Business

Western Cape farmer Andries van der Poll grows wheat and medics on rotation on dryland, produces irrigated maize, and runs Dohne Merino sheep and Red Angus cattle. He spoke to Jeandré van der Walt about his agricultural journey and the mixed blessings of state funding.

Few consumers properly understand how food production works or have any emotional connection with farmers and farming. This is according to Lauren Murphy, who, through her Internet-based farm produce marketing company, is helping to narrow this gap while supplying tasty, nutritious food to her many loyal clients in KwaZulu-Natal.

By developing and establishing partnerships, Luleka Mbete’s business, LM Holdings, has initiated a system that brings sorghum producers in the Eastern Cape together to link them to funding, technical expertise, markets and training.

Hortfin was launched in October last year to create jobs and accelerate transformation in South Africa’s deciduous fruit, table grape and wine industries. Michael Brinkhuis, CEO of Hortfin, spoke to Glenneis Kriel about the fund and the progress it has made so far.

Jack Coetzee, chef of Johannesburg-based Urbanologi restaurant and a believer in sustainable living, sources all his ingredients from within a 150km-radius of the restaurant. To achieve this, he has worked hard at building close working relationships with local farmers.

Although honeybush has long been used in parts of South Africa to brew a caffeine-free tea, it has remained a small-scale activity. However, the industry has potential to grow and thus create jobs for poor communities in the Western and Eastern Cape. Annabel Horn and Albert Ackhurst of the Western Cape’s Department of Environmental Affairs and Development Planning explain.

Diversity in the workplace at top agricultural companies such as Corteva Agriscience brings more ideas, skills and creativity to the table.

Gerrit van de Pypekamp realised that if someone didn’t take charge and save the spotted donkey, its genetics would one day be extinct. What he did not expect was how rewarding raising donkeys would be. Gerhard Uys visited him in Montana, Pretoria, to find out more.

Indigenous African ingredients and food traditions are underrepresented on the local and international markets. Black Umbrellas Global Entrepreneur Week 2018 overall winner Sipamandla Manqele founded her unique agribusiness to help bridge this gap.

The future of wine is evolving and the industry has to adapt in order to survive and flourish. This is according to Robert Joseph, an internationally respected wine expert and winemaker.

A five-year, multi-pronged programme that brings together government, academia and the private sector’s financial expertise has been launched in the Free State.

Extension officers are slowly gaining ground in the fight for food security in rural areas, but many challenges remain. John Mthembi explains to Gerhard Uys why he has targeted schools.

Strategies to synchronise produce availability with times of general undersupply can prove highly lucrative, as KwaZulu-Natal fresh produce farmer Andile Ngcobo tells Lloyd Phillips.

The Safari boot takes you effortlessly from the farm to your desk, and on to the urban jungle. It’s a shoe that’s hard-working, classic and contemporary, and easily affordable.

The remote community of Khombaso in Mpumalanga has placed all its hope in developing a cotton industry to lift the town out of poverty and prevent further urbanisation of its residents. Lindi Botha spoke to Cotton SA about making small-scale cotton farming viable.

Huguenot Farms in the Sundays River Valley is implementing a long-term, mixed farming strategy that will see its ‘beautiful soils’ produce to their full potential. Sabrina Dean visited the farm, where the Marais family has established a profitable combined dairy-citrus operation.

Noluthando Mbilase, who farms near Fort Beaufort, recently won the Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries’ Top Entrepreneur Export Markets title in its annual Female Entrepreneur Awards. The award is testimony to her determination, as well as her willingness to learn, since starting in the citrus industry as a field officer many years ago.

A fruit-manufacturing business at Piket-Bo-Berg in the Western Cape has created a market for rejected produce by turning it into jam, chutney and similar products. Jeandré van der Walt spoke to general manager Liebré Jacobs about her company’s achievements.

Growing up on a farm gave Lion du Plessis insight into the problems faced by farmworkers. But after studying human rights he gained an even deeper understanding of these issues,which spurred him on to create a charity that uplifts rural communities.

At Corteva Agriscience, the new Agriculture Division of DowDuPont™, female employees enjoy precisely the same job opportunities as men.