FarmInvestOpen the app

FarmInvest blog

Farm investment insight, app updates and how-to guides

Written for investors weighing up farming in South Africa and Zimbabwe, and for farmers getting the most out of the FarmInvest app.

Freshly harvested tomatoes and watermelons being loaded for market
Investing

Farm investment in South Africa and Zimbabwe: how it actually works

What you are funding, how the money is held, when returns are paid and what the real risks are when you invest in farming through FarmInvest.

6 September 2026 6 min read

Read article
Irrigated maize under a centre pivot on a South African farm at golden hour
Risk & returns
The real risks of farm investment in South Africa (and how they are managed)
Drought, load-shedding, input inflation, market gluts, theft and currency swings — the six risks that decide a South African farming return, and the controls that reduce each one.
5 September 2026 7 min
Tomato crop on trellis inside a production tunnel with drip irrigation
Risk & returns
Farm investment returns explained: gross yield, deductions and what actually lands in your account
A line-by-line walk-through of how a farming return is calculated in South Africa, from gross sales to deductions to your share, with worked numbers.
4 September 2026 6 min
Farmer and investor reviewing yield figures on a tablet beside crates of vegetables
Case studies
Case study: a six-month tunnel tomato cycle, from funding to payout
How one greenhouse tomato project was budgeted, funded, monitored and paid out — including the week the price dropped and what was done about it.
3 September 2026 6 min
Tractor ploughing a field before the planting season
Case studies
Case study: what the tractor hire scheme earned in its first four months
Tillage demand, utilisation rates, running costs and payouts from the partner tractor network — a worked example of an asset-backed farming investment.
2 September 2026 5 min
Farmer checking his crop records on a phone in a maize field
Investing
Why investors are backing documented farms instead of informal deals
Handshake farming deals fail on records, not on soil. Here is what documentation changes for an investor and what to ask for before you transfer money.
28 August 2026 5 min
Tractor ploughing red soil on a farm at sunset
Investing
The tractor hire scheme: turning equipment into an income asset
How the FarmInvest tractor hire scheme works — units, minimum placement, the four-month return point and the five-year term.
14 August 2026 4 min
Greenhouse plastic, shade netting and irrigation pipe stacked at a depot
App updates
App update: farm inputs store, project gallery and faster offline sync
The latest FarmInvest app release adds an inputs store with checkout, a photo gallery of live projects and quicker syncing when signal comes back.
2 September 2026 4 min
Trainer teaching farmers inside a greenhouse tunnel
How to use the app
How to use the FarmInvest app: your first week, step by step
A practical walkthrough for new users — set up your farm, record your first crop and batch, capture costs and read your first report.
20 August 2026 7 min
Cattle grazing on a Southern African farm
How to use the app
Every FarmInvest feature and what it does for you
Records, weather, market prices, training, the store, tractor hire, marketplace, jobs and the investor portal — a plain guide to what is in the app.
8 August 2026 6 min
Handshake between a farmer and an investment partner in a field
Investing
What we look for before we list a farm to investors
Our screening steps for farmers and projects: land rights, water, agronomy, record-keeping and a realistic budget.
30 July 2026 5 min