Government’s R1-billion agroprocessing support scheme (APSS), aimed at supporting brown- and greenfield investments in the local industry, was launched by Trade and Industry Minister Dr Rob Davies at the Africa Big 7 Food Forum and Saitex, in Midrand, on Wednesday.
The APSS further seeks to encourage investment in both upstream and downstream support services and in the expansion of infrastructure to be used by farmers and agroprocessors.
Targeting five key subsectors - food and beverage value addition and processing, furniture manufacturing, fibre processing, feed production and fertiliser production - the APSS will be a cost-sharing grant towards funding agroprocessing projects.
“The APSS will be capped at R20-million over a two-year investment period, subject to the availability of funds,” said Davies.
The programme will be implemented by the Department of Trade and Industry by the Incentive Development and Administration division and has a set of guidelines that would need to be adhered to before an application is submitted.
“I would like to encourage companies with expertise to participate in the programme and engage with departmental officials, who will assist them with relevant information to ensure that they submit a successful application for funding,” said Davies.
The launch will be followed by a countrywide awareness campaign in collaboration with industry associations and chambers of commerce, to increase awareness of the programme within targeted agroprocessing subsectors.