This business represents the realisation of our long-term vision to build capacity and operational excellence throughout the agriculture value chain. WIPHOLD Agriculture comprises the operational units WIPHOLD Agriculture Company that hosts the farming operations and WIP Equipment that procures and leases the production machinery to projects.
This strategy is based on the commercial opportunities that have arisen from our involvement in developing community farming projects in the Eastern Cape since 2012. Building on the success of partnering with local communities to harness the combined benefits of their communal land, commercial maize farming will cover 4 000 ha in the Eastern Cape and benefit around 3 000 landowners by 2022. In 2015, Old Mutual & Nedbank became co-funders of this strategy through the provision of patient loan financing.
Supplementary to primary maize farming activity, we are pursuing up and downstream investment opportunities to extend our influence throughout the value chain.