Agriculture

Our agriculture department is dedicated to fostering sustainable practices, innovative technologies, and optimal crop management to support the growth and productivity of the agricultural industry.

Trade Finance and Leasing Agriculture Sector

Sun Company Group (SCG) provides trade and lease finance to the farmers through an “Agriculture Credit Union” (ACU) which is an organization with minimum 50 individual members (SCG & 49 other farms) on a cooperative basis for the purpose meeting its members’ needs for rendering financial services at the expense of pooled monetary contributions of the members of the Credit Union.

Traditionally the financing of agricultural production was based only on the interaction between a farmer and his lender. With establishment of SCG’s Agriculture Union it is now possible to include more parties to the transaction to create a new form of finance. Insurance and price protection can now be bundled into the financing transaction to reduce the risk and financing cost for both the financier and the farmer. What was previously considered irrelevant by lenders is the use of modern information technologies such as precision farming to further reduce the credit risk. On the Agriculture Credit Union collaborative platform information services are seamlessly available to participants on the network. The ACU collaborative platform also connects input suppliers and off-takers into the financial transaction. Participating input suppliers automatically receive payment guarantees which remove their credit risk. Participating off-takers get guaranteed delivery of harvested produce that has been contracted. Both input suppliers and off-takers gain insight into their supply chain which reduces inventory and logistics costs, all potential savings that can be passed to farmers. By standardising business processes and centralising data in one location, risks are reduced for all parties participating on the ACU network which increases margins and profits.

Benefit for Financiers

Financiers will use ACU online collaboration platform to manage:

  • Information about their customer base
  • The take-on process of vetting the credit-worthiness of the farmer, through Enterprise Budgets, Production Planning, other financial statements, assessments of historic and potential production
  • Credit rating, scoring and decision around the value of the contract to be entered into with the farmer.

Once a contract has been entered into with the farmer, ACU platform is used to administer the loan facility through

  • Contracting producers and establishing their credit facilities
  • Controlled disbursements (to producers or supply chain actors) when pre-requisite criteria have been met
  • Ensuring that securitisation mechanisms are in place at all times
  • Authorised system users approve and decline transactions for operational control at all times
  • Facility closure is managed closely to ensure full repayment of the facility
  • Investor confidence due to the proven market-acceptance of the ACU Enterprise Platform and the control it affords to the financiers’ operations
  • Reduced credit risk
  • Longer financing cycles
  • Geographic diversification
  • Market growth through fast scaling of operational activities.

Our Service to Producers-Farmers

Financiers will use ACU online collaboration platform to manage:

  • Information about their customer base
  • The take-on process of vetting the credit-worthiness of the farmer, through Enterprise Budgets, Production Planning, other financial statements, assessments of historic and potential production
  • Credit rating, scoring and decision around the value of the contract to be entered into with the farmer.

Once a contract has been entered into with the farmer, ACU platform is used to administer the loan facility through

  • Contracting producers and establishing their credit facilities
  • Controlled disbursements (to producers or supply chain actors) when pre-requisite criteria have been met
  • Ensuring that securitisation mechanisms are in place at all times
  • Authorised system users approve and decline transactions for operational control at all times
  • Facility closure is managed closely to ensure full repayment of the facility
  • Investor confidence due to the proven market-acceptance of the ACU Enterprise Platform and the control it affords to the financiers’ operations
  • Reduced credit risk
  • Longer financing cycles
  • Geographic diversification
  • Market growth through fast scaling of operational activities.