Celebrating Women in Agriculture at Huletts

CELEBRATING WOMEN IN AGRICULTURE AT HULETTS

15 October marks the United Nations International Day of Rural Women. With this year’s theme being “Women Cultivating Good Food for All”, we’re celebrating the women behind Tongaat Huletts agricultural endeavours.

Agriculture is connected to the virtues of kindness and sharing. It is also an important tool for transformation, empowerment and economic growth. Historically, African women have always played an important part in the farming endeavours of indigenous families and communities. Today, we at Huletts are not shy about our efforts to bring women to the forefront of our transformation goals.

As an organisation that believes in a transformed future where opportunities are shared equally among all South Africans, Huletts has identified farming as one of the ways we can keep #GrowingASweetFuture for our country. Over the years, we have implemented a wide range of tailor-made farmer support models to help grow South African farming communities. These support models come in the form of partnerships, land-sharing agreements and collaborative projects.

The following 3 examples highlight some of the ways these models support local farmers and uplift women entrepreneurs.

1. The small-scale grower support model supports 10038 farmers, more than half of which are women. Projects like Sakhinzuzo have created employment, provided food and education to communities, and helped purchase farming equipment. These projects help small scale-businesses evolve into medium-scale ones. 

Read more here: https://www.tongaat.com/tongaat-hulett-and-kzn-govt-partnership-yields-sweet-rewards/

2. The communal leasehold model is made up of South Africans who have agreed to make their land available for sugarcane development. Recently, the project has also made it a point to specifically drive transformation in agriculture, with 1894 of its 5000 members being women. Members of these ventures are also closely involved in food security efforts within their communities.

3. 17 communities collaborate with Tongaat Huletts under the land restitution programme. These projects are joint efforts between community leadership, government and Huletts to help drive land reform throughout South Africa.

Read more here: https://www.tongaat.com/r6-million-distributed-to-beneficiaries-following-tongaat-hulett-and-ubizo-cpa-agreement/

While there’s still a long way to go, it’s important to celebrate strides in diversity and inclusive economic growth. At Huletts we believe that each of these women are #GrowingASweetFuture for all South Africans because of the sweet products enjoyed by millions, thanks to their efforts. These women deserve to be celebrated because they are actively transforming our society.

“The agricultural sector is the most important creator of employment for women mainly in rural communities. Ensuring that women participate meaningfully in farmer organisations, restitution projects and cooperatives will improve food security, promote local economic development and accelerate women participation in leadership positions.”

• Nkonzo Mhlongo, Corporate affairs executive at Tongaat Huletts

Read more about how we’re #GrowingASweetFuture here: http://Growing a sweet future