ROSSLYN, South Africa – The Rust de Winter reserve will soon see Nissan Navara pickups criss-crossing its rivers, mountains and back roads following a partnership between Nissan and agricultural organisation, Agri Guateng, to support subsistence farmers in the area.
Nissan South Africa has donated two 4x4 Navara pickups, a Navara Double Cab and a Navara KingKab to Agri Gauteng, allowing the organisation to visit and help develop the area's 120 emerging farmers.
Many of these farmers do not own a vehicle and farm remote pieces of land spread across Rust de Winter's 32 000 hectares, straddling the border between Gauteng and Limpopo province.
The Navara KingKab and Double Cab are both fitted with Nissan's very popular 2.5 dCi turbo diesel engine that offers over 400 Nm of torque and allows for a braked towing capacity of 3 tonnes. These models were chosen, not only for their powerful engines, but also for their 233 mm ground clearance, 450 mm wading depth and full off-road capability, which is a necessity in the dense Rust de Winter bushveld.
Agri Gauteng's programme of farm and farmer development is run by its Agrihelp division, which seeks to create more commercial farmers by helping subsistence farmers expand and mechanise their production process. The team assists each of the 120 farmers in the area by visiting them, assessing their needs and production capacity and drafting a business plan.
"Over the past two years, we have developed a process that will help all the emerging farmers in the area to quickly reach a point where they can commercially farm on their plots of land. This includes assisting them with creating a business plan, accessing funding from government and investing in mechanisation rings in which a group of farmers share modern equipment that is maintained on their behalf," says Willem Basson, Vice-President of Agri Gauteng.
Through its network of agri-businesses, Agri Gauteng is also helping farmers to sell their produce to major markets and are in advanced talks to help farmers invest in agri-processing businesses, thereby allowing them to benefit from the entire food value chain.
"We were excited about the Agri Gauteng project and donated the use of two Navara pickups to help kick-start the project. We believe Agri Gauteng's concept of sharing resources and of rapid commercial development can become an example for other agricultural areas in South Africa," says Graeme Birch, General Manager of Marketing Communications at Nissan South Africa.
Nissan South Africa is a well-known partner to Agri-chambers across South Africa. It is a long-standing supporter of the Agri Securitas Trust Fund, which funds community safety projects in rural areas. Many of Nissan's commercial vehicles also offer a range of farm-ready extras, which have been developed in consultation with South African farmers. This includes cattle rails, high lift suspension sets, off-road bumpers that can accommodate a winch and specialist tyres. As these extras are offered by Nissan directly, the fitment thereof will not affect the vehicle's warranty.
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