South African Black Economic Empowerment Agricultural Project Succeeds
The failure rate of Black Economic Empowerment (BEE) projects in the South African agricultural sector is alarmingly high but a citrus project in the Upper Olifants River Valley near Citrusdal in the Western Cape has proved to be an exception.
Cedar Citrus (Pty) Ltd a BEE citrus export company established in 1999 started making a profit in 2010, paid of its startup loan to the Industrial Development Council in 2012 and is now expanding its operations with the purchase of additional farm land. During 2015 the company exported 1500 tons of citrus from their production unit of 36 hectares realizing a total turnover of R12 million for the year.
Cedar Citrus is a joint venture between 32 farm workers and ALG Estates their employer, with each party owning 50% of the company.
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