Campaigns

Prevent farm attacks

Help Free State Agriculture to safeguard agricultural communities

The country’s farming communities suffer because criminals target farmers, workers and smallholding owners. Where these communities are not prepared, people are attacked and even horrifically murdered.

With your help, Free State Agriculture urgently wants to address and solve this problem. Complete the form below to provide support for farming communities to empower themselves through training to establish safer communities.

I hereby support Free State Agriculture’s training campaign to safeguard rural areas.

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The Free State, as well as the rural areas and farming communities of the whole country, are suffering from criminals who attack and/or murder producers, emerging farmers, workers and even people living on farms or smallholdings. Free State Agriculture’s Rural Protection Strategy (RPS) is to prevent farm attacks and farm murders using and improving communication infrastructure, information and liaison, awareness, safety training and technological tools in farming communities.

Criminals target farms with property-related crimes; stock theft and copper cable theft are the most frequent problems. This contributes to huge financial losses for farmers. As a result, they cannot continue sustainable farming. Rural towns are economically paralysed and depopulated when farmers cease farming practices due to financial losses suffered because of crime. This in itself leads to food security being threatened.

FSA joins hands with a private security company to offer 14 modules of standardised training to farming communities in 2 phases. In this way, farmers can empower themselves, their families, workers and others who live on the farms to better protect themselves and their property.

Training is offered in two phases:

Phase 1: Protecting hearth and home
Phase 2: Training for reaction groups

Free State Agriculture’s five-point action plan for standardised rural safety training:

Empowering farming communities by establishing purposeful, standardised training for farmers, their families, workers and persons living on farms.
Creating awareness and standardised training modules regarding all aspects of safety for workers and occupiers of farms.
Creating and establishing actions for crime prevention.
Broadening of linking information and communication networks to a central point at FSA for all farming communities.
Extending involvement and engagement of all farming communities in an organised agricultural structure.