+33 680 38 14 46
South Africa's biggest raspberry farm about to take shape
South Africa
Friday 29 June 2007
South Africa's State-owned investment vehicle, the Industrial Development Corporation (IDC) and the National Empowerment Fund (NEF) announced on June 12 that they would plough R34-million ($4.7 million) into starting up what will be South Africa's biggest raspberry farm, which will be owned by KwaZulu-Natal's Charlestown community. The farm would create 91 permanent and 704 annualised jobs, of which 60% would be for women.
The move was lauded by the IDC and NEF to be a "groundbreaking" project, as the farm would be built on a 60 hectares farm that was secured through land restitution, after the land had been taken away from the community in 1967. The newly-formed raspberry producer, Amajuba Berries, would initially be 39%-owned by the IDC, 51%-held by the NEF, and 10%-owned by the prosperity trust, which was a technical partner, IDC resources divisional executive Ufukilie Khumalo said.
The community, which had 1.100 beneficiaries, would eventually own 90% of the company. First harvest would occur in two to three years, with full production of about 720 tons per year being reached in 2016. This level of production was based on "conservative" estimates that each hectare would yield 12 tons/year of raspberries, where most raspberry farms produced 10 tons/year to 20 tons/year for each hectare of orchard.
Currently there are 100 ha of raspberry farms in South Africa.
The move was lauded by the IDC and NEF to be a "groundbreaking" project, as the farm would be built on a 60 hectares farm that was secured through land restitution, after the land had been taken away from the community in 1967. The newly-formed raspberry producer, Amajuba Berries, would initially be 39%-owned by the IDC, 51%-held by the NEF, and 10%-owned by the prosperity trust, which was a technical partner, IDC resources divisional executive Ufukilie Khumalo said.
The community, which had 1.100 beneficiaries, would eventually own 90% of the company. First harvest would occur in two to three years, with full production of about 720 tons per year being reached in 2016. This level of production was based on "conservative" estimates that each hectare would yield 12 tons/year of raspberries, where most raspberry farms produced 10 tons/year to 20 tons/year for each hectare of orchard.
Currently there are 100 ha of raspberry farms in South Africa.
