Fruit industry nurtures less fortunate

Just as the South African fruit industry aspires to be top of the league in quality export terms, so too does it recognise the need to nurture the young and eager to run with the baton in years to come. A primary mover in this regard is the Fresh Produce Exporters’ Forum (FPEF), representing the big and not-so-big names in exports and funded by the likes of major UK supermarket chain, Tesco, the Canadian High Commission and the Ford Foundation. Based on the FPEF’s Harvest to Home manual, the Top of the Class (TOC) training programme affords an opportunity for those from previously disadvantaged backgrounds to be exposed to the entire fresh fruit value chain – from harvest to home, as it were. The latest TOC programme is unique in that it focused on the stone fruit sector and 20 women in particular, all farm and packhouse workers. It was funded by Tesco and FPF. The “Enabling Emerging Farmers’’ project, funded by the Ford Foundation, aims to assist farmers-inthe- making, those who have benefited from government initiatives with post land transfer support and/or farming communities who have entered into BEE initiatives, to produce fruit according to market demand. To this end, the FPEF strives to educate emerging farmers in the value chain of the fresh fruit export industry, matching them with existing commercial entities and promoting co-operation in the ranks. Training is so far under way in Mpumalanga, Limpopo and the Eastern Cape.