10m ha available in a country that straddles the equator and therefore has two summers. It is humid, hot and wet, better than Winterton in KwaZulu Natal, regarded as the best farming land in SA with its average annual rainfall of 1 100 mm. In the Congo it is 1 500 mm on average."
Botha notes that SA's two major maize-growing areas enjoy far less rainfall: the Nigel-Potchefstroom-Vanderbijlpark triangle averages 450 mm-700 mm, and Lichtenburg-Bothaville-Ventersdorp 600 mm-700 mm.
Botha believes the offer is particularly attractive because farmers desire acceptance and appreciation they do not get in SA. He says Congo-Brazzaville chose this route over other options, such as agricultural investments by Arab countries, because of the profile of SA farmers.
"On our fact-finding missions we were struck by their levels of expectation about the possibility of upliftment. They see SA farmers as among the best in the world. In near-desert conditions we feed a nation."
He says there have also been approaches for SA and Zimbabwean farmers from countries like Ghana, Uganda and Kenya. "[Muammar] Gaddafi, for example, wants 80 farmers for Libya."
The organisation has received about 2 100 inquiries from local farmers about a possible move to the Congo. An upcoming information session in Nigel has attracted 80 farmers. "There is huge interest," he says.
But though SA farmers are dissatisfied with aspects of agriculture in SA, Botha insists their desire to move north should not be portrayed as another Great Trek.
"The truth is that farmers are unlikely to leave SA permanently. They have an attachment to their land and do not want to relocate. They simply want to diversify and they have an excellent opportunity in this offer. They will probably send their sons, nephews or managers to run operations in Congo-Brazzaville," he says. "It is an opportunity to help in building something, to leave a legacy."
And to make money? "That's why farmers are in business."
Source Url: http://secure.financialmail.co.za/09/0508/features/ifeat.htm
Posted By: JoAn
*AfricanCrisis Volunteer*
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