Nufarmer Africa
Ambassador Arthur Lenk
A
mbassador Arthur Lenk of the Israel
Embassy opened up to Nufarmer
Africa about his background and what
his country is busy getting off the ground for
smallholder farmers in South Africa(SA).
“I’m a city boy but in my heart I’m a farmer.
My background is law and I’ve been an Israeli
diplomat for over 20 years before I arrived in
South Africa last August. Fortunately I met
Isaac in Jerusalem a few months before I
arrived in SA and he enlightened me on agriculture in the country. Therefore I was a little
prepared when I came,” Ambassador Lenk
said.
The first couple of weeks he travelled
around to see the country for himself and it
made big impact on him because what he
felt even more assured of what Israel could
mean for South Africa in terms of training,
technology and food security. He visited
Bethany in North West and different places
in Limpopo and Hazyview. According to
Ambassador Lenk he saw already small scale
farmers across South Africa who has a heart
for farming. He feels the skills and experiences that Israel has can be applied here and
if farmers listen and follow the advice that
Isaac shares with them they really will be successful.
Farmers can obtain contracts with big supermarket chains to grow vegetables. We are
in September 2014 - some of them, like the
farmers in Hazyview already know what they
are going to grow, how much they are going
to grow and how much money they are going to get. In their minds they are businessmen and not just subsistence farmers to feed
themselves, they know how to plan ahead,
Israel’s Agricultural
Technology to improve
Smallholder Farmers in
South Africa
how to buy fertilizer, how to water and how
to harvest. All the different stages are published and these farmers are the readers of
Nufarmer Africa or Undercover Farming.
In 201 Ё