Rustler's Valley: the hike

The outlines of mountains were hinted at in the growing light of a new morning, and then there they stood, playful and confident, and with them the familiar scenery of the eastern Free State. We had been aware of the gathering mountains as we journeyed towards Rustler’s Valley farm the previous evening but had arrived at the farm in the darkness.

Jappie Lephatsi and his team in the reception of EarthRise Mountain Lodge reception had welcomed us, offered us supper while we confirmed the agenda for the following day. Now on the Wednesday [12 June] we stood contemplating the scenery before us. We were going to do a hike before breakfast, and then be given a tour of the farm and the various activities that make up Naledi Village co-operative.

Hospitality and tourism is a big draw card for this area of the country, and several farms offer accommodation and leisure/tourist activities. An obvious value-add, we thought, as we welcomed the prospect of this outing and the country air.

Not far from here lies the Golden Gate Highlands National Park, a major tourist attraction in this province and worth a drive through by anyone interested in the country. After the relatively flat grasslands and occasional hill in the rest of the province, the geographical features of mountains and sandstone in the eastern and north-eastern Free State are a delight.

The silence and presence found at the end of this trail, enclosed by rocks, verdant vegetation and a stream of water dropping  down from the sky, calls you to spend more time here. Today, however, there were things to do and see, and after spending as much time here as we could possibly afford, we turned back.

Rustlers Valley and agriculture (Part II): What problem do you most want to solve?

“What problem do we most want to solve?” The question is posed by Gino.

Gino has a history of organising and strategy, in trade unions and human rights organisations. His path has led him here, to being one of the founding members of EarthRise Trust, a not-for-profit initiative based on the Earth Charter. The setting of Rustler's Valley farm and its village, Naledi, is ideal to form and build a model of community organisation. This is all about more than Rustler's: the aim is to get a working, functioning model which can also be used elsewhere. The journeys of Jay and Kumi Naidoo, fellow trustees of Earthrise, have also brought them here. Jay’s book, Change: Organising Tomorrow Today, describes his journey, which includes visits to other countries like Kenya and Bangladesh, to learn from what is happening on the ground there, lessons which culminated in the “Naledi star”. (There are brief notes on Gino Govender, Jay and Kumi Naidoo under the “Trustees & partners” option at http://earthrisetrust.org.za).

Building (photo used courtesy of Earthrise Trust)

 Already the foundations of a local economy have been laid on the farm. It includes a brick making enterprise and a bakery. Medicinal plants are grown and a nursery established which supplies seedlings for the farm and village. Old infrastructure has been resuscitated and expanded, and so Rustler's hosts a yoga studio and old sweat lodge, a conference centre with facilities for weddings, workshops and such gatherings. The EarthRise Mountain Lodge offers seven different options for accommodation, and there are mountain bike and hiking routes, fishing and, on a neighbouring farm, horse riding.

Mountain biking (photo used courtesy of Earthrise Trust)

It has been a journey. Trying to get the papers for the land, registering the co-operative, getting buy-in from various quarters ... The Industrial Development Corporation (IDC), Old Mutual Foundation, Nelson Mandela Foundation have all played a part so far. Contact has also been made with organised agriculture, and bridges formed with neighbouring farm owners. 

In addition to basic food security, space (20ha) is also set out for commercial enterprises. Rustler's Valley farm previously grew and exported asparagus before being turned into a permaculture food garden to supply lodge and restaurant with food. The land thus has the selling point of not having seen chemical fertilisers or pesticides for over two decades. 

“What problem do we most want to solve?” 

“A society where no one goes hungry” is Gino's answer. If you look carefully, the sentence says at all. If you want footnotes or qualifiers, the EarthRise website sets out its philosophy and objectives and broader goals. A complementing perspective is offered by Lucie Pagé, another person linked to the project: “We put the human being first, and everything radiates around that”. She is speaking on a YouTube clip, EarthRise Trust – an overview.   

The week after our meeting with Gino, we received an invitation from Rustlers Valley and the Naledi Village Farmer’s Coop:

  

We found the invitation on Twitter too, under #HarvestFestival. The event is planned for Saturday 17th June. We will not make it to the festival itself but will be spending three days in the week following it at Rustler's to see for ourselves the progress made.  Watch this space!

 

Rustlers Valley and agriculture: the rumour (part I)

When I was growing up as a kid near Ficksburg in the Eastern Free State, Rustlers Valley was what its name suggests: a hold out for the lawless; a safe haven from polite society. The local community was scandalised by stories of what transpired behind those there mountains: music concerts, hippies from Jo’burg, dagga (marijuana) …

 

A typical Eastern Free State scene. Photo used courtesy of Brand South Africa.

Anyone who has lived in or near a conservative, rural town will be aware of the tales that become possible from a single anecdote or observation. The occasional person who drifted into town from Rustlers and/or the occasional rumour which blew in across the veld provided a rich source of speculation for the community. (Of course, humanity does this well no matter the pace of abode, and was doing so long before the so-called “post-truth” age linked by some to last year's American elections). Perhaps it is the absence of the relative cover and anonymity offered by a city that leaves the lives of inhabitant and stranger open to inspection and pronouncement in a small dorp.

Decades went by and the change that had been resisted for so long in the country came to pass. White rule - political rule anyway - was swept away. Mandela became president and the sun still came up the next day. Mbeki followed him. And then in 2007, a fire swept through Rustlers, ending an era. I daresay many of the old timers probably nodded their heads and whispered knowingly to each other.

The first I heard of the place again, in the so-called new South Africa (and the new century), was in 2014 when one Gino Govender made contact and came to collect a copy of The Agri Handbook. He, Kumi Naidoo and Jay Naidoo were starting an agricultural enterprise at Rustlers Valley in the Eastern Free State. I was familiar with those names. I had come across Rumi Naidoo several times whilst reading up for previous editions of the agricultural publication. An international environmental activist group like Greenpeace, of which he was executive director, has certain areas of common interest with agriculture – water and energy, for starters, and how the growing of food impacts on the environment. And anyone who lived through the cauldron of the years before the country's first democratic elections in 1994 knew of Jay Naidoo, General Secretary of the Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU). Fancy that! It’s a small world, I thought.

Gino Govender, Kumi Naidoo and Jay Naidoo (photo used courtesy of Earthrise Trust)

I paid it no more mind until a colleague, Mike Stuart, brought news of developments at Rustlers Valley in the Free State. Did I know about it?

And so it came to pass on a morning in May 2017 that we met Gino Govender at the Sandwich Baron in Kensington to hear about their work and the developments at Rustlers. 

 

 

 

“Energy farmer”, wins R100 000 funding for project

Thabang Mabapa was announced the winner of the “business pitch challenge” at an event held in Mamelodi, Pretoria, over the weekend. His Limpopo-based project,  Selokong Sa Dimelana, involves engaging local small-scale farmers to grow castor seed crops. This is used for the commercial production of an alternative biofuel. Mabapa (pictured below) considers himself more “an energy farmer than a chemical engineer”. 

Thabang Mabapa who initiated a biofuel project in Limpopo

Mabapa says the castor seed crop takes three months to grow and requires little water. A hectare yields around 1.8 tons of castor beans. He explains the process and vision of the project in a 3-minute YouTube clip here.

The annual competition is a collaboration between Red Bull Amaphiko Academy and the Old Mutual Foundation.

• The Red Bull Amaphiko Academy offers “a powerful launch pad for grassroots social entrepreneurs who are making a positive difference in their community”.
• The Old Mutual Foundation invested over R25-million in community projects last year. 

“Junk” status for South Africa – what happens to agriculture?

To our overseas readers who may not know, the South African president fired several ministers including the respected finance minister and his deputy, and as a consequence, the country’s credit status has been lowered by both Standard & Poor’s and Fitch to the level derogatively called “Junk”. Today, which sees a second day of mass protests, is in a curious irony also the birthday of both the president and the former finance minister.

Agricultural services provider Senwes looked at what the downgrade means for agriculture:

The producer

• A weaker rand will drive up the price of inputs like fertiliser, chemicals and fuel.
• Imported tractors and parts will be more expensive.
• Sustained depreciation of the rand will lead to higher grain prices since these are derived from international prices [more bad news for the poultry sector!]
• Rising inflation levels will put pressure on the producer’s disposable income as their money’s purchasing power deteriorates.
• Interest rates will not be dropped as had been expected. As a result, interest on agricultural loans will remain high.
• Debt will increase and will need to be scrupulously managed by the producer.
• The producer’s ability to pay back loans may be affected.
• The producer’s weakened financial situation can have the consequence of his taking more risks e.g. not taking out insurance.

The consumer

• The same momentum which increased input costs for the producer will have decreased the buying power of the consumer. This will affect consumer demand for agricultural produce.
• Further weakening of the exchange rate, interest rates and higher inflation will place consumer disposable income under further pressure. The poorest of the poor will be affected by this.

Agricultural companies

• The weakening exchange rate paired with high inflation will negatively influence agricultural companies’ operating costs and profits.
• Financing costs will increase, which will see a drop in expansion and investment (and the opportunities which go with these).
• Reduced international competitiveness of South African companies as a result of increased production costs.
• Lower profitability and higher expenses will lead to a shrinking agricultural sector with direct results to job creation in this sector.
• The macro economic environment will be negatively influenced by the contraction in the agricultural sector.

 Find the Senwes Corporate Finance article here.

Double #BlackMonday for the Karoo

There is quite a hullabaloo in the country following a sizable cull of government ministers and deputy ministers. Today is #BlackMonday, and demonstrations are planned for Friday and beyond. Even the farmer-evangelist Angus Buchan is responding to the socio-political toxicity of the moment under the banner It’s Time. 

As serious as this all may be, it has allowed an event of equally (or more) insidious character to slip past under the radar, an announcement by Mineral Resources Minister Zwane of government’s intention to proceed with the shale gas adventure in the Karoo. 

Frackers were turned back at the gates following determined and effective opposition from farmers in northern KwaZulu-Natal and the Free State, and have faced enormous resistance in the KZN Midlands as well as in the Karoo. After Zwane’s announcement, frackers everywhere will be much emboldened. 

The irony is that President Jacob Zuma, in his capacity as Chairperson of the Heads of State Committee on the United Nations (UN) High Level Panel on Water, officially opened the United Nations (UN) World Water Day Summit and Expo in Durban last week. The summit was held under the theme “Water and Sanitation is a human right”.

Watch the documentary Unearthed by farm girl Jolynn Minnaar which exposes the false assurances by multinationals that fracking is a safe technology as she travels among American communities who have (multinational-donated) water carts behind their houses and a visible reluctance to speak about it. (Oh, don’t hold a naked flame any where near the taps in their houses!)  If the first-world Americans can’t help slipping up here and there, what chance South Africa? Speak to farmers and conservationists in Mpumalanga about what happened to farms and wetlands when Zwane's other boys, the mines, moved into the neighbourhood.

Politicians come and go, some with fanfare, some with relief. The potential destruction of an entire region’s water resources will leave a legacy longer than any politician’s and render vast swathes of rural territory a wasteland, sans (drinkable) water, sans humans, sans wildlife.  This is as deserving, if not more so, than any #BlackMonday.

Smart business decisions can have tax advantages for successful farming ventures

See these five tips to maximise your tax returns in 2017

1)   Set your goal to be most profitable, not just to pay the least amount of tax.  Frequently, businesses can focus so much on minimizing tax obligations that they often lose sight of the business’ real focus – maximizing after-tax profitability for this year, and the years to come.

2)   This tax year, invest in your farm. When making the decision to invest, farmers typically have two decisions; either to recognise their profits this year or to invest the profit for a possible increase in profit in the future. 

3)   Maximize capital asset tax treatment with deductions over multiple years. Your investments today can be deducted over multiple years. Therefore, tax planning must also be made with a multi-year perspective. A typical deduction structure would be 50% this year, 30% the next year, 20% the third year. Decisions that you make today will have an impact in the future years’ tax planning.

4)   Right-size your capital investment needs.  The last three years were likely years of underinvestment in your fleets, or other capital assets. This may be the year to catch up on your capital investment plan. However, be careful not to try to put three years of postponed investments into this year.

5)   Use VAT back loan payments to increase your farm’s financial resilience. Reclaiming your VAT payments is key to successful cash flow management of an agri-business (big or small). In the purchasing of capital assets the VAT payment can make up a significant part of the value. By structuring your loan repayment on your capital investment to include your VAT refund, you can accelerate your repayment, and ensure the financial resilience of your business.

An excerpt from a John Deere press release, February 2017.