By Daneel Rossouw, Head of Sales for Agriculture at Nedbank Commercial Banking

Agriculture is a complex business that’s affected by an array of challenges, many of which are outside of producers’ control. It’s becoming increasingly apparent that to address these challenges, all stakeholders need to work together. Collaboration has a multiplier effect that amplifies the efforts of all to produce a result that’s greater than the sum of its parts.

This philosophy is what underpins much of what Nedbank stands for. While we recognise that, as a bank, we have an obligation and responsibility to use our lending to drive change, we also believe that our role goes beyond simply financing the transition to a more resilient, sustainable and transformed agricultural sector. So, while we are proud to use our core business to drive this evolution, we actively foster powerful partnerships with proven organisations that focus on sustainable agriculture, stewardship, transformation, as well as education and training to drive the change the sector needs.

Walking the sustainability talk

Sustainability across all spheres, particularly regarding climate change, is at the heart of what Nedbank does. That is why we collaborate with key stakeholders to help transform the sector to a sustainable, climate-resilient one. We’ve had a decades-long partnership with WWF-SA through the WWF Nedbank Green Trust, collaborating on many projects that impact the agricultural sector. A shining example of this is our Foraging for Life project, which entails planting indigenous vegetation to expand biodiversity conservation areas, increase forage sites, and mitigate habitat loss for bees. 

Bee populations show distressing declines, and local honey production has declined by more than 50% in the past decade. There are several reasons for this, including pesticides, drought, habitat destruction, nutrition deficit, air pollution and climate change. Many of these causes are interrelated and, as a result, the pollination requirements of our agricultural industry are not being met. Finding a solution is crucial for South Africa. 

Another bee-focused project in which Nedbank is involved is the Boland Forests for Life project in partnership with Boland Cellar, which collaborates with Greenpop to plant 36 000 bee-friendly trees in Gansbaai in the Western Cape by 2025. Through alien vegetation management, natural regeneration management, and active planting of indigenous tree seedlings, the expected outcomes of this project are climate change mitigation, improved soil quality and stability, increased species biodiversity, decreased alien invasive vegetation, and increased community income.

Stewardship and transformation are key focus areas.

With a view to drive sustainability, Nedbank has also partnered with the Milk Producers' Organisation on their Stewardship Awards for the past 5 years to recognise dairy farmers who are excellent stewards of their dairy farming enterprises. This year’s MPO Stewardship Award will be announced at Nampo Cape, so watch this space for that announcement.

Nedbank has also sponsored the Veeplaas Climate-smart Ambassador project since its inception last year. Similar to the MPO Stewardship Awards, it recognises livestock producers who are passionate about the conservation of their land and resources and implement climate-smart farming practices on their farms.

Of course, sustainability also means transforming the sector by empowering emerging black farmers, and Nedbank’s strategy to drive change saw the bank launch its partnership with South African Partners in Agri Land Solutions (SA PALS) at Nampo Cape in September 2022. SA PALS is a non-profit organisation developed by farmers in cooperation with local communities to provide emerging black farmers with the support, insights, and expertise they need to thrive as commercial farmers. The organisation and its work represent a fundamental departure from post-land reform models by building sustainable agriculture practices and approaches through sound business principles, legal structures, and training.

A key presence at Nampo Cape

Education, knowledge-sharing and training go hand in hand with transforming and advancing the agricultural sector. That is why Nedbank has teamed up with the Department of Education and the Department of Agriculture in the Western Cape to host 350 Grade 11 learners at Nampo Cape this year. The Nedbank Agriculture Schools Programme will see attendees learn more about vertical farming systems, vegetable cultivation, genetic excellence and breeding planning, the role of the Department of Agriculture in sustainable agriculture, as well as career opportunities and fields of study in agriculture. 

As always, Nedbank is also a sponsor of the Nation in Conversation panel discussions at Nampo Cape, bringing together thought leaders and industry experts to engage in insightful conversations about the challenges and opportunities facing the agricultural sector. Nedbank will host a discussion about climate resilience and stewardship on the Nation in Conversation stage on Friday, 16 September, at 10:00 and will participate in the ‘Trade relations under scrutiny’ debate on Wednesday, 13 September, at 10:00.