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.
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
PROJECT AIM: 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
THE STRATEGY: Across the country and with various qualifications, hundreds of students cannot source and 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 and structure, and soon slip out. This is a huge system inefficiency resulting in learners with incomplete qualifications who cannot enter the workplace. More info>>
Young Industry Leaders 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 both time and in monetary terms. Hortgro Pome and Hortgro Stone will continue to support the programme on a ±50:50 basis with local travelling and accommodation costs.
The programme will be overseen by a steering committee consisting of Stephen Rabe (also acting as industry custodian), Anton Rabe, Wiehann Steyn and Astrid Arendse.
20 individuals will be selected from the 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.
Interested participants may apply for a bursary to pursue a formal qualification at an academic institution. Applications for financial support will be considered on a case-by-case basis as part of the Hortgro Bursary Programme.