Umthombo Agricultural Finance

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Umthombo Agricultural Finance (Umthombo) assists by contributing to the sustainability of mainly small-scale grower sectors through the provision of loan administration services and manages retention savings schemes for sugarcane growers in KwaZulu-Natal and Mpumalanga.

Products

Loan Administration
Umthombo provides back-office administration of sugarcane production related loans mainly to small-scale growers.
Loan terms and conditions are tailored to synchronize with the crop cycle and life.
Umthombo is also a participating institution for DAFF and manages funds under the MAFISA scheme.

Retention Savings
Umthombo provides a retention savings scheme for sugarcane growers to encourage financial discipline.
Growers can save for sugarcane production related expenditure such as:

Ratoon
Cane re-establishment
Irrigation maintenance
Administration
Co-operative Dividends

retention savings operations manual

With its excellent infrastructure, Umthombo has been used by the government as a delivery vehicle for grant funding and drought relief to sugarcane growers.

Collaboration with Sugar-Industry Stakeholders

Delivery of financial services to the deep rural communities at minimal transaction costs is achieved through partnerships with key sugar industry stakeholders who already have local structures in place that enable day to day interaction with the small-scale growers.

Agricultural Value Chain Financing (AVCF)

Umthombo grower financing is based on the AVCF concept. This integration enables adherence to best cane husbandry practices and better recovery of loaned funds.

Umthombo Agricultural Finance System

The key to Umthombo’s ability to deliver financial services to small-scale growers is its Umthombo system. The highly accredited customised system has many unique features to cater for delivery and management of financial services in rural areas. The Umthombo system combines its ability to manage financial services with the capability to manage operations on the ground, resulting in better customer service and improved risk management. The Umthombo system also has built-in flexibility to cater for unique requirements to facilitate better management of the various products.

Compliance and Risk Management

Umthombo, through its sound financial policies and procedures, ensures compliance with the relevant
legislation such as the National Credit Act and the Consumer Protection Act.