The Micro Agricultural Financial Institutions of South Africa (MAFISA) programme was launched as a pilot project in three provinces in 2004/05. Its goal was to provide small, short- and medium-term loans to small-scale farmers to expand production, particularly in communal land areas and on smallholdings with a variety of tenure systems. MAFISA’s approach was to channel funds appropriated to the Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (DAFF) through the Land Bank to established financial intermediaries who would make loans of up to R500 000 to farmers. The programme’s rules meant that the bulk of borrowed funds were to be used to pay suppliers of agricultural equipment and other inputs. MAFISA loan agreements stipulated that financial intermediaries generally would not pay the borrowed funds to the beneficiary, but would pay the suppliers of approved inputs and services directly.
