The 2025 Potato SA Transformation Symposium highlighted the need for stronger partnerships and collaboration across South Africa's potato industry, focusing on sustainability, mentorship, and post-funding support. The event, held in Limpopo, brought together farmers, government officials, and funding institutions under the theme "Old roots, new shoots: Revitalising and fostering new partnerships."
Elder Mtshiza, chief director for farmer support development strategy 2030 at the Department of Agriculture, said mentorship is essential to help black farmers succeed. "What we need is to push for mentorship. I am not saying hold black farmers with soft gloves, but mentor them and show them where they are wrong; trust them with those big funds. Walk with them through the journey," she said.
Potato SA CEO Willie Jacobs said the industry produces 2.55 million tons of potatoes annually on 51,368 hectares and continues to advance transformation goals. "Transformation has become the critical element in what we do at Potato SA. The work we have done in seeing black farmers coming from the ranks and being part of the statistics makes us happy," he said.
Jacobs added that 25 enterprise development projects have been funded, mostly in Limpopo, with R180 million (US$9.8 million) invested by the Department of Agriculture and Land Reform. Around 2,500 jobs have been created. "We need to remove the bottlenecks to empower farmers; however, what is critically important is that we need each other to create a more cohesive community of farmers and build a lasting legacy," he said.
Potato SA transformation chairperson Meshack Ndongeni said the goal is to support farmers to become commercially viable. "Ours is to support farmers to be able to produce according to the industry's norms and standards, to be profitable. We want farmers who will be ready to export and ready to work hard," he said.
Land Bank chief agricultural economist Sakhumzi May emphasised that strong relationships among stakeholders are vital for growth. "While we grow the industry, we need to ensure we take care of markets, because they are extremely important; we cannot work without them. Transformation in this sector is very key and important for South Africa to prosper," he said.
Source: Food for Mzansi
