Farming collaboration set to benefit Makgoba community – SABC News – Breaking news, special reports, world, business, sport coverage of all South African current events. Africa’s news leader.

The Small Enterprise Development and Finance Agency has partnered with commercial farmers, ZZ2 and the Makgoba-Mamphoko Trust in Limpopo in a multi-million rand avocado farm project.

The project is funded through the Khula Credit Guarantee Scheme within the Department of Small Business Development and a commercial bank.

The expansion phase of the avocado farm is meant to benefit more than 600 of the Makgoba community outside Tzaneen.

Letlatsa Lehana from Khula Credit Guarantee Scheme said, “The land that we are in right now is actually phase two, we are going to do 90 hectares. We are going to start with 40 hectares and then there is going to be an expansion for the remainder. The reason for this is because it is closer to the river so the pump station is going to be closer by where we are from the dam. The river is running just below there so it is going to be easy in terms of irrigation. That is the expansion project. We are still drafting out the numbers in terms of how that is going to be done but the fact that we already have European markets, that is essentially what we are here for.”

ZZ2 director, Bertie Van Zyl says the funding model has been crafted by the private sector and SEFDA, partnering with commercial farmer ZZ2.

The overall goal is to help propel the Makgoba community to successfully venture into avocado farming. Van Zyl said, “Sapekoe is one of those areas that is the iconic tea estate, it was transferred in 2022 to Makgoba, we started our first commercial project in 2018, co-founded by ZZ2 and FNB bank through the securities of Khula and it made sense that when we start developing the land of Sapekoe we utilize that entity.”