Both the Group and Illovo South Africa recently had the privilege of hosting global food and beverage sector members of the international organisation SAI Platform who were in KwaZulu-Natal to attend their annual conference. The SAI Platform is a global non-profit network and one of the primary food & drink value-chain initiatives for sustainable agriculture, enabling businesses to assess, improve, and validate on-farm sustainability through its tools, such as the Farm Sustainability Assessment tool (FSA). In 2022, Illovo achieved a major sustainability milestone when each of its agricultural estates across the Group were verified under the FSA. The large group of members visiting South Africa included representatives from Kraft Heinz, PepsiCo, Nestle, Yara, Agrana and Soufle Malt among others.
Split into two groups, a highlight of their trip to South Africa was the visit to the Sezela area on the South Coast of the province to learn more about the Jobs Fund Project which is an innovative small-scale grower development project that has created nearly 1 600 jobs and brings upwards of R80 million in sustainable annual income to a small, rural community not far from Sezela’s sugar and downstream complex.
Focusing particularly on employment and the empowerment of rural women in the local sugar supply chain, the SA business signed an agreement with the South African National Treasury’s Jobs Fund some years ago to secure a R63-million grant in order to plant 3 000 hectares of sugar cane on communal land over three seasons, and to provide training and support to all of the growers involved in the scheme.
The Treasury funding was matched by Illovo at the time and today, with the scheme very active and viable, it remains a great example of how public private partnerships can be successful in creating direct jobs in rural communities. Not only that, the multiplier effect of the scheme has also resulted in a change to the landscape spurring on the implementation of other socio-economic and commercial initiatives in the area, and transferring valuable farming and business skills to local people.
Busi Ngidi(Grower), Thandazile Ngcobo(Grower), Bonnie Chonco (SASRI), Silindile Gumede (ISSA), Nomvula Shozi (Contracto, Patrick Bhengu (ISSA) Back: Dominik Klauser (SAI Platform), Maarten de Haan (Kraft Heinz), Robyn Cooper (SAI), Andrew Cochrane (Illovo Sugar), Dionys Forster (SAI).
Sugar cane farmer Richard Cole (white shirt) addresses members on his farm.
In addition, the group of more than 20 delegates then went on to Ashbrook Farm which is a large sugar cane operation spanning 600 hectares not far from Sezela, owned and operated by Richard Cole who is one of the leading proponents of regenerative farming within the industry. Richard’s long-term farming operations are focused on creating environmental and economic benefits by improving soil health and building agricultural resilience through regenerative practices.
In general, these include letting land to fallow between harvesting and planting, rotating fields with cover crops, using minimum tillage, minimising soil compaction caused by heavy agricultural machinery, reducing chemical application, improving in-field water drainage and green cane harvesting where possible. And there are great benefits - focusing on macro elements such as building soil organic content and minimising chemical inputs, over the years Richard has achieved higher cane yields and reduced costs, while also mitigating environmental impact. His holistic farm management approach emphasises the importance of nurturing healthy ecosystems for long-term viability.
On the same day, the other half of the SAI Platform members visited Donovale Farming Company to meet up with Ant and Chris Edmonds who on their 985 hectare farm, produce a broad range of crops from sugar cane, to navel oranges, hass avocados and tea tree. The farm falls under SUSFARMS, which is a locally-relevant and globally recognised continuous improvement system which recently received gold level equivalency with the SAI Platform’s FSA, to transition to more sustainable and regenerative agricultural practices.
In addition to a full programme of events, including a visit to the South African Sugar Research Institute, members and invited speakers had a full day in the conference room in Ballito where among other programme items Wandile Sihlobe, Chief Economist of the Agricultural Business Chamber of South Africa (author of “South Africa: A country of Two Agricultures”) gave a poignant status report on the agricultural challenges and opportunities facing South Africa at the moment. It was also the opportunity for Andrew Cochrane, Illovo’s Head of Grower Agriculture, to moderate a farmers’ discussion around how they build resilience through “on-farm” actions.
From left to right, are Andrew Cochrane, Ant Edmonds from Donovale Farming Company and Silindile Gumede, Illovo SA Grower Development Manager (Courtesy SAI Platform).
There’s no doubt that sustainability was a key theme behind all of the conference activities – from the sustainability and continued viability of small-scale cane farmers in South Africa who face a number of obstacles to remaining in business and profitable, to the broader issues around climate change and adopting farming practices which look towards reducing the negative environmental impacts of large-scale agriculture across the globe. We value our association with SAI Platform and its global members and look forward to supporting its ongoing initiatives towards sustainable agriculture worldwide.