Farming is a tough job. Some may even argue it’s not a job – it’s a way of living. Speaking from an entrepreneur’s perspective, Kwazi Sibiya, founder and managing director of Auto Farming (Pty) Ltd, shared his insights about funding readiness at the 2025 instalment of the South African Future Trust’s summit.
Participating in the panel discussion, Funding Readiness – The Provocative Truth, Sibiya drove the interests of entrepreneurs by emphasising the disconnect that exists between funders and farmers.
The panel elaborated on what funding readiness really means and looked at both sides of the coin: access for entrepreneurs and fund-ready businesses for investors. “It has to do with both sides,” Sibiya states. “Funding readiness for me is a very difficult topic because if you look at funding, in most cases, it’s more about compliance than the funding.
“Funders check to see if you have all your financial records in place, but for the entrepreneur, it’s something different altogether.” He alludes to the fact that business owners don’t only struggle with the governance side of business, but also with communicating their needs and abilities.
Funding Readiness Reality Check for Entrepreneurs
Sibiya highlights that entrepreneurs mostly encounter application systems that appear to ask questions that they don’t have answers to. “For me, the threshold or requirements seem not to favour the entrepreneur. If you go to a funding institution, they require you to produce your financials, but then you realise you don’t even have the money to hire an accountant. And it doesn’t end there… Funders also ask if you have collateral or security when you might not even have built your structure – the very thing you needed the money for.”
According to Sibiya, funders forget an important point about entrepreneurship: it’s about potential, and they aren’t looking at that, leaving most entrepreneurs to be self-funded.
Sibiya notes that many entrepreneurs who choose the bootstrapping option, whether through a personal loan or savings, only have limited capital, whereas business loans are often larger amounts. This leads to them cutting costs, trading in on quality and ultimately presenting a sub-par result that traps them in the same position of a funder pointing out that they lack certain requirements.
“Funders need to find a way to quantify the value of potential and mine that quality to turn it into a sustainable small business,” Sibiya notes. He proposed that funders find new ways, such as looking at other metrics that prove a track record other than financial statements.
“Funders and entrepreneurs need to meet each other halfway.”
Fixing a Broken System
He notes that the system feels like it is built for people who already have funding…
“Especially with agripreneurs who are seeking opportunities to enter the agricultural space find themselves with their hands tied: unless you have access to a lump sum that you can use to fund startup costs (buying or leasing land, purchasing seed and other inputs, hiring or buying equioment, paying labout costs or even buying livestock), then the barrier to entry remains high and difficult to scale,” he elaborates.
Funding Readiness Is Not Just About Financial Compliance
Drawing from his own experience, Sibiya explains that farming with vegetables, for instance, is wildly different from stock farming. “Even looking at grains and comparing them to vegetables. A vital part, such as spraying your crops, happens more frequently depending on your vegetable crop needs compared to grains. That means that my experience in managing vegetable crops over the past eight years may be different, but it should speak to my ability to manage specialised crops. Yet, my application for funding with regard to grain farming was rejected, citing my inexperience in managing grains as the main reason.”
The question then stands: where do skills and the requirements listed on paper meet to drive entrepreneurial development?
Sibiya notes that entrepreneurs are left in an awkward position. Therefore, funders need to at least provide a clear indication of what areas are that entrepreneurs need to improve on – something he also highlighted in the panel discussion.
“We need to talk about this so we can work together to change policies and improve this process.”
Fueled by Fetola
Much of Sibiya’s success can be attributed to the Tholoana Enterprise Programme is run in partnership with the SAB Foundation. The 18-month program specialises in developing the potential of women, youth, people in rural areas and entrepreneurs with a disability into a business that creates jobs.
“I applied to the SABF Tholoana Enterprise Programme and was admitted to the graduating class of 2016,” Sibiya shares. “The recruitment process is intensive, taking up to 6 months, but I was thankful to be accepted.”
The program helps entrepreneurs like Sibiya grow strong, lasting businesses. It achieves this by providing mentorship, practical tools, and access to markets that build resilience and drive sustainable growth.
“They do a lot to not only develop you as an entrepreneur, but also as an individual. If you are not developing the individual and only the business, then you are not serious,” Sibiya believes. “You have to equip the person as well as the business.”
