The Congo- The Deal of a lifetime for Farmers.

THE CONGO-GREAT DEAL FOR FARMERS.

The government of the Congo made a "fantastic offer" to South African farmers interested in farming in the central African country. According to a report by Agri SA deputy president Dr Theo de Jager, who was part of a fact-finding mission to the Congo earlier this month, the preliminary understanding includes the government there providing free irrigation land to South African farmers exclusively for 99 years.Farmers will also get a five-year tax holiday and will be exempt from import taxes on agricultural inputs and equipment.Six 000ha in total in the Niarri valley are being reserved government farms of 135 million hectares will also exclusively for South African farmers, and another 10 be made available. The preliminary agreement also includes compensation for losses in case of war or riots. "South African farmers who settled in the Congo in the 1990s didn’t have such protection," the report reads.According to Dr 000 enquiries Agri SA received from interested De Jager, most of the almost 1 farmers were from people who’d like to diversify their farming operations, not only from those who want to uproot and resettle.The information from the fact-finding mission will now be communicated to everyone who’s already expressed interest, Dr De Jager said. From there, workshops will be held across South Africa.The report recommends that visits to the Congo should be arranged for interested farmers, after which selection will be made according to their business plans.The report also suggested two groups of farmers for the Congo – one of larger independent ventures with their own capital and equipment, and one of smaller farmers. The latter will start under umbrella projects with loans, equipment and contracted markets in cooperations. Farmers in the second group will eventually be moved into the first.The report further suggests post-settlement programmes to provide for the social, educational, spiritual and health requirements of the new farming communities. – Drieka Burger