In 2019, the Citrus Growers Association (CGA) launched a R307 million Economic Transformation of Black Citrus Growers Programme to support black citrus grower operations.
The Economic Transformation of Black Citrus Growers Programme is in partnership with the Jobs Fund, Land Bank, Department of Agriculture, AGRISETA, the LIMA Rural Development Foundation and FNB.
According to Justin Chadwick, CEO of Citrus Growers Association, in the past three years the programme just over R161.3 million of this funding has been approved and R78.9 million disbursed to support black grower citrus operations.
Through this programme 78 permanent and 625 seasonal jobs have been created as well as allowed black citrus growers to plant 208 hectares of new trees to be planted.
One of the black citrus growers who business has benefited from the programme is Nokwanele Mzamo.
The business owner received R5 million through the programme, R2 million as a grant and R3 million as a loan. The funding of the programme is structured in such a way that beneficiaries receive 36% of their funding as a pure grant and the remaining 64% has been structured as a blended loan at lower than prime interest rates.
Mzamo who started her business Luthando Farms 20 years ago, received from the programme in 2022. The farming business which operates near Kirkwood in the Eastern Cape has used the funding to expand its operations.
Mzamo said that the funding helped her improve the infrastructure of the business, replant around 8 hectares of trees and create 7 permanent jobs as well as 24 seasonal jobs.
Mzamo said that funding her business a great deal especially when the industry was undergoing a bad period.
“When my business was going down and there was no hope for sustainability or for me to carry on, the funding helped to give my business a boost,” Mzamo said.
Buyiswa Ndyenga from Sikhula Sonke Enterprises near Addo in the Eastern Cape said that the programme has helped their five farms considerably.
She said: “The money came at the right time. The price of everything went up and citrus farmers were struggling. But the programme's money helped us plant new orchards and erect a 9 km fence to stop the stealing of fruit."
According to Mzamo, programmes like the Economic Transformation of Black Citrus Growers Programme can encourage more women to join the farming industry.
Mzamo said that the programme has helped her and other female farmers gain recognition in an industry that is a “man’s world”.
“These programmes can help women be successful in the citrus industry and uplift women to become their own bosses,” Mzamo said.
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