In 2012, TechnoServe and Massmart Walmart launched the “Direct Farm” program which aims to put locally produced... small-scale farmers’ produce on the shelves of Massmart with the assistance of TechnoServe. Our role involves training, mentoring, technical assistance and establishing links to both finance and retail markets for the farmers. The first harvest of 15 tons of beans was delivered in September 2012 and classed Grade 1. Following the launch, several hundred tons of produce has been delivered and sold, with substantial growth predicted for the next season. The success of this project has led to a new partnership with Massmart where we are working with about 67 new smallholder farmers.

Deep in the rolling farmlands of Elukwatini, Mpumalanga, lie several small plots of land that are bringing renewed hope... to an impoverished community of former subsistence farmers, thanks to the expertise and commitment of TechnoServe. Elukwatini’s red soil produces healthy vegetable crops, but the distance to market had effectively destroyed any attempts by small-scale farmers to make a profit, forcing them to remain subsistence farmers. In 2008, when TechnoServe saw the possibilities in this area, they successfully approached Ford Foundation and J.P. Morgan for funding and partnered with vegetable farmers the Wasserman brothers to help in the conceptualization and establishment of E-Fresh, a fresh produce market that takes produce from local farmers and in turn supplies these to hawkers and larger fresh produce markets. But still more was needed, as E-Fresh can only manage small amounts of fresh produce before the market is flooded. The answer arrived in the newly established TechnoServe supplier development programs negotiated with Massmart and Woolworths. The program includes training, mentoring, technical assistance and establishing essential links to both finance and retail markets, while the companies benefit from both the supply of product and Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment (BBBEE) points. A pilot project was begun in December 2011, with 13 one-hectare plots of tomatoes -- a good cash crop with high demand. Harvesting of the first crop took place in April 2012, and the results are already visible in the lives of the farmers and their surrounding communities. “TechnoServe have brought us a market. I have cash in my hands for the first time,” says Boesman Matabula, who has been farming in the region for 25 years. He now employs 20 workers. “I feel like I am helping the community too,” he says. “There were no jobs here before and the families are now much happier. For myself, this has helped my children go to school. They were not attending because there was no money for books and uniforms.”

In the Nkomazi area of Mpumalanga province, we are working with 135 farmers to improve their sugar cane yields and... diversify their production to include vegetables, and thus increase farming incomes. This program is a continuation of a program where J.P. Morgan partnered with TechnoServe to develop emerging farmers in the area. That program saw emerging farmers in the Nkomazi district grow sales by R7 million ($786,000) and increase their profits by R1.3 million ($146,000). Jobs were created for 149 people. TechnoServe also strengthened the market for these farms by helping to establish a new wholesaler and warehouse. There were softer outcomes too. As Philip van Rooyen, the program manager in Nkomazi, says, “Some people for the first time in their life earned a monthly salary, which is not the norm here. One man who works on a farm put his daughter through university as a result of the job that he is doing now. People’s wages have gone towards school fees and clothes. It’s really important for these communities.” As well as helping these farmers and their enterprises, “J.P. Morgan has helped us to develop a model that has a wider impact,” says Earl Sampson, the Country Director in South Africa. “If you work with the entire value chain, ensuring that all relationships in the chain are strong and dependent on each other, then the chances of the farmer being around in years to come are a lot higher. The J.P. Morgan work was instrumental in helping us to develop this business model.” This model will be replicated and further developed in this program to create deeper impact and further diversify farmer incomes.

The Bojanala District of the North West is made up of large numbers of small-scale farmers utilizing tribal lands on... the basis of Permission to Occupy (PTO) documents from their respective tribal authorities. These farmers are generally resource-poor, lacking adequate irrigation infrastructure, tillage and other implements. In addition to these challenges, their technical and business knowledge is limited, which limits their capacity to be active participants in food value chains. Consequently, access to markets and financial services is severely constrained. It is therefore essential to create a support system around high-potential farmers to accelerate their growth. With funding from ABSA, TechnoServe has selected 10 farmers to partake in a holistic farm business development initiative. TechnoServe has engaged two agribusiness advisors to work with the farmers. Farmers have been appraised on the need to adopt a commercial approach in their farming enterprises. Technical expertise and business linkages have been developed to assist farmers, and they have been provided with comprehensive training on farming and produce marketing. Business plans with precise objectives are being developed for each of the farming businesses. The crops are looking good and farmers have increased the number of employees for both permanent and casual labor. TechnoServe is looking to establish a relationship with a packhouse in the area, which will be a key element in securing a market for the farmers and increasing their incomes.

TechnoServe and the KwaZulu Natal Department of Agriculture and Environment (KZNDAE) have embarked on a program to help... utilize available land and water resources within the rural areas of KwaZulu Natal in a manner that encourages the development of competent and sustainable smallholder farmers by providing technical assistance and market access for their produce. The area boasts a dedicated corps of smallholder farmers with a real interest in farming commercially. Their biggest challenges have been to consistently produce crops that have secured markets and by implication income from the lands they have access to. The TechnoServe program has given the farmers access to resident business advisors, horticultural advice and mentorship, market access and ongoing business development services and support. A pilot has been completed where TechnoServe supported the farmers to successfully harvest a butternut crop that has been sold to Massmart. The pilot has provided a proof of concept for crop production, input supply and the delivery of produce. It has also been informative in indicating which areas tend to keep the farmers out of the formal markets. The next phase of this program will focus on addressing these areas and scaling up the program. This will also equip farmers to be able to produce and supply to government initiatives such as the National School Nutrition Programme, as well as initiatives by the Department of Social Development.

In June 2011, TechnoServe was commissioned by Standard Bank South Africa’s Tutuwa Community Investment Fund (SBSA... TCIF) to undertake a business diagnostic assessment of 25 of their 34 agricultural clients in Mutale Municipality. These clients have received loan finance for their farming businesses over the last two years and some of the clients are in default. The diagnostic assessment sought to make a judgment call on the viability of the underlying business that SBSA TCIF had funded. The study found that the majority of the assessed farmers were found to be generally technically competent and had sufficient land and access to water to farm successfully. However, almost all the farmers required infrastructure rehabilitation of some level and had no farm or financial records to show. They also did not seem to fully understand the key farming performance matrices such as optimal yield, cost of production, gross returns and other operating costs and were unable to navigate their way out of their current monoculture (tomato production) practices, as they claimed they had no way of accessing alternative markets. In addition, none of the farmers had a structured payment plan to repay funds owed to SBSA TCIF. Standard Bank then commissioned TechnoServe to implement a program to assist the farmers to address these challenges and create an economically viable and growing fresh produce sector within the Mutale Municipality. This program is improving the business and technical skills of the farmers, increasing their access to financial services, creating sustainable relationships between farmers and the financial services sector, and building access to diverse markets to help improve farmer economics and reduce vulnerability to market shocks. All 50 farmers in the program now have a set of commercially compliant records and accounts, a large market has been secured with Tiger Brands and the program is on track to deliver good results.

The Tutuwa scheme is a regional business grouping scheme in which beneficiaries are supported by Standard Bank with... dividends, access to financial services and business development services to help them improve the sustainability of their businesses. Standard Bank has partnered with TechnoServe to provide the business development services to these beneficiaries. After conducting a feasibility study at the beginning of the project, 75 percent of the beneficiaries were found to be sustainable. TechnoServe has worked with these beneficiaries by providing tailored support to improve their competitiveness and sustainability. These interventions have been effective and the most recent feasibility study reported that the percentage of sustainable beneficiaries has increased to 92 percent.

The Africa Foundation, founded by &Beyond to empower and enrich communities surrounding the wildlife reserves where... &Beyond operates, began working alongside TechnoServe in late 2011. Since then, we have pioneered exciting new landscapes together, testing ideas and possibilities and finding alternatives and answers along the way. We are currently piloting a project with six small-scale farmers in the communities adjacent to two of the conservation areas where &Beyond has a presence -- Bushbuckridge in Mpumalanga and Kwajobe in Northern KwaZulu Natal. The farmers are receiving technical and market access assistance, and 2013 should see the successful harvest of their first crops grown strictly to commercial standards.

South Africa faces an enormous unemployment challenge. The problem is particularly concentrated among the country’s... poor communities, where lack of experience is often compounded by lack of skills. It is estimated that one in two young South Africans – and two out of three young South African women – are jobless. Employment in South Africa has proven a consistent challenge even before the 2008 global financial and economic crisis and the resulting recession. Skills are key to building the economy. This program has identified three promising entrepreneurs and will build their skills through an incubation program. These entrepreneurs have launched small- to medium-sized enterprises that are scalable and able to create wealth and employment in underserved communities. For 12 months, these entrepreneurs will receive one-on-one business advice and mentoring, financial and market linkages and access to finance. These services will create a platform which will set these entrepreneurs up to generate the growth needed to create jobs in their communities.