Empowerment Programmes
Small Scale Commercial Farmers
Enabling emerging farmers
The FPEF is committed to support emerging growers in their quest to establish themselves as significant players in the fresh fruit industry. We focused our efforts on provinces that supply a significant amount of fresh fruit to international markets; and where emerging growers benefited from land claims under the government land reform programme. Training, mentorship and linking farmers to strategic partners in commercial exports, support this sector. Since needs vary from province to province, training courses and support initiatives are modified accordingly.
Top of the class
Driving transformation in the South African fruit industry
The Top of the Class (TOC) programme, initiated by the FPEF six years ago, focuses on two main sectors in the fresh fruit industry. Firstly, it provides the opportunity for workers on farms and in packhouses to gain confidence, knowledge and skills in the entire fresh fruit value chain – from harvest to home. Secondly, the recently introduced TOC Enabling Emerging Farmers programme was designed to help emerging growers develop sustainable businesses and participate effectively in commercial fruit exports. This year yielded many exciting opportunities, made possible largely through extensive fundraising efforts and training initiatives that took place in recent years. We utilised these valuable resources to initiate five new training programmes throughout South Africa.
Trade Chain Manuals
TRADE CHAIN MANUALS – handbooks offering a bird’s eye view on industry processes for the fruit export industry.
Two additional manuals were completed in 2009. These are advanced trade chain manuals by fruit kind for the citrus and pome fruit industries.