Changing the African socio-economic landscape

From humble beginnings…

Always Better And Better

Changing the African socio-economic landscape

From humble beginnings…

R

To this

in 9 months

From this

The journey to the harvest began with a will and a vision underscored by people who wanted to be part of the solution.....

The story unfolds in Johannesburg where a successful South African business group, founded and operated by Indian expatriates, decided to do something more than being financially successful.

Led by the inspiring Chandra Dake and his Dake “family”, he decided to do something more than pledge a Rand value to his company's social investment. He said, “what do we have to offer over and above our finances”, and the answers came to light.

As a team, Dake had an abundance of expertise in Agriculture, stemming from a rich heritage in India with an agricultural economy thousands of years old and the single largest contributor to the world’s 3rd largest economy by GDP. As the world’s most populous country, India understands what it takes to feed many mouths and to offer food security.

Now the Dake team had something they could use, their knowledge, expertise and resources to impact South Africa in an industry which needed it most – Agriculture.

But the implementation was not so simple….. Agriculture in South Africa has been on a rapid descent for more than a decade and its contribution to GDP has been declining at 6% annually. Things had gone wrong, and with it so to had the once productive and arable farmlands, as well as the desire and will of the communities in these areas.

The Dake Team hit the drawing board, using their combined genius of logical and rational thought acquired from years of experience in years of management consulting, turning around large corporates, combined with their deep understanding of traditional farming. Then the team met with government, communities and farmers to gain an in-depth understanding of the complexity of challenges facing rural agricultural communities, where land redistribution initiatives had taken place. From this undertaking the Dake team came up with a holistic solution to not only uplift and impact rural communities, but to bring back the South African agricultural economy to the powerhouse it once was.

Because of the challenges facing the agricultural sector, it was imperative for the holistic plan to include an initial pilot project that would be used as a clear demonstration of the Dake Agri’s ability to succeed and generate mass support. To prove the model’s viability Dake Agri set out to identify and adopt a farm that met the criteria and would allow all aspects of the Dake Agri model to be incorporated.

As it would be, a rural community in the Tugela region of Kwa-Zulu Natal was found to be a suitable candidate for the pilot project. The community was impoverished, the land was neglected and the future held little hope and the light of the community was dim. Every morning on the farm begins in the dark, and is in its darkest stage before light. The signs of possibilities and a future hope were there for the Dake team to see, and so started an incredible journey….

– a Story of shared hope, courage and will

Prologue

Adoption

Tugela Farm

1

Dake knew that their will and desire alone were not enough to make the project a success, two vital ingredients were missing:

1. Community buy-in and participation. A project for the people must include the people and with real ownership comes real responsibility, and with that comes dignity and a good sense of pride. This is part of the Dake way.

2. Government support – as supporters of South Africa and her future, Dake knew that support of the government was essential and to make the overall bigger picture come to life their active participation would be essential, and as it turned out, the government became a major supporter of the development.

Excited, nervous, sceptical and hopeful…. These are just some of the emotions that the members of the community had at the first meeting with Dake. The community gathered in large numbers, eager to hear what the team had to say.

Questions were asked, answered were given, and concerns were addressed. The community was in agreement, they not only needed the upliftment, but wanted it for themselves and their families. It was not going to come overnight, and no grand promises were made of instant success, but a future of a an economically active and self-reliant community filled with dignified citizens who could be proud to be part of their country was birthed…

Building Trust

A Community Gathers...

The chapter was about to begin….

2

True to their word, Dake and Government began theirinvestments into machinery, fencing, expertise,implements, etc. The tractors rolled in to the farm,equipment was dropped off… a buzz began at the farm.

Preparation is the key to success…

“sharedhope,courageandwill”

3

Next the team went out into the fields asking questions such as:

• Is this land fertile

• What is the land best suited to grow

• Is the water good

Inspecting the land

Preparing the land

Before any crops could be planted, it was “Operation Clean-Up” on the farm. Years of curtailed growth had led to a land awash in weeds and alien vegetation, and soil which had not been turned in years….

4

There were many miles walked, and many thoughts and ideas shared as the land was being prepared

The Dream begins to take shape

And very soon, the dream started to take shape……………

the canal cleared and the water flowing, time to start planting drew near…

5

While rain and wind could dampen the spirits of others, the rain to the Tugela community was a sign of providence and nourishment from above, and with unbridled enthusiasm the tractors were hauled out and the planting began one seed at a time…

The future begins on seed at a time

Hope for a new future

Farming at the best of times paints a bright future for those involved, and at the Tugela Farm this was no different. As the community got involved with life on a commercial farm, they were there to witness first-hand the future harvest and their new future…

6

Learning is an on-going process

The goal was never just to add more value to the Agriculture GDP, but to add value to the communities involved.

At Dake there is a belief that one is empowered through knowledge and that knowledge which is not shared is a waste, and within Dake is a wealth of knowledge waiting to be imparted, such as:• Life-skills training• Business management• Farm management• Farming techniques, etc.

Work in progress, a community springs to life

Projecting the potential value and acceptance of the ownership of a dormant farm in an economically inactive rural community to its people, while getting them to agreeing to put their life’s work into turning the farm around is a major paradigm shift. But as they and the Dake team engaged on all levels, what was initially laborious became a labour of love. Waking up each morning to see their own crops growing became a daily inspiration, and with each passing day the community became more and more active and enthusiastic about the growth of their farm. And in each passing day their community continues to grow stronger and closer, while their next generation starts to see home, not the city, as their future for success.

7

Soon, it was time for harvest. That long-awaited and much anticipated future had now become a reality. The weather had proven itself to be our friend, the farming management and expertise had paid dividends in selecting a crop which was about to yield a wonderful harvest…

Out came the heavy equipment once again, except this time instead of tractors were harvesters, and what was harvested was a bumper crop! Truly a day for the history books, a land laid to waste and transformed into an agriculture miracle. This was something not to be kept secret, nor contained….

News spread quickly and reached the ears of the office of the Premier, who had been keeping a keen eye on developments at the Tugela Farm. Striving to get buy-in from private business and communities had been a heart-sore for the government who have a mandate and desire to uplift both rural communities and the agricultural industry. What Dake proved was that there can be buy-in on all levels – public, private and government – in a single project. The Premier readily accepted the invite to see that fruits of the harvest first hand, and the day he arrived was a joyous occasion.

The management of the farm, the buy-in from the community and the bountiful harvest simply blew the Premier away, as he saw the possibility of a “big picture” solution become a reality in front of his eyes.

With heartfelt smiles and warm words all around, a community was rebirthed and a bright and prosperous future was established for all.

First Harvest

The Premier comes to town…8

9

…better fortunes follow!

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