Fin24 reports that expert Gary Collar says that there is a lack of training in the agricultural sector, which is necessary for small farms to grow into commercial farms.  

Collar is general manager of the Asia-Pacific and Africa region for US agricultural equipment manufacturer AGCO.  He explained that mechanising operations on small farms could elevate them to commercial farms, but this should be accompanied with education and training to correctly use agricultural equipment.  Collar added that people needed training in the commercial side of business as well.  Dawie Maree of FNB Business explained that small farmers should be cautious when mechanising as it could only take place to a certain extent before it wasn’t profitable for them.  He added that mechanisation had had a negative impact on employment in the past, but has since changed to create job opportunities higher up in the value chain.  “If you mechanise more and more, the type of employment will change.”  For example tractor, drivers don’t necessarily just have to steer a tractor, they need to have some technical knowledge on how to operate the machine.  This showed the need for education and training in the sector.

• Read this report by Lameez Omarjee in full at Fin24

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