Through partnerships with Grain SA and government, as well as with other industry role-players such as Bayer, many South African farmers have moved from start-ups to scale-ups. They have increased their yields and become more profitable and more importantly, they have learnt better and more sustainable farming practices through their involvement in Grain SA’s Farmer Development Programme (FDP).
A new documentary released by Bayer and Grain SA at the end of July 2022 tells the heartfelt stories of passionate farmers who have risen above almost impossible odds. Entitled Blessings – Feeding Tomorrow Today, this documentary shows the real impact this initiative is having across the country.
In line with the company’s vision of ‘hunger for none’, Bayer Crop Science supports these smallholder farmers around South Africa by providing seed and crop protection innovations as well as the necessary education to help them produce sustainable and healthy crops.
According to Dr Dirk Strydom, NAMPO, Marketing and Research Coordination lead at Grain SA, getting these small-scale producers to get commercial yields is the ultimate goal of this initiative. For this they need access to good quality seeds, good quality chemicals and good quality fertilisers. ‘Bayer plays a big role in helping us to give that access to producers, access to the right technology,’ he says.
‘For us at Bayer, Africa is a growth continent. A substantial part of this growth is the impact that we have on smallholder farmers and subsistence farmers,’ says Klaus Eckstein, country divisional head at Bayer Crop Science Southern Africa. He says their partnership with Grain SA is enabling education and training to empower smallholder subsistence farmers in South Africa to not only acquire knowledge, but to use and adopt the technology available.
