Yes it is cocktail, cherry and plum tomatoes from De Aar's greenhouses
The supply of produce to national markets such as South Africa’s major retailers has now become the main stem of government initiated agricultural enterprises for economically depressed towns like De Aar in the Northern Cape. The province’s department of agri- culture is literally cultivating enterprises aligned with sustainable markets in its endearvour of extricating its rural masses from abject poverty. Hydropo- nics planting is a key remedy as Thabo Mothibi cites the supply of delectable cocktail, cherry and plum tomatoes from the Karoo...
Whilst the name De Aar denotes underground water supply occurring in arteries, hydroponics or tunnel planting counters the growing of produce under- sur face with above-sur face. The intricacies of current day agriculture’s high input costs and the markets appetite for a constant supply and demand have rooted hydroponics as a yardstick of food security with no major risks to food safety. Despite De Aar’s glory having faded with the ceasing of operations related to its railway junction, hope is growing and channeled through the tunnels perched on the edges of the town.
The Emthanjeni Hydroponics Coope- rative (EHC) is one of the province’s top five hydroponics enterprises that
have gained national market traction with ease. Appreciatively; in most trial harvest instances, the produce has been of s
uch a high production quality that it immediately got supplied to the markets in December 2012. And now the department’s R18 million investment into EHC through the construction of the tunnels, pack-house and office facilities, is set to unlock an expanded client base and cast the future prospect of exploiting export markets.
For one of EHC’s five beneficiaries and facilities manager, Charlie Ngcongco, improving on their accreditation in order to qualify for expor ting is attainable. “We have achieved the national benchmark in supplying FreshMark which is the fresh produce supplier of Shoprite-Checkers. An improvement to our operations and facilities will certainly set us on an export market pedestal which we ought to achieve to avoid saturating our market,” asserted a witty, vibrant and elderly Ngcongco.
Ngcongco also hailed the department for having introduced them to online marketing which he dubbed as “our window to the outside world and the world’s window to us.” “I was raised in the times of newspaper advertising and now I find myself not having a choice but to embrace internet marketing,” beamed Ngcongco.
The Department’s extension officer who has been seconded to the enterprise to provide daily technical support and mentoring is Geraldine Maepa. “Our objective is to get EHC’s five tunnels into full production this year. As a depart- ment we have allocated R2, 5 million towards the refurbishment, production inputs and operating costs for two tunnels for budget years 2017 and 2018. This would lead to the exploiting of markets such as the Kimberley Fresh Produce Market which has already expressed interest,” enthused Maepa.
She was however cautiously optimistic about the much desired export market prospect; “such comes with consistent momentum and with the necessary confidence, why not? Key for now is highest quality, undisturbed production and the ability of the beneficiaries to operate the enterprise independently.”
Also at hand in bolstering EHC’s quest for greener pastures is the adjacent solar park that is harvesting De Aar’s sunlight by feeding it to the national grid as electricity; Solar Capital De Aar. This subsidiar y of international solar powerhouse, Phelan Energy, will soon get the beneficiaries to digest from its leafy entrepreneurial development book. “We have contracted an experienced service provider to undertake the initial investigation into how best we can grow the enterprise. Of utmost importance is for us to embark on an ideal methodology that would suit the beneficiaries, the business and all other related aspects of capacity building,” said Janice Finlay who is Solar Capital’s head of economic deve- lopment.
The town of De Aar is the capital of the local municipality of Emthanjeni municipality from whom EHC derives its name. The existence of EHC is in the service delivery arteries that connect all spheres of government. The muni- cipality had availed two hectares of commonage land for the rooting of the hydroponics structure, whilst the national and provincial departments of agriculture ensured the funding.
Emthanjeni’s municipal manager Isak Visser urged EHC to ready itself for more local markets with the construction of a mall set to unfold amid the sod-turning of last year. “A mall would automatically spark more eateries and EHC’s growth cannot be disassociated with such a major development. Their varied tomatoes are the right ingredient for a sumptuous Karoo lamb dish. Our internal economic development office has and will always provide guidance and support to EHC as it our wish to ensure that our local enterprises grow from the economic impetus that has enveloped our town with the advent of the establishment of a string of solar parks,” proclaimed Visser.
