Ten noticeable years of transformation The Pome and Stone Fruit Industry have put their money where their mouths are since 2010 regarding transformation and sustainable development. Over the last 10 years, transformation initiatives refocused on training, worker welfare, skills development…
Richard Myburgh started out as a fruit hawker. His business was small but grew quickly. Soon he outgrew the packhouse that he was renting and it was time for him to buy his own farm. Today, despite some serious drought…
About 150 guests, politicians, dignitaries, and industry representatives attended the Deciduous Fruit Development Chamber’s Summit Launch in White River last week. Pressing issues such as how to transform the deciduous fruit value chain and how to ensure economic inclusiveness were…
By Gerrit Rautenbach Dibesho Serage, Managing Director of Groundstone Group grew up in Lebowakgomo township of Limpopo Province where he did his primary and high school studies. His mother was a school teacher and Dad owned a small all-purpose shop…
By Elise-Marie Steenkamp Transformation and economic reform in agriculture are some of the biggest challenges that South Africa faces today and that is why the Deciduous Fruit Development Chamber’s commercialization programme, the Jobs Fund Project (JFP), is such a beacon…
As communicated late last year, Hortgro and the DFDC’s paths have separated given differences specifically relating to the positioning of the DFDC as a parallel operating structure to Hortgro, operational duplication of functions, and increased confusion about identity amongst interest…
The Jobs Fund Initiatives is the Deciduous Fruit Development Chamber’s Commercialisation Programme. It started in 2016 and is aimed at graduating a group of smallholder farmers to commercial status. Hortgro and the DFDC-SA recently went on a monitoring and evaluation…
Deciduous Fruit Industry signs pledge to lead the way At the end of October, representatives from Hortgro Pome, Stone and the DFDC came together with the aim to align the industry strategy and to develop “an implementable, measurable, and future-focused…
Deciduous Fruit Industry recently decided to award excellence for transformation efforts. Transformation Awards 2022 took place on 31 March at the Technopark Protea Hotel, Stellenbosch. Here is the speech by Hortgro Chairperson, Nicholas Dicey: HORTGRO, the national umbrella industry service…
Over the last number of years, a lot has happened in the world and certainly in South Africa. Since 1994 the much-needed process of upliftment and equalisation got underway across the full spectrum. From sport to commerce, education, and farming…
By Engela Duvenage “Our mission is to enable upcoming farmers with the necessary skill, knowledge, and tools to prosper,” says Mariette Kotze, Hortgro’s group operations manager. Numerous recent documents and reports have allowed the pome and stone fruit industry to…
The Jobs Fund Project on track: The technical advisor took one look at the sad trees in front of him. “Remove the old wood from the trees,” he commanded. Ricardo du Preez did not question him. He realised that to…