Community
Winning investment
Green Farms invests prize money
Into education for the agricultural sector
J
ill Whyte, chairperson, Green Farms Nut Company
(GFNC) was recently named as the Department of
Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (DAFF) Mpumalanga
Female Exporter of the Year at an awards ceremony that
took place at Nutting Hill House in Nelspruit on 15 August.
Aligned to her quest and dedi-
cation to support the long-term
sustainability of the macadamia
industry (and agricultural sector)
in South Africa, Whyte has taken
the decision to invest her full
winnings of R150 000 into initia-
tives geared to support education
in agriculture.
“I fundamentally believe that the
agricultural sector is a key corner-
stone to solving unemployment in
South Africa. There is no shortage
of land, but there is a shortage of
finance and skills. The long-term
growth and sustainability of the
sector relies on increasing its skills
base. We have the opportunity of
land resource in our country; we
have to ensure we utilise this wisely
over time,” comments Whyte.
Entrepreneurs
GFNC, together with their
own farms employs more than
1000 people in rural areas,
was established nearly 30 years
ago, with humble beginnings
and a big vision. It has grown
from processing 80 tons in a
small factory in White River to
currently handling approximately
25% (16 000 tons) of South
Africa’s crop in three factories
across the key growing regions
of
Mpumalanga,
Kwazulu
Natal and Limpopo.
The organisation earns significant
foreign currency for South Africa
that filters through the whole
macadamia industry. Alongside
continued rise in global demand
for macadamias, there is room
to grow within the sector, not
only at production level, but also
in creating value add products
within the broader supply chain.
“My exposure to other entrepre-
neurs at the awards was inspiring,
and a wonderful reminder of, as
in my case, small enterprises with
great ideas can grow. Each partic-
ipant in the awards programme is
making a difference and value
contribution to our society. Our
Mpumalanga contingent, repre-
sented at the National Awards
in Cape Town (29 August), had
a superb sense of camaraderie,”
continues Whyte, who won runner
up in the export category at the
National event.
Whyte is liaising with DAFF
around when she can invest her
monies: she has decided that a
portion will be donated to the
Agricolleges’ International’s NPO
registered bursary fund called
Educate to Grow. With a further
amount going to an Mpumalanga
educational project focussed on
agriculture. Some of the monies
will also be allocated to investing
into the agricultural education of
children of staff employed by the
broader GFNC processing and
farming group.
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