Emerging Farmers Gain Market Exposure as Chris Hani Agri Show Highlights New Agribusiness Pathways

The event in Komani displayed a wide range of agricultural and food products from local producers, giving smallholders exposure to potential buyers and access to business support packages. Agricultural shows like this are increasingly seen as crucial for integrating emerging farmers into broader value chains.

This year’s show was implemented in partnership with the Eastern Cape Development Corporation (ECDC), the Chris Hani District Municipality, the Eastern Cape Department of Agriculture and local municipalities.

Market access and investment support

“The agricultural show is an important market access opportunity and allows financiers such as the ECDC to promote investment and extend enterprise development support to deserving traders and producers. This includes funding instruments and facilitating linkages between farmers, markets and financiers.

"The Department of Agriculture also presented available technical support for farmers, including the mobilisation of extension officers and commodity specialists, as well as government support programmes and incentives,” said ECDC regional manager for Buffalo City and Amathole, Rufus Nayo.

Nayo noted that agroprocessing and value addition represent key growth opportunities.

"Many farmers are still selling raw products. There is clear potential for small processing plants in areas such as meat processing, milling, dairy, fruit and vegetable drying, and wool washing—ensuring that more value remains within the district. There are also strong opportunities for formal market access and off-take agreements.

"Retailers, abattoirs, processors and buyers can work with organised farmer groups. This creates an opportunity for ECDC to help structure off-take agreements and connect farmers to stable markets, not just once-off sales," he explained.

The show also highlighted the need for shared infrastructure, including collection points, storage facilities, cold rooms and basic logistics, which would help reduce costs for individual farmers while improving quality and consistency for buyers.

“We saw growing interest from young and women farmers in climate-smart, technology-enabled production, such as irrigation solutions, digital platforms for inputs and markets, and data-driven farming. This is a clear opportunity for enterprise development and blended-finance support.

"Overall, the show confirmed that smallholder farmers from Chris Hani and Joe Gqabi are not merely subsistence producers; with the right investment and support, they can become reliable suppliers to local, provincial and even export value chains,” Nayo said.