South Africa-Farms being offered.

SOUTH AFRICA-GREENER PASTURES.

South African farmers could go to Ghana

South African farmers might be able to settle in Ghana, West Africa. This is according to James Smith from Ghansa, an organisation wanting to move local farmers to this African country. He said the Ghanian government has agreed to allocate land to them, which they will then allocate to South Africans interested in farming with livestock, poultry and crops.

"We were in Ghana in December and saw the tremendous opportunities in agriculture and mining," Smith explained. "Afterwards a Ghanian representative of ours contacted the new president, John Atta Mills, and he wanted to be part of such an initiative."

Smith said the government there is keen to have South African farmers with skills and knowledge boost the country’s agriculture. Despite fertile land and lots of rain, Ghana imports basic food such as rice and chicken. Smith said farmers would have to pay for their move and import their own equipment. Also, land would not become the farmers’ property.

Import taxes won’t be charged and Ghansa will help farmers with the allocation of land, housing and schools. In return, they’ll have to pay Ghansa a percentage of their annual turnover.

Farmers with experience and knowledge who don’t have the necessary capital are also welcome to apply as Ghansa will assist them with investors, Smith said. Big farmers who want to expand their operations are also welcome.

Smith commented that although there’s not much violence in Ghana, fraud is common, but the government will protect farmers against exploitation.

According to Dr David Zounmenou, senior researcher at the Institute for Security Studies (ISS), the recent peaceful power transfer in Ghana has contributed to a stable political environment. "The former president did a lot to help farmers with input from government," he said. "The new government is committed to the further development of the economy."

He added that Ghana is one of the preferred destinations for foreign direct investment in West Africa. "It’s the only country in the region capable of achieving extreme poverty eradication, one of the United Nations Millennium Development Goals by 2015."

Zounmenou admitted that much still needs to be done in terms of rural infrastructure, but the minimum is in place.

Smith said the South African members of Ghansa and some possible investors will be visiting Ghana from 1 to 10 April to finalise the details of an agreement with the Ghana government.

At the time of going to print, the High Commission of Ghana in Pretoria had not reacted to queries about this development. – Drieka Burger.