Lowveld - Dec 2019

and from South Africa. Giovanna
remained to ensure the upkeep of
the farm would continue and grow.
Looking back at her flight into
farming, she laughs. “It’s not that I
had an interest in it. It was more like
being thrown into the ocean and told
to swim or you will drown. It wasn’t
a choice!” But Giovanna admits that
her success is personality-driven as
well. “You can put me in the middle
of Russia and I will survive. I just enjoy
the moment and don’t complain
about where I am.
“My dad was an extremely positive,
determined person. He had a major
influence on me. My mother died
when we were very young so we
were brought up by my dad and my
aunts. They also had a big impact on
my life because they were all very
strong, positive women. They taught
us never to give up.”
Her son, Walter, chimes in that
Giovanna, even at her age, is a
steadfast, determined worker. “If there
is work to be done, my mom is right
there in the field with the workers. It’s
very much a feet-on-the-ground work
ethic.” He joined the business 11 years
ago and Giovanna is grateful for the
knowledge, experience and energy
he brings to the farm. Both of Walter’s
siblings, Ivan and Antonietta, are also
involved in the business, continuing
with the farm’s family-driven legacy.
Giovanna muses that Italian families
are very integrated and form closeknit
communities, hence the Italian
village that grew in the valley from
Low’s Creek to Kaapmuiden in the
early 1900s.
“There were various families that
came from Italy to settle here.
One family would come over and
send word that there were job
opportunities, great weather and
good soil. Bit by bit one family
member would sponsor the next to
come down. They would buy farms
together and once they were on their
feet, would buy their own.
“One of the more well-known families,
the Tonettis, built a sawmill, a railway
line and a church at Tonetti, just off
the Low’s Creek road. The church is
still standing today and many of the
families are buried in the churchyard.”
Giovanna mentions how back
in the day, every evening was
an opportunity for the Italian
community to get together and let
their hair down. “Those days all the
houses were built along the railway
line, so each evening all the families
would walk along the railway to one
of the houses to play cards. The next
night they would go to the next
home in line and so it would carry on.”
Sadly, most of the families moved
on and Giovanna is one of the last
left of the original Italian descendants.
Having used the opportunity to
buy farms as they came up for sale,
she and the family have not only
been able to expand the papaya
production, but pioneered the
macadamia nut industry in
Low’s Creek.
‘If there is
work to be
done, my mom
is right there in
the field with
the workers.
It’s very much
a feet-on-theground
work
ethic’
With the first macadamia trees
planted in 1998, she admits that the
whole process was trial and error
as no localised information was
available at the time. “We were told
macadamias wouldn’t work in Low’s
Creek as the climate is not conducive.
But it is similar to areas in Australia
where production is very successful.
“So with a few back and forth trips
between South Africa and Australia,
Giovanna Secco
Sign to Tonetti, just off the Low’s
Creek road
we got our orchards going with help
of agronomists to guide us.” Nearly
a decade later, production was at
a level where Giovanna could set
up their own processing factory,
Ivory Macadamias. “We believe in
adding value. By processing our own
products it gave us a much better
depth of understanding about the
nuts, the different varieties, markets
and our own problems from a
December 2019 Get It Lowveld 41