A new book published by the Citrus Growers’ Association of South Africa (CGA) charts the industry progress against a backdrop of reform and transformation.
Our Citrus Transforms, written by Louise Brodie, looks in detail at the South African citrus sector in the 12th year since political changes brought new-found democracy to the nation’s people. It also analyses the impact of changes to ownership and management of agricultural land. It is a collection of stories about people involved in the process and provides a snapshot of the industry in the present day.
“The South African fruit industry has transformed a lot faster than generally realised,” Brodie said. “Many farms have made substantial progress in this field, particularly when considering the entire range of empowerment, including the transfer of skills.”
She added that the motivation behind the book was to highlight some of the good news stories from the transformation. “Thus far, the process within agriculture has had mixed results and often the press has focused on unsuccessful projects, but there are many success stories.”
The South African government has committed itself to the objectives of transformation, passing new regulations and investing resources to assist the process. Brodie said that public sector aims have been matched by private sector initiatives. “Many passionate people in the private sector have been voluntarily implementing transformation.”
CGA chairman Justin Chadwick said: “There are still many uncertainties faced by growers. Many of the stories [in the book] refer to this uncertainty. There is an urgent call to government to bring an end to this.”
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