As results, facts like the difficulty of information attainment, formation of an internal
group to follow the process, failures on the technical consultancy performance
responsible by the project document (PDD), too much bureaucracy and slowness on the
projects approval by the National Authority (DNA), absence of a single organ in the
government acting as a National Authority (DNA), transactions with developed countries
or multilateral organisms, recruiting of a Certifier Entitiy (DOE) with good international
reputation and with warranty of approval of the project; they show that the transaction
costs are high and can make difficult the meeting of buyers and sellers on the bargain of
rights to pollute.
As conclusions, Brazil has business opportunities to benefit from the development of the
carbon market, but the survey demonstrates that there are obstacles for it. And as
suggestions, there is the need of institutional changes in Brazil like CDM national
regulation with the definition of domestic rules and guarantee of property rights. This
work is a little contribution to show as agribusiness managers can benefit of this market
avoiding larger risks and, at the same time, to add value to the company as an agent in
the combat to the climate change.
Sugarcane Growers’ Perceptions of a Graduated Mortgage Loan
Repayment Scheme to Buy Farmland in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa
Mark Darroch, Mopai Mashatola
Improving access to land by people previously excluded from the land market can
promote long-term political stability and economic growth in South Africa. Private sector
sugar millers tried to facilitate such access by selling farmland during 1995-2000 to
highly-leveraged, aspirant medium-scale commercial farmers (MSFs) in KwaZulu-Natal
province using a graduated mortgage loan repayment scheme (GMLS) administered by
Ithala Bank. This paper reports on a survey in 2001 of the MSFs’ perceptions of the
GMLS that aimed to identify what aspects could be improved to better implement future
rounds of this scheme, or similar private/public sector GMLSs for other farm sectors.
Personal interviews were held with the 99 MSFs in the scheme in June 2001 to elicit
their views on aspects such as the cash flow problem associated with land purchases;
the 20-year sugarcane supply agreements that they signed when buying the farms; the
quality of mentorship provided by the millers; loan terms; and co-ordination and farm
valuation issues. Given the 89% response rate, the results adequately represent their
perceptions of the scheme’s performance to date. Logit analysis was also used to
identify why most (68%) of the sample MSFs would have opted to first rent land before
buying.