Essential oils, organic vegetables and ingredients for trendy desserts are some of the niche items being produced in a project that is breathing life into small-scale farming communities in KwaZulu-Natal.
Taken over from Oxfam, which started it, it forms part of the provincial department of economic development and tourism’s programme to bring small-scale farmers in traditional areas into agricultural production for high-return niche markets, many of them overseas.
A statement released on Wednesday said that so far an essential oils project in the remote Nkandla district is already yielding net profits of between R8 000 and R16 000 a hectare per year.
Organic vegetables are being grown at Umbumbulu and Ndwedwe, and are already being supplied to a major supermarket chain and a farmers’ market in Durban.
Three cooperatives at Nyalazi, Melmoth and Port Durnford are selling honey, peanuts are being produced for export at Mboza and Manguzi, and small-scale cane growers are producing jaggery, which is used in confectionery and brewing.
An Empangeni entrepreneur is already buying jaggery to produce organic toffees and the Owen Sitole College of Agriculture is going to train students in the production techniques, originally developed in India.
A cut-flower business has been set up in Richard’s Bay and an airfreight export system via Johannesburg will be set up this year.
In addition, chilli production has been established at Ilembe for the Taste of Thailand line of condiments and a joint venture company is being set up between natural remedy producers Impilo, the Self-Employed Women’s Union and a group of traditional healers to encourage small-scale farmers to grown ingredients for traditional medicine, and to package and market the products.
About 160 small-scale farmers are also involved in a project extracting essential oils from rose geranium and rosemary plants.
Growers produce under contract and take loans for their inputs at the start of the season, which are later deducted from the final price.
”The idea with all the projects is to get into the high-return, cash-generating niche markets,” says Carlos Boldogh, Agribusiness manager with the department.
”We see it as complementary to normal food production — cabbages, maize, that kind of thing. This cash injection into the deep rural areas is significant. It makes a big difference to people’s lives. I see these pilot projects as the start of a pattern of upliftment and unlocking of potential.” — Sapa