Hortgro remains committed to its goal of improving the lives of everyone in agricultural communities. We strive to do this via the following programmes: Mentor and Internship Programme, Management Programme, Young Industry Leaders Programme, and the Hortgro Bursary Programme.
Industry Launchpad | The next-generation leadership programme
The objective of this 2-year programme is to expose the next generation of industry leaders to industry structures; expanding the pool and network of peers from various disciplines and backgrounds. The aim is to equip and develop industry leaders at all levels for leadership positions within the industry.
It would be expected of selected individuals to contribute in both time and monetary terms. Hortgro Pome and Hortgro Stone will continue to support the programme with local travel and accommodation costs on a ±50:50 basis.
The programme will be guided by a steering committee comprising Stephen Rabe (who will also serve as industry custodian), Anton Rabe, Wiehann Steyn, and Astrid Arendse.
20 individuals will be selected from a spectrum of industry activities, including production, packing, technical and trade/marketing to ensure a balanced group where participants can share and learn from each other. Individuals should be younger than 40.
Industry stakeholders are encouraged to nominate interested and enthusiastic individuals with the aptitude for future industry service, networking, and personal development. Calls for nominations are shared across all Hortgro communication platforms.
Where there is interest from prospective participants in pursuing a more formal Leadership or Management development programme at an academic institution of their choice, applications for financial support will be considered on a case-by-case basis as part of the Hortgro Bursary Programme.
Hortgro Management and Leadership Programme
With a discretionary grant from AgriSETA, Hortgro funded the pilot phases of a Development Leadership Assessment Centre for Production Managers with Mazars Advisory as the service provider.
The programme is designed to target three levels of leadership namely: Team Leaders, Production Managers and Farm Managers.
Our first group of students completed the programme and graduated at the end of 2020.
Mentor and Internship Programme
The programme aims to connect agricultural (but not limited to) students to in-service training opportunities to meet their qualification requirements for graduation, and at the same time to diversify the agricultural sector and develop a new cohort of farming professionals in the fruit industry
Across the country, hundreds of students with various qualifications cannot access in-service training opportunities to complete their qualifications. When they can, they are often left to their own devices with little or no mentorship or structure. This is a huge system inefficiency resulting in learners with incomplete qualifications who cannot enter the workplace. More info>>