daffno. 9 daffnews september 2013 3 departmental department of agriculture, forestry and fisheries...

DAFFOfficial newsletter of the Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries

September 2013

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DEPARTMENTAL

SECTOR

DEPARTMENTAL

FEA category winners

DAFF, FAO and SAWS partner to improve climate information services

DAFF welcomes hardworking graduates from China

SAAGA successfully grows local market

International flower exhibition in Moscow

DEPARTMENTAL

DEPARTMENTAL

SECTOR

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SECTOR

Harnessing womens’ talent for sustainable food security

The Department of Agricul-ture, Forestry and Fisheries (DAFF) has included among its top priorities programmes that will have a direct contri-bution to the achievement of the strategic goal of eliminat-ing skewed participation in the sector.

Over the decades, the role of women has been undervalued. It is in this context that DAFF through the Female Entrepreneur Awards Programme has taken upon itself to reward and recognise the role that these outstanding women play in the sector. The programme has been identified as a tool that will encourage new entrants-black and white, young and old, disabled, small and medium enterprises to enter the sector. It was also impor-tant to find ways to ensure that all these different constituents of the sector constituents of the sector genuinely feel and see themselves as belonging to a single entity.

Ms Tina Joemat-Pettersson at the Female Entrepreneur Awards function, held at St George Hotel, Pretoria.



SAMGA pulls out all stops on local marketing

September 2013 DAFFnews No. 9 2

Departmental

Editor Piwe Mbiko (012) 319 6936 [email protected] Thuli Dube (012) 319 7929 [email protected] Samuel Kgatla (012) 319 7181 [email protected] Innocent Mhlanga (012) 319 7827 [email protected] Rony Moremi (012) 319 6622 [email protected] Mercia Smith (012) 319 6666 [email protected] Elias Sekgwele (012) 319 7819 [email protected] Zwiswa Mulaudzi (012) 319 6958 [email protected] Lerato Mofokeng (012) 319 7927 [email protected] Willie de Jager (012) 319 6636 [email protected] Pam Sutherland (012) 319 7104 [email protected] Website: www.daff.gov.za

DAFFnews is the newsletter of the Department of Agriculture, Forestry

and Fisheries. Private Bag X250, PRETORIA 0001.

It is published by the Directorate Communication Services, Private Bag

X144, PRETORIA 0001.

Opinions expressed in DAFFnews are not necessarily those of the

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permission from the editor.

Best Female Worker in the sector- This category recognises outstanding service in the sectors. Farmers and farm own-ers; foresters and forestry companies; fishers and fishing companies should nominate the best worker for each entity.

Ms Sphiwe Machika started working on Tethabiseng Farm-ing Project in 2010. The project is a 6-ha community project farming with broilers and vegetables such as cabbage, carrot, lettuce and spinach. Sphiwe is responsible for recordkeeping on the use of pesticides, yields and costs. She is also responsible for the irrigation equipment. In the broiler section she weighs the chickens, checks their medication and handles the sales. In December 2012 she was appointed as chicken team leader because she has excellent leadership skills and she ensures that the group that she leads performs the required tasks. New casual workers are trained by her. Sphiwe is planning to study and get a Diploma in Agriculture.

Best Subsistence Producer in the Sector- This category caters only for beginners within the sector.

Thojane farming was formed as a cooperative and is owned and managed by 6 members. It was established in 2009 and is situated in Boekenhout village near Rustenburg. Organic farming and permaculture are practised. Three tons of green beans, 3 tons of tomatoes and 6 tons of spinach are produced and sold to local vegetable markets such as the Goodluck Café. No chemical or fertilisers are used. Potential customers are the miners in the area, including hostels attached to the mines. They want to concentrate on markets that sell organic produce such as Woolworths. A herb garden was established recently, the group wants to extract essential oils from the herbs to use in the indigenous methods to protect their crops. It is also their mission to train women and youth to become more competent.


Ms Siphiwe Machika, best female worker (in the blue jacket), with her colleagues flanked by Nyameka Makonya of Total SA and MEC for Agriculture and Rural Development in Gauteng Province, Ms Nandi Mayathula-Khoza.

Ms Kenalemang Kgoroeadira of Thojane farming who won the category: Best Subsistence Producer. From left are Dr Shadrack Moephuli, ARC CEO, Mr Mortimer Mannya DAFF DDG for Agricultural Production, Health and Food Safety.

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No. 9 DAFFnews September 2013 3

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Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Female Entrepreneur Awards (DAFF FEA) event was all about celebrating women in the Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries sector and ac-knowledging their role as sources of food security, not only to their families but the entire country. The DAFF FEA in partnership with Total SA held on 23 August 2013 at Saint George Hotel was an acknowledgement and recognition of the crucial role played by women in the sector.

Addressing women entrepreneurs, the Minister, Ms Tina Joemat-Pettersson, em-phasised the role of women in national food security. She praised women to strive for good quality produce and that there is a guaranteed market for their produce through organisations such as the World Food Programme, which will procure 8% of its produce from smallholder farmers. In support of the Minister, the General Man-ager of Sales and Marketing at Total South Africa, Ms Pansy Mekwa, said the Public-Private Partnership with the department is a good vehicle in the empowerment of women. She further made reference to the 2010 Overall Winner Mavis Mathabatha, who started with 12 Moringa trees and has now expanded her plantation by 7 500 trees in a 15 ha orchard and is exporting crushed moringa, moringa powder and moringa capsules to Indonesia, the United States and United Kingdom.

Referring to the state of food security in the country, with statistics showing that over 12 million (22,7%) South Africans have inadequate access to food, the Min-ister said, “Female Entrepreneur Awards must therefore be used, among others, to sound an alarm, not only to these competi-tion finalists but to every household in SA where hunger may hold a firm grip to heed the torrential message of “one household one food garden,

“It must be noted however that the South African women in agriculture remained steadfast producers despite the harsh consequences of the act and this is even

long before the advent of democracy in this country,” she said. The Minister, Ms Tina Joemat-Pettersson, said the awards, now 13 years since inception, is one of the many noble initiatives government has come up with to address some of the consequences of the Natives Land Act.

The Minister emphasised that the awards aim to encourage, reward and inspire youth to participate in the sector. She added that the awards are meant to include women in the entire value chain. Receiving her award, the overall winner, Nomzamo Khoza, said the award means a lot for the work she does and encour-aged other women in the sector to know and strive for everything they do.

The Female Entrepreneur Awards start at provincial level where all nine provincial departments of agriculture participate in the different categories and culminate at national level. However, it does not end with the prizegiving ceremony but there will be continuous support for the win-ners through excursions, exchange pro-grammes (local, national and international exposure) by DAFF and the provincial departments of agriculture.

The awards categories and winners

Best Female Worker in the Sector and •the winner is Siphiwe Machika from GautengBest Subsistence Producer in the Sec-•tor and the winner is Kenalemang Olga Kgoroeadira from North West Top Entrepreneur in the Sector: Small-•holder and the winner is Lungelwa Kama from Eastern Cape Top Entrepreneur Processing in the •Sector and the winner is Mpho Rosy Molete-Matlanyane from the Free State Top Female Entrepreneur in the •Sector: Commercial and the winner is Thandi Cynthia Mokwena from Mpumalanga

Top Entrepreneur in the Sector: Export •Markets and the winner is Nomzamo Khoza from KwaZulu-Natal Top Entrepreneur National Markets •and the winner is Maria Malan from Northern Cape Minister’s Special Awards (recognise •young entrepreneurs and/or persons with disabilities in the sector) and the winners are Josephine Mabyalwa Raserope-Rikhotso from Limpopo. The award also went to Nobuhle Mthembu from KwaZulu-Natal. The winner in the youth section is Preline Swart of Western Cape.

The 2013/14 Overall Winner of these categories went to Nomzamo Khoza from KwaZulu-Natal. The reigning farmer will be in this position up until August 2014 when the new Overall Winner will be an-nounced.

DAFF Female Entrepreneur Awards 2013

By Rony Moremi


Departmental

Top Entrepreneur in the sector: Smallholder. In this cat-egory the enterprise must demonstrate the actual activities which have been in progress for a year and longer.

Arcstone 7cc is the farm of Ms Lungelwa Kama near Ugie. The project was started in 2009 and mainly potatoes, cabbage and spinach are produced on 60 ha. There is a further 80 ha of maize also. Lungelwa rented a potato washer to clean, sort and pack the potatoes. The product is sold in Mthata on the market and in surrounding villages. There are 6 permanent workers and 48 casual workers; mostly youth are employed.

Top Entrepreneur in the Sector: Processing. In this category Entrepreneurs are allowed to enter even if they are not producing what they are processing. However, they must demonstrate the actual processing activities which have been in progress for a year and longer.

Rosy’s Dairy in Bethlehem was started in 2011 by Ms Rosy Molete-Matlanyane. She buys raw milk from neighbouring farms, pasteurises it and processes the milk to make yoghurt, maas and cheese. 300 l of milk are pasteurised every second day and cheeses such as haloumi and Gouda are made manually as Rosy likes to pay attention to detail. Every quarter she takes two young people in for training. Currently she is in a 65 square meter shop, but soon she is moving to a 140 square meter building where she will be able to expand to other products like soy milk, powdered milk, sachet juice en vegetable packing. Her produce is sold to Sandwich Baron, the local military base and Save Rite. She maintains strict value-chain standards, for example HAACP, phytosanitary and health requirements.

Top Entrepreneur in the Sector: Commercial. In this cat-egory the enterprise must demonstrate the actual activi-ties which have been in progress for a year and longer. The group/individual should have defined membership and role(s) within a properly constituted and registered entity.

Mentorship and commitment to business ethics had enable Ms Cynthia Makwena to re-establish the farms DaGama and Legogote and in 2001 she started Matsino Business Enterprise. The farm consists of 700 ha, of which 350 ha are grazing land, 300 ha have gum trees and 50 ha are subtropical crops and vegetables. The gum trees are used for the production of pulp, mining timber, building and electric poles. The bananas, spinach and tomatoes are sold to local hawkers and shops. There are 27 permanent workers and 15 temporary workers who are hired to assist with pruning and cleaning of fireguards. In ensuring that financial management of the project is in order and in compli-ance of SARS, an accountant is hired.


In the middle is Mrs lLungelwa Kama, top entrepreneur in the small holder category.

Ms Rosy Molete-Matlanyane, winner in the category: Top Entrepreneur Processing.

Ms Thandi Mokwena, Top Entrepreneur Commercial and Dr Pieter Mulder, Deputy Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries on the right.


Departmental

Top Entrepreneur in the Sector: Export Markets. In this category the enterprise must be producing for export mar-kets with products distributed across provincial boundaries and international outlets.

The farm enterprise is divided into two companies, People’s Bio Oil and Morana Fire for Africa. The farm is situated in the Mnini area near Port Shepstone. Currently 201 products are marketed, everything from the moringa tree. Tonics, cap-sules, hair food, body products and seasonings are among the products. All products made by PBO are natural with no chemicals. At the moment 120 job opportunities are created in the nurseries, farm, offices and the factory. There are 200 distributors of the moringa products. Apart from selling the products at local stores and advertising there in newspapers, markets were established in Argentina and Mozambique. People’s Bio Oil is a community upliftment, private business, committed to develop the rural communities by providing busi-ness and farming skills.

Ministerial Special Awards. This category awards recog-nition of outstanding young and/person with disability entrepreneur. The Minister exercises her prerogative to select the outstanding entrepreneur.

Minister’s Special Awards (recognise young entrepreneurs and/or persons with disabilities in the sector) and the winners are Josephine Mabyalwa Raserope-Rikhotso from Limpopo. The award also went to Nobuhle Mthembu from KwaZulu-Natal. The winner in the youth section was Preline Swart of the Western Cape.

Ms Tina Joemat-Pettersson, Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, Ms Pansy Mekwa, Export markets winner and overall winner and Ms Sizakele Khumalo, First Lady.

Top Entrepreneur in the Sector: National MarketsMs Maria Malan started farming in 2001 with 40 ewes on

the Carnarvon commonage. Presently, she is farming with 320 sheep on the farm Rondefontein, which she is renting from the Department of Agriculture. She does not use any new technol-ogy as the old methods of farming have earned her a certifica-tion for AAA grade meat. She practises rotational grazing and takes good care of the veld. She ensures that the camps are not being taken over by invader plants by regularly walking through all 16 camps and observing the vegetation. She has a lambing percentage of 200%, which means so far all the ewes had twins. She has to sell all her lambs every season in order not to overgraze the farm. She is mentoring her son and daughter to one day farm on their own. She donates sheep on a regular basis to impoverished households.Mr Norman Sushu, MEC for Agriculture,

Forestry and Fisheries and Ms Maria Malan, Top Entrepreneur National Markets.

The late Ms Josephine Raserope-Rikhotso from Limpopo. Ms Nobuhle Mthembu. Winner in the youth section

was Ms Preline Swart.


Departmental

Cooperation between the Depart-ment of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (DAFF), Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), South Africa Weather Service (SAWS) and University of the Free State (UFS) led to the development of a need-based capacity development programme to benefit the agricul-tural training and extension staff of KwaZulu-Natal and Mpumalanga.

The capacity development initiatives are aimed to promote localised climate information services to benefit the small-holder farmers in 12 pilot sites of these two provinces. Experiences show significant potential for up-scaling these successful initiatives to other provinces in South Africa and to other countries in the Southern Africa region to support sustainable agri-culture and food security.

Farming activities are sensitive to the weather and climate. Therefore, it is vital that farmers and farm managers, as well as the extension officers have a good un-derstanding of the relationships between climate and agriculture (crops, livestock etc.) before they can practically use climate

information services to guide on-farm decisions. The extension service providers also need to be able to communicate and discuss with the end-users in such a way that there is a clear understanding of the uncertainty associated with the information and to ensure ownership of decisions by the smallholder farmers.

There are a number of climate infor-mation products and services available that aim to improve the decision-making capacity of the farmers for managing cli-mate risks and opportunities. However, it is articulated that there is a gap between the information provider at national level and end-users, especially smallholder farmers at local level. An assessment done as part of the DAFF/FAO project “Capacity Building for South African Professionals in the Field of Agriculture and Food Se-curity” showed that the information was not reaching the farmers adequately at local level in a form that is basic, under-standable, timely and relevant to the user needs. Efforts to improve the practical application of climate information require enhancement of technical expertise at the

provincial and satellite centres to enable them to assess the climate risks in crop/livestock production, prepare localised impact outlooks and response options and then communicate these to farmers.

Building on the existing collaboration between DAFF, South Africa Weather Serv-ice (SAWS), Agricultural Research Council (ARC) and the Provincial Department of Agriculture (PDA) through the National Agro-meteorological Committee (NAC), the FAO facilitated the agro-met train-ing and provided an interface platform through a training workshop to share the experiences and needs of climate information services and products. The first training workshop for Mpumalanga was organised in two phases (September 2012 and January 2013), involving 28 trainees from the Provincial Department of Agriculture. The second training work-shop for KwaZulu-Natal was organised in June and July 2013, involving 33 trainees from the Department of Agriculture and Environmental Affairs, Cedara College


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and the University of the Free State (UFS). The benefits of the training are manifold. According to Dr Clement Adjorlolo, Pro-duction Scientist, Geospatial Science and Remote Sensing, “this training can help to strengthen existing products and services of the Bioresources Unit (BRU) of KZN Agriculture and Environmental Affairs”.

Two training modules were developed based on the needs assessment and the training curriculum includes climate and sustainable development linkages, methods and approaches of assess-ing climate risks in agriculture (crops, livestock, grasslands, etc.), basic data analysis, interpretation and identification of agro-meteorological risks and vulner-abilities, weather and climate information products and their relevance for local applications, customising weather and climate information products for the pilot sites, preparation of targeted and needs-based agro-advisories incorporating cli-mate information, management practices, communication of weather and climate information for farmers and the impact of and adaptations to climate change and variability. However, the training modules need further development to be able to integrate into the current train-ing programmes of the KZN Agriculture and Environmental Affairs. This training workshop “motivates the training centre of Cedara College to scale up within the province to other extension officers,” said Dr Harry Swatson.

In order for these modules to be effec-tive, the FAO and UFS conducted practical

field exercises and focus group discussions with farmers to better understand the needs of end-users. Follow-up activities should focus on field visits to ensure sustainability of capacity development initiatives. During these visits “discussions should focus on how the trainees plan to, or have started, applying the newly acquired knowledge of climate in their respective service areas,” said Mr. Pieter van Heerden of the UFS. Further technical support has to be provided for customising the climate information products for agriculture and discussion of seasonal forecasts with the farmer groups.

Proper interpretation of seasonal cli-mate forecasts and their application in the agriculture and food security sector for decision making still remains a chal-lenge in the Southern African region. It is, therefore, necessary to “strengthen the capacity of user agencies at the national and provincial level for effective use of cli-mate information and prediction services” said Dr Linda Makuleni, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of South African Weather Service. As the Southern Africa Regional Climate Outlook Forum (SARCOF) proc-ess continues to transform itself into an effective and reliable source of climate information and prediction services, user agencies in the agricultural sector need to increasingly engage in the interface mechanisms in order to fully exploit their potential for application. In this respect, Ms Amanda Shokane, Director, Education and Training in DAFF, stressed the need for development of a strategy for climate

information services for food and agri-culture outlining broader collaboration between DAFF, SAWS and other partners at national and regional level.

In response to the observations made during Agromet training, in both the Kwa-Zulu-Natal and Mpumalanga provinces and meetings held with various stakehold-ers, “the FAO-South Africa will in the com-ing weeks facilitate the establishment of a forum tasked with packaging smallholder farmers’ user friendly weather information and effective strategy to disseminate in-formation to targeted beneficiaries,” said Mr Tshifhiwa Madima, Senior Technical Project Manager at FAO-South Africa. The forum will be composed of, among, others, the DAFF, provincial departments of Agriculture, ARC and SAWS.

To ensure that implementation of the lessons learned and skills acquired dur-ing the Agromet training is put to good use without delay, “it is envisaged that weather information that is useful to smallholder farmers will be collected and used during the forthcoming maize and dry-beans planting seasons,” said Ms Yolanda Ntlakaza, National Project Officer at FAO-South Africa. This infor-mation will not only benefit maize and dry-bean producing pilot sites under the capacity-building project, but it is also expected to benefit other areas identified for production of maize, dry beans and other crops within the KwaZulu-Natal and Mpumalanga provinces as part of the Presidential Integrated Food and Nutrition Security Initiative.

Proper interpretation of seasonal climate forecasts and their application in agriculture and food security sector for decision-making still remains a challenge in the Southern Africa region.


Sector

The Limpopo department of Agri-culture with the German Technical Cooperation (GTC) established a pro-gramme called Broadening Agricul-tural Services and Extension Delivery (BASED) aimed at the reorientation of the extension staff so that they can become competent facilitators.

To be able to help smallholder farmers to articulate and aggregate their demand for agricultural services, it will also contribute in the concept development for the agricul-tural sector in South Africa in the context of the GTC supported rural development programmes.

The national department of agriculture (DAFF) has provided BASED with specific mandates for this project to be a success, which are; to test participatory extension approaches in pilot districts with a selected number of staff of LDA acting as future trainers and approach managers. Also to test farmers and support research suit-able technologies to increase production through the sustainable use of resources and develop agriculture-based income generating activities, lastly on the basis of successful implementation to establish mechanisms to facilitate the dissemination of the approach within the LDA and to the other provinces.

The conference was attended by all rele-vant agricultural stakeholders, and various presentations were prepared and delivered too. Dr E.M. Zwane and E.M. Kekana presented the role of extension in agricul-tural cooperatives. In their presentation they highlighted the role as important in improving the socio-economic conditions of its members by creating jobs, increas-ing the income of its members, alleviating poverty and empowering its members to participate in development by increasing the knowledge of members.

Extension conference in Limpopo

By Innocent Mhlanga

Cooperatives have challenges and therefore need extension officers’ contri-bution by being accountable to its clients, cooperating with other rural development organisations, and working with farm-ers not for them and providing technical knowledge and information. That can be also linked to problem solving in cooperatives by developing knowledge, skills, a favourable attitude in the farm-ers, dissemination of useful and practical information, helping farmers to apply knowledge to analyse and solve problems and assisting farmers to gain managerial and technical skills.

From the Directorate: National Exten-sion Reform Mr Tozamile Lukhalo gave a presentation on the overview of the draft national policy on extension and advisory services. He said DAFF has identified a need for a new policy that reflects current economic, environmental, social realities and aspirations that assign appropriate roles to all role players engaged in the three sectors.

The main purpose of the policy is to provide active collaborative engagement of all stakeholders, sectors and role play-ers involved in the value chains of the three sectors to support judicious decision making about the socially economically and environmentally sustainable use of resources in the advancement of liveli-hoods. Also to play facilitatory roles, help-ing individuals, groups and organisations to access a wide range of information, advice and services.

He further highlighted the content of the policy and different roles of the state, the private and NGO sectors and the role of the producers and processors.

The state will have to guide, oversee, harmonise, monitor and regulate all ex-tension and advisory services, to assure

the provision of extension and advisory services to lower income arrears/groups, producers and processors and facilitate access to existing facilities and schemes, and in the fisheries sector, the state will focus on support to inland fisheries, aquaculture, artisanal fisheries and coastal communities where fishing is the dominant economic activity.

Producers and processors, individually and organised group structures such as cooperatives, associations and commod-ity organisations, will also play a range of extension and advisory roles.

The private and NGO sectors will be a key provider of extension, advisory services and research to all players throughout the collective value chains, with an emphasis on those who can pay directly or through levy systems. They will also continue to play their unique and vital advisory, advo-cacy and facilitation roles with individuals, communities and organisations that are particularly marginalised and that requires assistance to improve their individual and collective circumstances.

In his speech Limpopo department of agriculture, MEC Jacob Marule said ex-tension service is an old profession which can be described as a service that provides rural people with access to knowledge and intervention that need to increase productivity and sustainability of their pro-duction systems and improve their quality of life and livelihoods, it is a transfer of knowledge and information generated by agricultural research , it helps countries to move towards meeting their food needs, conservation of natural resources and developing human and social capital. The dawn of the extension recovery plan with its pillars have significantly created a better environment for extension services to thrive.


The Department of Agriculture, For-estry and Fisheries (DAFF) welcomed and honoured the graduates from the China Agriculture University (CAU) during a glitz and glamour gala din-ner held at the Premier Hotel on 26 August.

The ten hardworking and persever-ing graduates completed their two-year scholarship programme in China. They started their scholarship programme in 2011 and completed their studies this year. Five students completed an M.Sc. in Crop Cultivation and Farming Systems at CAU, four students in Rural Development and Management Studies at CAU and one student a course in Chinese Language also at CAU.

The main graduation ceremony took place at the CAU on 22 June 2013 and DAFF made the welcoming of graduates easier here in South Africa by ensuring that everything is in order. The graduation also serves as an indication that the DAFF-China scholarship is viable and will con-tinue to develop agriculture in the country. The DAFF-China scholarship programme was kindly initiated by the Minister of Ag-riculture, Forestry and Fisheries, Ms Tina Joemat-Pettersson. In 2011, a total of 15 students were confirmed to have met the entry requirements. Altogether 14 students were admitted at CAU and one student at Nanjing Agricultural University. During the time before their departure only 12 students accepted the scholarship offered to them. The other three students declined owing to health reasons. The 12 awardees left SA on 27 August 2011. DAFF had two visits to monitor the progress of the awardees, which helped and contributed to the success.

Joe Kgobokoe, Chief Director: Sector Capacity Development, said DAFF has a cordial relationship with China concerning the scholarship programme.

“Things are being made easier because of the understanding we have with the China embassy. They always avail them-

DAFF welcomes hardworking graduates from China

By Samuel Kgatla

selves when needed and we are proud to work with such people. I am glad because the students we sent in China did not disappoint us as they have graduated. The graduates have set a good example

and we would like to see others going to China and emulating them. We have the fruits of the scholarship programme and you can all see that this is really working,” he said.

Mr Joe Kgobokgoe, Deputy Director-General: Food Security and Agrarian Reform at the gala dinner held at the Premier Hotel.

Departmental


Sector

A decision taken by the board of the South African Avocado Growers’ Asso-ciation (SAAGA), to double their local marketing budget for 2012, produced excellent results for the past season.

When looking at the volume of avoca-dos sold in relation to the prices reached over the past decade, it typically shows that where supply was higher, the prices were generally lower. 2012 stands out as a wel-come exception – despite a 50% growth in volume sold on the National Fresh Produce Markets, compared to the relatively lower volumes, higher priced 2011 season, the avocado price still increased in 2012.

Statistics prove that South Africans are currently eating more avocados more often. This could be attributed in part to SAAGA’s decision to invest a consider-able proportion of its members’ levies on increased consumer awareness and education through the media and super-markets.

In addition to the general awareness campaigns, the association also worked hand-in-hand with major retailers to in-crease sales during the 2012 avocado season. In-store activities were rolled out nationally and included display com-petitions, cooking demonstrations and consumer sampling. Retailers that partici-pated reported an excellent growth in their avocado sales, ranging between 30% to 195% compared to the sales of 2011.

Piet Muller, past chairman of the SA Sub-tropical Growers’ Association (Subtrop), and chairman of SAAGA Soutpansberg Regional Committee, said that he was pleased when the SAAGA board an-nounced the increase in the local market-ing budget for 2012.

“I believe that this decision has had a huge impact on the local marketing of avos and took the pressure off the export of green skin avocados. The increased budget did not only add to the existing campaign but also increased the scale of activities in the retail sector.” Muller

SAAGA successfully grows local market

concluded by saying: “The great improve-ment in the local avocado market will add momentum to future growth.”

With future growth in mind, SAAGA em-barked on a national consumer research project in 2012. The answers to questions like: how often South African consumers buy avos, where they buy from, whether it is planned or impulse purchases, how they eat their avocados and what they know about the nutritional value of the fruit,

About SAAGASouth African Avocado Growers’ Association’s vision is to improve the South

African avocado industry to world-class status as suppliers of avocados in both the export and domestic markets. SAAGA aims to provide its members with ac-ceptable growth and returns in a sustainable industry, while meeting the needs of its growers, service providers and customers, in an environmentally responsible manner.

Subtrop’s offices are located in the Prosperitas Building, 27 Peace Street Tzaneen. Telephone: 015 307 3676 or 015 306 6240.

have been used to determine the main message and marketing activities for this year’s season.

Using this knowledge on the consumer and a substantial budget for local mar-keting in 2013, SAAGA will once again ensure that avocados are top of mind for the South African consumer. This year’s campaign will focus strongly on retail and special efforts will be put into reaching the vitally important informal market.


Sector

The South African Mango Growers’ As-sociation (SAMGA) had to take a deep long look at their markets in recent years. The impact of the global finan-cial crisis and new entrants into the EU market resulted in South African growers changing their focus to the domestic market where demand has continued to grow.

Derek Donkin, CEO of the SA Sub-tropical Growers’ Association (Subtrop), incorporating SAMGA, explains: “At SAMGA, we have to concentrate on areas that will make a meaningful difference to our members. This means we have to focus on information, innovation and our basic mandate, to solve producer prob-lems through research and to facilitate communication. This definitely includes the opening up of new markets for our growers and the expansion of existing markets.”

With the fruit carrying labels like “The King of Fruit” and “Super Fruit” the popularity of the mango has never been in question. Fresh, its unique flavour, fragrance, taste and health-promoting qualities make it a sought after ingredient for modern cooking.

About 70% of all locally grown man-goes go into processing. Mango juice, dried fruit and the very popular mango “atchar” are just some of the processed mango products available locally.

South Africa’s fresh mango season runs from late-November through to April, and the past season saw SAMGA pulling out all stops to expand the local market. With regular trade releases, product informa-tion and recipe leaflets, mangoes were featured in many of the popular South African magazines and tabloids.

Special activities, including volume driven promotions, were run in some retail outlets. Some 150 000 mango recipe booklets were also printed and inserted into punnets to promote retail sales.

The electronic marketing campaign included an online banner being featured

SAMGA pulls out all stops on local marketing

on the “what’s for dinner” Facebook page. To reach the informal market SAMGA encouraged market agents from fresh produce markets to take part in a hawker promotion. To create increased awareness and excitement about mango atchar, activities and informative presen-tations were arranged at taxi ranks and stokvel meetings, where free samples and recipe leaflets were given out. During July, SAMGA focused its marketing activities on dried mangoes.

SAMGA has also taken the fruit to new heights with a 45 second in-flight

advert featuring both fresh and processed mangoes, which is regularly screened on Mango Airline’s on board TV screens, reaching thousands of passengers on a daily basis.

Although most of SAMGA’s marketing is focused on the local market, the pos-sibility of brand new markets for mango producers looks promising. Derek Donkin concludes by saying: “We are currently working on access to new markets such as China and India. Access to these mango-loving consumers could significantly change the face of the industry.”

About SAMGASAMGA is a producer association, set up to look after the interests of mango

growers in South Africa. SAMGA is run by a management committee with the association’s affairs being managed by the South Africa Subtropical Growers’ Association.


Sector

The XX International Flower Exhibition was held in Moscow, Russia on 28 – 30 august 2013. The presence of SA with its indigenous flowers was well worth the effort. The favourite show-piece was the “Protea Madiba”.

The Russian importers were very keen to import directly from SA and not via Holland. They believed this will save costs as well as getting fresher flowers because “Russians love fresh flowers”.

The possibility of shipping the Proteas from Cape Town to St Petersburg is under investigation.

Mr Jac Duif, CEO of the SA Flowers Export Council ( in most of the attached pictures with Mr Isaac Miti) appreciated the interest and visits by the embassy officials to the SA stand.

The North West Agri-Sector Unity Forum as representative of all major agricultural unions in the North West Province was recently launched to serve as a united voice to advance the interests of the agricultural sector in the Province.

The Forum was established by the found-ing members NW AFASA (NW African Farmer’s Association of South Africa), Agri NW, NW NAFU (NW National Afri-can Farmers Union) and TAU SA Western Region and follows on the launch of the Agri-Sector Unity Forum at National level in November 2012. NW ASUF will be

International flower exhibition in Moscow

guided by the National ASUF in its actions and will contribute as primary objective as affiliations through their respective Na-tional Organisations to the development of consensus policy positions on strategic issues in agriculture. These policy positions will be advocated to the provincial govern-ment, regional institutions and provincial community at large.

The importance and key role of agricul-ture in the economy of the NW Province will also be promoted by NW ASUF. Rela-tionships between the founding members and stakeholders and role players in the

agricultural sector will also be built and strengthened. NW ASUF will identify mat-ters of mutual interest and concern and engage with the relevant authorities and role players to address these issues con-structively and will promote and serve the interests of the agricultural sector in gen-eral. Professor MW Legotlo was elected as Chairman and Mr. Boeta du Toit as Vice Chairman.

Enquiries: Professor MW Legotlo 082 200 7910

Mr. Boeta du Toit 082 388 1722.

NW agriculture launches Unity Forum

daffno. 9 daffnews september 2013 3 departmental department of agriculture, forestry and fisheries...

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