GOVERNMENT WANTS TO DEEPEN THE VALUE CHAIN IN AGRO-PROCESSING

GOVERNMENT WANTS TO DEEPEN THE VALUE CHAIN IN AGRO-PROCESSING

The South African government is trying to deepen the value chain in the agro-processing sector as it is one of the important sectors of trade. This was said by the Acting Head of Investment Promotions and Interdepartmental Clearing House at the Department of Trade and Industry (the dti), Mr Yunus Hoosen. He was speaking at the investment seminar held in Sandton as part of the Inward Investment mission undertaken by Italian companies which are in the agro-processing sector.

“The South African government is providing a platform for agro-processing projects by unlocking one million hectares of land to the sector where small companies need to fit in and form joint ventures. A number of big companies like Unilever are looking for smaller companies to supply them with raw material and small businesses needed to take advantage of this,” said Hoosen.

He added that the South African government was also trying to deepen supply chains for a lot of multinational companies expanding in South Africa. He told the Italian investors that there were a number of institutions in South Africa that could provide them with support and funding to set up in the country.

Professor Allesandro Arioli who is one of the business delegates from Italy said he came to South Africa because he wanted to get an understanding in terms of the dynamics of sustainable development within the country. He said he was glad to discover that South Africa was giving a lot of attention to the agro-processing sector and that there was a huge potential for transfer of technologies especially to black farmers in the country.

“We are interested in the transfer of the know-how through providing training and establishing joint ventures with companies in this country. We realise that there are perfect compatibilities and synergies between Italian and black businesses,” he added.

 Arioli, who specialises in the transfer of skills, drones technologies for sustainable farming and supply of machinery for farming, said he was based in Namibia and had been able to establish that some of the technology he wants to transfer, would be suitable for climate conditions in South Africa.

The Director of Kukanang Investments, a small sized agro-processing company based in Pretoria, Mr Makabinyane Mohapeloa said he was glad to have been part of the business seminar. According to him the seminar had been insightful and he was looking forward to trade leads that will come out of the interactions.

The mission continues until Wednesday with delegates participating in business-to-business meetings and visiting sites in the Free State and Mpumalanga provinces.