Black SA citrus growers see 40% hike in production
|Published
Black South African citrus growers achieved a 40 percent increase in production during the 2019/20 season. Photo: Simphiwe Mbokazi
DURBAN - BLACK South African citrus growers achieved a 40 percent increase in production during the 2019/20 season.
The Citrus Growers’ Association (CGA), with its Grower Development Company (GDC), said yesterday that several farms and black growers had increased output by more than 40 000 cartons, with one black grower increasing production by 99 000 cartons in one year.
The CGA-GDC’s general manager, Lukhanyo Nkombisa, said these successes were testament to the groundwork that had been laid over the past decade.
“The citrus industry has spent over 10 years creating structures such as the Citrus Grower Development Chamber (CGDC) to assist, guide and advise the CGA-GDC on the needs of black citrus growers so that the GDC may provide them with the support they need to thrive.
“The CGDC is run by black producers who ensure that the citrus industry is committed to supporting the initiatives that will result in the establishment of an inclusive citrus industry, with a sound transformation agenda,” said Nkombisa.
According to the association, last year black citrus growers provided more than 400 000 cartons of fruit to South African grocery stores and supermarkets. In addition, more than 75 percent of black citrus growers exported their produce to global markets.
This as the South African citrus industry saw a record-breaking 2020 export season, delivering 146 million cartons of citrus to the rest of the world.
CGA-GDC said these figures showed that the growth of the citrus industry in recent years had been inclusive, and transformation, which was one of the fundamental objectives of the organised citrus industry, was picking up pace.
The CGA-GDC helps to facilitate and support the establishment and empowerment of black citrus growers through assistance with production infrastructure, such as irrigation, mechanisation, building structures and equipment. It also assists with technical support and business management support to help growers with the commercialisation of their fruit in South African stores and obtaining regulatory compliance, to become accredited exporters to the global market.
Nkombisa said these transformation initiatives were partly made possible by the export citrus levy that was gazetted in December last year by Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development Minister Thoko Didiza. The levy would be funded by 1 250 citrus growers over the next four years, and 20 percent of the levy would be allocated to the development of black citrus growers.
This funding would be invested in the CGA’s recently finalised four-year transformation plan, which would be implemented this year through the CGA-GDC and the Citrus Academy.
The plan would focus on the provision of enterprise and supplier development programmes to black growers, the provision of skills development programmes to black growers, the roll-out of socio-economic development programmes in rural communities, ensuring the sustainable growth of black owned enterprises and greater representation of black growers in industry leadership positions.
CGA chief executive Justin Chadwick said the Agriculture and Agro-processing Master Plan was an initiative of the Presidency to stimulate inclusive growth in the agricultural sector.
“The CGA has committed to the development of this plan. With a solid base of successful black citrus growers, initiatives driven by the CGA-GDC will assist in ensuring sustainable development,” said Chadwick.
BUSINESS REPORT