Limpopo Business 2018-19 edition

OVERVIEW Agriculture

OVERVIEW Agriculture Tomato paste factory holds great potential. Woolworths receives “indigenous” eggs laid by Bosveld hens on the property of an independent farmer in Bela Bela, cabbage and butternut produced by five smallholders is channelled by Spar through its Fresh Assembly Point in Mopani and the Ezemvelo Direct Farm Programme of Massmart has left behind a legacy of small-scale farmers now connected to the fresh produce supply chain – and a packhouse in Limpopo run by a co-operative. All of South Africa’s major retailers have enterprise development programmes which connect farmers to suppliers. Massmart’s five-year programme, which tailed off as the company focussed more on the manufacturing sector more relevant to their main business, trained more than 700 farmers in logistics, food safety and financial management. At its peak, the programme was supporting 164 smallholder farmers. In another initiative to link farmers to markets, the Limpopo Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (LDARD) organised a Market Linkage Information Day in May 2018 at Soekmekaar (photograph above). The Limpopo regional office of the Industrial Development Corporation has recently helped expand the province’s agricultural sector by supporting the creation of two blueberry operations near Tzaneen. The Provincial Government of Limpopo’s nine-point economic plan includes RAAVC (the revitalisation of the agriculture and agriprocessing value chain). National government’s Industrial Policy Action Plan (IPAP) acknowledges agri-processing as one of the best sectors for labour-intensive SECTOR INSIGHTS Enterprise development programmes are boosting small-scale farming. • Molemole is set to get an agricultural office. growth. In that context, the decision by Dursots-All Joy to relaunch and upgrade the tomato processing plant in Modjadjiskloof, Tzaneen, is important for the larger economy. At least 15 commercial farmers now have a ready market for one of Limpopo’s chief products and there is potential for the factory to employ as many as 300 people. There is a shortage of tomato paste in South Africa. More support for farmers comes in the allocation of R32-million by the provincial government for the construction of the Molemole Agricultural Office in the Capricorn District Municipality. In addition to LIMPOPO BUSINESS 2018/19 52

OVERVIEW tackling drought, the Limpopo Department of Agriculture and Rural Development has had to put a strategy in place to fight Fall Army Worm. The percentage contribution of Limpopo agriculture to national agriculture is 7.6% although its contribution to provincial GDP is just 2.3%. Agri-processing has enormous potential to expand in every subsector. The establishment of agri-parks and co-operatives and support for youth in farming are key provincial government initiatives. Limpopo’s fruits and vegetables form an important part of South Africa’s export basket. Companies like ZZ2 are major contributors to the country’s annual production of 120 000 tons of avocadoes. Of the current crop, about half is currently produced in two Limpopo regions, Letaba and Tzaneen. Exports are rising exponentially. In response to this demand, and the potential of the Chinese market, almost 1 000ha per year of new land is being planted with avocadoes in South Africa. The same amount of new macadamia planting is underway every year, according to the Southern African Macadamia Growers’ Association (SAMAC), adding to the existing 19 000ha. The other big sellers are mangoes and tomatoes. Limpopo grows three-quarters of South Africa’s mangoes and two-thirds of its tomatoes. The Waterberg District produces large quantities of red meat, Capricorn has potatoes in abundance, Vhembe in the north specialises in citrus and subtropical fruits, Mopani has those fruits too – and the Mopani worm. The Sekhukhune region in the south-east produces grain and Amarula cream liqueur. Through the provincial government’s Letsema programme in financial year 2017/18 (to the end of Q3), 98 projects comprising 2 579 smallholder farmers, 5 096 subsistence farmers and 26 black commercial farmers received supported. In terms of the Provincial Red Meat Cluster Development as a catalyst towards sustainable rural livelihoods development through livestock farming, an Nguni cattle loan project saw a total of 350 livestock breeding animals distributed in 2017/18 to 16 farms. The ONLINE RESOURCES Agro-Food Technology Station, Limpopo University: www.ul.ac.za ARC-Institute for Tropical and Subtropical Crops: www.arc.agric.co.za Citrus Growers Association: www.cga.co.za Deciduous Fruit Producers Trust: www.dfpt.co.za Limpopo Department of Agriculture and Rural Development: www.lda.gov.za South African Macadamia Growers’ Association: www.samac.org.za South African Subtropical Growers’ Association: www.subtrop.net scheme, a partnership between DARD, the Industrial Development Corporation (IDC) and the University of Limpopo, aims to improve the quality of breeding stock. It also forms part of the development of a provincial Red Meat Cluster. Vegetables and crops The Vhembe District in the far north and the Letaba Valley in the eastern Mopani District are major contributors to the Johannesburg Fresh Produce Market, with Limpopo growers as a group contributing about 45% of the produce sold at Johannesburg Fresh Produce Market, Africa’s biggest market. ZZ2 is the major brand of Bertie van Zyl (Pty) Ltd, which produces 160 000 tons of tomatoes per year. Westfalia is another huge enterprise, part of the Hans Merensky Group, and it is world’s largest avocado grower. It also produces significant quantities of mango, litchi, citrus and macadamia and has three agri-processing plants in the province. Greenway Farms supplies about 45% of the fresh-market carrots consumed in Southern Africa under the Rugani brand. The two most active agricultural companies in Limpopo are NTKLA (with its headquarters in Modimolle) and Afgri, South Africa’s biggest agricultural company, which has its headquarters in Centurion (Gauteng). NTKLA is a shareholder in Venda Roller Mills in Thohoyandou and operates 10 grain silos, 23 retail outlets, 28 flour depots and one cold-storage facility. 53 LIMPOPO BUSINESS 2018/19