DECIDUOUS FRUIT:

EMPLOYMENT

OPPORTUNITIES

JACQUES DU PREEZ

PRODUCT MANAGER: POME- &

STONE FRUIT

Total Area Planted (75 025 hectares)

• Pome fruit (Apples & Pears) = 32 886 hectares (44%)

• Stone fruit (Peaches, Nectarines, Apricots, Plums &

Prunes = 18 607 hectares (25%)

•Grapes (Dry and Table Grapes) = 23 532 hectares (31%)

Grapes* 31%

Apples 29%

Pears 15%

Peaches 11%

Plums 6%

Prunes <1%

Apricots 5%

Nectarines 3%

Agric sector in WC contributes 13% to total formal sector

jobs and Horticulture dominates agric contribution

Industry Perspective

75 025ha 1 819 635 t

Dried

9%

Processed

29%

Fresh 62%

2010 figures

Value: ±R7.36 Bn p.a.

70% of

income

Replacement Value: ±R13.5 Bn p.a.

On-farm employment (direct)

* Permanent equivalent. Casual labour converted to permanent equivalent.

1.4 / ha

Fruit Labourers* Dependents

Apples 27,033 108,131

Grapes 37,875 151,499

Pears 14,315 57,259

Peaches 9,814 39,258

Plums 6,406 25,626

Apricots 3,871 15,482

Nectarines 2,629 10,517

TOTAL 101,943 407,772

SA fruit export industry supply chain

Orchards Packhouse Hauler

Vessel Hauler Foreign Port

Consumer Retailer

Farmer

SA Port

Importer

Number of jobs directly linked to total

plantings

95,000

96,000

97,000

98,000

99,000

100,000

101,000

72,000

72,500

73,000

73,500

74,000

74,500

75,000

75,500

76,000

76,500

2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010

Emp

loym

ent

(nu

mb

er o

f dir

ect

job

s)

Tota

l are

a p

lan

ted

(ha)

Total hectares planted Industry employment

Industry perspectives

93 nr of person-years employment opportunities

created for every R1 mil increase in the final

demand – Govt. priority

Horticultural sector ranks top

Research has shown that wages were and

currently still are more than min wage

Economic multipliers:

commodity & sector groupings Employmenta Value addedb Importsb Government

revenueb

All Agriculture 82.8 1.29 0.21 0.26

Cereals 26.1 1.02 0.27 0.27

Other crops 70.8 1.36 0.19 0.25

Horticulture 92.8 1.40 0.20 0.24

Livestock 88.4 1.25 0.20 0.27

Agribusiness 39.7 1.02 0.26 0.2

Non-Agriculture 29.4 1.1 0.25 0.22

a Number of person-years employment created per R1.0 million final demand

b Rand value per additional R1.0 of final demand

Constraints

Profitability Yield

Pack outs

Input costs

Price

Efficiency

Competition from Southern & Northern Hemisphere

Weather

Exchange rate

Etc

Etc

Constraints…in addition to the usual suspects

Land Reform and productivity of land

Shortage of funding, support services to Land Reform

projects and slow processes

- Opportunity for effective partnerships between

gvt., industry & other role players

Uncertainty around land reform policy

Constraints

Capital investment vs risk vs returns – entry barrier

Compared to competition we’ve got poorer soils, less

water (& QUALITY), more expensive water, weather

challenges

Climate Change – potential threat & impact

Support i.t.o research, maintenance of infrastructure

and labourers doing their work (port strike 2010)

Constraints

Contradictory, but we experience a shortage of

labour at certain times of the season

Also a problem with skilled labour and retaining them

from year to year

Probably close to most efficient use of labour

Labour legislation e.g. ESTA/Land tenure security bill

Why make it extremely difficult to employ and house

labourers?

We need laws, rules & regulations – but not impossible

But we are not doing too bad at all…

Future prospects

Over med term looking positive

Increase production

Increase demand in current markets

Increased market access / new markets

Development of local market

Creating an enabling environment to

stimulate growth of industry and demand

for SA produce

Summary

Country with unique challenges;

Must manage change continuously to ensure competitiveness, sustainability and profitability;

Effective partnerships between industry & government agencies;

World class technology, R&D and technical knowledge and skills;

Summary

Systems to support fruit movement and logistics;

A wide spectrum of products, produced over a long period, with the best eating quality found anywhere in the world;

Focussed industry structures tackling the key strategic imperatives

Employ according to highest ethical standards

We do employ, supply infrastructure, services and housing to a significant amount of people – if the environment is enabling, favourable and attracts investment we can employ more...

Thank you!