Trust will support emerging Angora farmers

The trust aims to raise at least R2 million and use the money to hire mentors and buy rams for farmers, said MET development officer Bongani Ndhlovu.

"The trust will ensure that farmers have quality rams and are empowered through training and mentorship," Ndhlovu told Business Report, adding that farmers will be trained on how to manage farms on their own and be financially independent. The trust would target farmers in rural communities and people who lived on communal land. The project would also rely on land reform, and agrarian reform for infrastructural development. Land would be provided for agricultural beneficiaries, Ndhlovu said.

South Africa produces about half of the world's total mohair clip but, as the global clip was declining, it was essential that more farmers were encouraged to farm with Angora goats, Ndhlovu said. In addition, only 4.9 million kilograms of mohair were produced worldwide and the emerging sector was regarded as a vital link in turning the production trend around. "The empowerment trust ensures that well-resourced emerging farmers graduate to commercial Angora goat farming, (accelerating the inclusion of) black entrepreneurs (and creating) more sustainable job opportunities for farm workers," Ndhlovu concluded.

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