The African Farmers Association of South Africa (AFASA) expressed on Thursday that the junk status shows black farmers are not supported after the move by the credit rating agency Moody’s.
AFASA chairman Neo Masithela described the downgrade as a major concern for the organization.
It’s a sad sign that the state is not taking the growth and development of black farmers in the country seriously. The Land Bank has successfully developed white commercial farmers in the colonial and apartheid-era and continues to do so in the democratic era.”
AFASA is concerned about support for black farmers to whom funding is declining.
According to the organization, nothing came of the mixed financing program that Ramaphosa announced and would not replace the government’s recapitalization program. “It is sad that, in the face of so many backlogs, the government is causing government entities to collapse and set fire to the privatization of agricultural services.”
While AFASA recognizes the role of the private sector in agricultural development, the organization believes that the exclusion of the majority is hampering progress in transformation. “The private sector cannot replace the role of the public sector in the sea of inequality in our country.”
“So we want to ensure that its mandate is aligned so that it can support emerging black farmers – especially women and young people – to ensure that the economic activities, as well as the market share, of black people in the agricultural economy, are increasing.
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