Limpopo Business 2017-18 edition
A unique guide to business and investment in Limpopo. Limpopo Business 2017/18 is the ninth edition of this highly successful publication that has, since its launch in 2007, established itself as the premier business and investment guide to the Limpopo Province. This edition of Limpopo Business is officially endorsed by the Office of the Premier of Limpopo. This book contains detailed insights into the plans of the Limpopo Economic Development Agency (LEDA) and the recently launched bus rapid transport system for the provincial capital, Leeto la Polokwane, together with a comprehensive register of all provincial government and municipal contact details. Investment news related to mining, telecommunications and tourism is carried in overviews of all the main economic sectors. To complement the extensive distribution of the print edition of the magazine, the publication is also available online at www.limpopobusiness.co.za.
A unique guide to business and investment in Limpopo.
Limpopo Business 2017/18 is the ninth edition of this highly successful publication that has, since its launch in 2007, established itself as the premier business and investment guide to the Limpopo Province. This edition of Limpopo Business is officially endorsed by the Office of the Premier of Limpopo.
This book contains detailed insights into the plans of the Limpopo Economic Development Agency (LEDA) and the recently launched bus rapid transport system for the provincial capital, Leeto la Polokwane, together with a comprehensive register of all provincial government and municipal contact details. Investment news related to mining, telecommunications and tourism is carried in overviews of all the main economic sectors.
To complement the extensive distribution of the print edition of the magazine, the publication is also available online at www.limpopobusiness.co.za.
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OVERVIEW<br />
and Europe, which constitute almost<br />
all of South Africa’s foreign<br />
market for avocadoes, are rising<br />
exponentially.<br />
In response to this demand,<br />
and the potential of the Chinese<br />
market, almost 1 000ha per year<br />
of new land is being planted with<br />
avocadoes in South Africa.<br />
The same amount of new<br />
macadamia planting is under<br />
way every year, according to the<br />
Southern African Macadamia<br />
Growers’ Association (SAMAC),<br />
adding to the existing 19 000ha.<br />
The other two really big sellers<br />
are mangoes and tomatoes.<br />
<strong>Limpopo</strong> grows three-quarters of<br />
South Africa’s mangoes and twothirds<br />
of its tomatoes.<br />
The Waterberg District produces<br />
large quantities of red<br />
meat, Capricorn has potatoes in<br />
abundance, Vhembe in the north<br />
specialises in citrus and subtropical<br />
fruits, Mopani has those fruits<br />
too – and the Mopani worm.<br />
The Sekhukhune region in the<br />
south-east is a grain-producing<br />
area. One of the best-known<br />
products of the region is Amarula<br />
cream liqueur.<br />
Initiatives<br />
Five Agri-parks will be established<br />
in <strong>Limpopo</strong>, as part of<br />
the R2-billion plan of the national<br />
Department of Rural<br />
Development and Land Reform<br />
to roll out services that will help<br />
farmers get better access to market<br />
and storage facilities.<br />
Support in terms of equipment<br />
hire and information will be<br />
available. Markets where farmers<br />
can sell their produce and processing plants such as abattoirs will form<br />
part of the parks and farmers will gain access to market information and<br />
bigger markets through the Rural Urban Marketing Centre.<br />
Training will also be on offer at the parks and the aim is to get local<br />
farmers owning 70% of the facility.<br />
The University of Venda and the University of <strong>Limpopo</strong> are working<br />
on research into crop and seed improvements, particularly related to<br />
climate change adaptation.<br />
The provincial government gave support to 3 000 households<br />
to produce their own food in their backyard gardens during the<br />
2016/17 financial year and hopes to increase this number to over<br />
5 000 households.<br />
The Ilima/Letsema conditional grant, which strives to improve<br />
productivity of emerging farmers in <strong>Limpopo</strong>, disbursed funds to 47<br />
projects benefiting a total of 2 333 beneficiaries. A total of 680 farmers<br />
were assisted in gaining access to markets. In the <strong>2017</strong>/<strong>18</strong> financial year,<br />
the Ilima/Letsema grant total of R67-million will support 90 projects, 15<br />
538 emerging farmers: 2 7<strong>18</strong> smallholder farmers, 12 791 subsistence<br />
farmers and 29 black commercial farmers.<br />
Other programmes were badly affected by drought conditions, the<br />
Fetsa Tlala programme, for example, having to be scaled back to work<br />
only with farming areas with enough irrigation water. Having come<br />
through the long-term drought in the early months of <strong>2017</strong>, <strong>Limpopo</strong><br />
and several other northern provinces then had to deal with the effects<br />
of the Fall Army Worm. It was detected early and strong measures were<br />
taken to mitigate its effect.<br />
The Phethwane Integrated Aquaculture Project stalled after a bright<br />
start in 2011, but a Fishery Imbizo held at the Tompi Seleka College<br />
of Agriculture in Marble Hall aimed to resuscitate the project. The<br />
national Deputy Minister of Agriculture visited the project in late 2015<br />
and encouraged local fishers to aim to supply 500 tons of fish. Iran was<br />
mentioned as a potential market for the fish.<br />
The Tompi Seleka College is itself in the spotlight, having been<br />
reopened in 2015. Together with Madzivhandila College (in the Thula-<br />
Thula Municipality in Vhembe District), enrolment has increased from<br />
140 in 2015 to 222 in 2016. <strong>Limpopo</strong> is trying to grow its own farmers.<br />
Location<br />
<strong>Limpopo</strong>’s location gives it a strategic advantage in terms of providing<br />
fresh produce to Gauteng, the densely urbanised economic centre of<br />
South Africa.<br />
Within <strong>Limpopo</strong>, the Mooketsi Market has used its central position<br />
to boost trade in farming produce. The market is at the crossroads<br />
of two busy routes: Polokwane to Giyani (R81) and Tzaneen to Louis<br />
Trichardt (R36-N1).<br />
43 LIMPOPO BUSINESS <strong>2017</strong>/<strong>18</strong>