They cultivate sultanas, honeybush and citrus. Three emerging farmers, three success stories. Such is the quality of their crops that they have found their way to export markets.
     Seven years old and planting her first sultana vine. That is how it all began for a little girl growing up in Eksteenskuil in the Northern Cape.
     Earlier this year that same girl, now a successful businesswoman, was named Top Producer for Export Markets in the 2008 Female Farmer of the Year competition. With her cash prize, she intends to grow her business.
Elize Beukes from Skaapeiland near Kakamas started Elize Boerdery in 2000. Her sultanas, grown on two hectares, are delivered to SAD who undertake the drying process on her behalf. Today her raisins are exported to several countries, mostly the UK. It is a fantastic success story. How did she do it?

“My advice to young women is to go for training first of all. I had definite goals and I wanted to be the best, but first of all I went for training,” says Beukes.

She uses 17 seasonal workers during the harvest in February and temporary labour during the rest of the year. “I’m mostly an organic farmer,” she admits, and adds tongue-in-cheek: “I care too much about my erdwurms in the soil.”
Beukes, who was funded by the Northern Cape Department of Agriculture, also cultivates 0.5 ha of peaches, mostly Oom Sarel, some Pink Lady apples, as well as white and brown figs. She also has a small piggery.

“The goal of my business is to be a profitable company,” says Beukes. Which is why she intends using her R50 000 cash prize to buy drying benches for her sultanas and peaches. “I want to expand and obtain more land.”

Her partner in training is the SA Agri Academy (SAAA), an article 21 company based in Stellenbosch, that focuses on training support for exporters. The board of directors represents all the major industry bodies in the fruit- and vegetable industries. Exporters are also linked on a national basis.

According to Lina Keyter, CEO of the SAAA, their Market Development Training Programme (MDP) has shown that skills development really makes a difference when it comes to sustainable market access for emerging farmers. “It has also shown that good partnerships lead to a positive outcome for land reform,” emphasises Keyter.

The MDP focuses on capacity building in technical, financial, marketing, production, management and life skills of emerging agricultural businesses. A group of trainers who are also registered assessors, are assisted by experts in the presentation of the above-mentioned courses. These experts are representatives of the SAAA’s domestic and international partners who support the objective of all SAAA training courses, namely sustainable market access. Training is based on active learning and consists of theoretical classroom sessions followed by practical visits to illustrate best business practice.
The skills development programmes facilitated by the SAAA are backed up by partnerships within a network of expertise and contacts. The SAAA has been instrumental in partnering an up and coming empowerment initiative near Plettenberg Bay in the Western Cape. It involves organic green honeybush tea, which is now being shipped to Italy and Belgium where the market for herbal teas is growing.

“Our goal is poverty relief,” says Sidney le Fleur, co-founder of the hugely successful Ericaville honeybush project at The Crags in Plett. The Ericaville Farming Trust supports 84 previously impoverished families on the 39 hectare farm where they grow mostly honeybush, with vegetables such as butternut, potatoes, beetroot, spinach and beans, and proteas as sidelines.

Following their request for a government land grant in 1996, the Ericaville Farming Trust received R1.36 million grant money in 2000 which they used to purchase a 40ha farm 35km from Ericaville. A specialist from the Western Cape Department of Agriculture evaluated the land and they were advised to start a 5ha honeybush plantation. The first harvest took place 15 months later in 2003. Their first ten tons of tea were sold the next year. The rest is history, and since then the business has more than doubled its capacity.
Le Fleur explains that the recent order from Belgium was a direct outcome of training and an overseas visit facilitated by the SAAA, where he assists as a training coordinator. Honeybush has been harvested in the Southern Cape for decades, where it was used mainly as a household product. Increased popularity put pressure on natural plantations and to cope with commercial demand, community members in Ericaville and nearby Haarlem started cultivating honeybush in the late 1990s.

While the Ericaville area is generally impoverished and unemployment rates hover around 50%, the Ericaville Farming Trust (EFT) members are on average well-educated (high school or higher) and some have rewarding full-time jobs in the hospitality or banking industries. Le Fleur explains that the commercial honeybush farm is intended as an additional, not a main source of income, that it is a community responsibility underpinned by social ties rather than economical obligations. There are no salaried employees on the EFT farm and members, all of whom belong to the Griqua community, are expected to provide free labour in the evenings, weekends or when they take a day off. Pensioners, who have more time on hand, often provide the bulk of the labour. EFT keeps track of how much labour each member puts in and those who cannot make their contribution to the work are expected to pay for the salary of someone to take their place.

The business offers a return on their investment, and income is generated from jobs such as field clearing, planting, weeding and harvesting. EFT has its own tractor and bakkie and has constructed a pack shed for equipment and harvested honeybush. A truck is rented from one of the members to transport the harvested honeybush to the processor.

The honeybush processing sector has developed product and process standards for the industry and in due course plantation production will replace wild harvesting. From humble beginnings as pioneers of cultivated honeybush production in South Africa, the EFT smallholder farmers have now been integrated in a modern supply chain of an industrialising food sector. This calls for further training as regards compliance with the demands of international markets.

“We also invest in the children of projects in which we are involved,” explains Keyter. ‘Agri Appi’ is one of two flagship programmes initiated by the SAAA. It consists of international internships targeted at the youth of the agricultural sector. The programme entails a two year local and international exchange scheme which exposes the Agri Appis to product specific components of the value chain.
“Two EFT members’ children are currently in Germany,” says Le Fleur. These youngsters are participating in the Agri Appi programme, specifically in the berry industry. The aim is to transfer best practice and technology around the cultivation of berries. This should provide the young agriculturists with employment in existing enterprises or equip them to create their own opportunities as agri entrepreneurs.

Good news stories from the SAAA are legion. Another involves SAAA associate and trainer, who also happens to be a very successful citrus farmer in Kirkwood. Hannes Hobbs, together with 16 family members, formed the company, Wagenaar & Hobbs Boerdery, in 2002 on 12,7 ha, and developed it with citrus. The farm is managed by family members, and in addition to the five permanent staffers they make use of 20 seasonal employees.
Whereas Beukes and Le Fleur receive funding for training and development from the provincial departments of agriculture, Hobbs is funded by the Standard Bank Corporate Social Investment (CSI) Unit for training and development. Standard Bank has funded SAAA training for the past three years. The funding was provided for the Market Access Programme Training conducted by SA Agri Academy for 2006, 2007 and 2008.

“Our aim was to ensure that the beneficiaries of this programme were trained and equipped to become independent, fully commercialised businesses with sustainable local, regional and international market access,” says CSI’s Nomsa Masuku.
According to Masuku, the creation of small, thriving businesses like that of Hannes Hobbs has a direct positive impact on Standard Bank’s own business in the emerging market. “The sustainability of these businesses is linked to our own sustainability; therefore it makes good business sense for us to invest in programmes that provide people like Hannes with the skills, resources and business acumen necessary to run a successful business.”

“My goal is to expand the farm by another ±20ha within the next 5 years,” says Hobbs. “For me the ultimate objective is to be successful in what we are doing.” The business exports 90% of its citrus production and is EurepGap accredited. Not having any previous export experience, Hobbs decided to use the Sundays River Citrus Company to market and export his products. And to prove that things really are going well, he has just bought a second farm.

“Because our target group is agri businesses,” explains Keyter, “especially new entrants looking for markets or wanting to penetrate existing markets, all training is supported by our other flagship programme, namely AgriMatch.”

This means that once training has been successfully completed, agri businesses are introduced to potential buyers and partners. The SAAA networks with both local and international partners and have already linked 35 emerging businesses with markets.
For Beukes, Le Fleur and Hobbs this network of contacts has paid off handsomely. Thanks to training, market information and business advice from supportive partners, these farmers have become successful exporters. They have been exposed to and complied with international standards. They have learnt to define their goals in realistic terms, whether it be profitability, poverty relief or expanding their business. In the process, these resourceful individuals have created job opportunities in their local communities. In anybody’s book, that’s a proud achievement. May they go from strength to strength!