THE FUSE

Access to finance can determine whether a promising agricultural project remains small or develops into a productive commercial enterprise. In Mooketsi near Tzaneen, Limpopo, the Makgoba Trust and ZZ2 agricultural project is demonstrating how partnerships between farmers, financial institutions and public-sector support agencies can help overcome some of the barriers to agricultural investment. The Small Enterprise Development and Finance Agency (SEDFA), through its subsidiary the Khula Credit Guarantee Scheme (KCG), recently visited the project to highlight how its credit guarantee model is working in practice. KCG provided a partial credit guarantee to FNB, enabling Makgoba Trust to access the financing needed to develop and grow its agricultural project. The initiative provides an important example for other farmers and agricultural enterprises that may have viable business opportunities but struggle to secure conventional finance because they lack sufficient collateral.