Author - Casidra

NEW SHAREHOLDER REPRESENTATIVE WELCOMED

Casidra’s Board of Directors and Management team extended a warm welcome to the new Minister of Economic Opportunities, Ms Beverly Schäfer, during a meeting held at Casidra’s Head Office on the 22nd of November 2018. During her introduction, Minister Schäfer expressed her appreciation and said that it is a wonderful privilege to be Casidra’s new Executive Authority. She further expressed her excitement to continue working with Casidra as Provincial Government Enterprise and said that one of her key responsibilities...

World Food Day celebrated in Brandwacht

World Food Day celebrated in Brandwacht South Africa has joined the world in marking World Food Day to highlight the plight of millions of malnourished people in the world. The Western Cape Department of Agriculture and the National Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries hosted a World Food Day event on 24 October 2018 in Brandwacht. World Food Day is commemorated annually around the world on 16 October in remembrance of founding the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United...

CASIDRA WELCOMES THE NEW CEO: ASHLEY SEYMOUR

Casidra’s Board, Management and Staff have pleasure in welcoming its new Chief Executive Officer, Mr Ashley Seymour effective from 4th of March 2019. Mr Seymour is a Chartered Accountant (South Africa) who spent much of his career in development financing & Impact investing and is a seasoned Executive as well as Non-Executive Board member in both the public and private sectors.  He is a passionate South African, born and mostly raised in the rural parts of the Eastern Cape....

CALEDONIA FARMING (PTY) LTD LIVESTOCK FARM

Caledonia Farming is situated outside Hopefield in the Sandveld area and farms with livestock (sheep and cattle) and grain production on a small commercial scale and has three beneficiaries (a mother, Miena and her sons, Carlo and Emile Baron). The project recently received a new bakkie by means of the WCDoA’s CASP funding and the beneficiaries are planning to add rooibos tea to their production in the near future.

JUNIOR LANDCARE PROJECT TEACHES LEARNERS HOW TO SAVE WATER

The WCDoA and Casidra annually implement the Junior LandCare project, which focuses on creating awareness amongst young children in Grades 1 to 6.  This year, Marina Moller Eilers was contracted to do puppet shows for the children in the Eden, West Coast and Central Karoo regions.  The first set of puppet shows were held in the Eden district at the Towerkop Primary School in Ladismith reaching 230 Grade 1 learners and 217 Grades 2 and 3 learners as well...

JJ LOVE WINE VINEYARD

Johannes Jacobus (JJ) Love, one of 153 farmers in Ebenhaeser, situated about 40 kilometres from Vredendal, farms on 2 hectares of land with a high density wine vineyard. The project is mentored by Namaqua Kelder’s Dirk de Bruyn who also funds some inputs and acts as the project’s marketing channel. Casidra started implementing the project two years ago on behalf of the Western Cape Department of Agriculture. Soil preparation, carbon fiber poles, vines and other production inputs were purchased with the...

LEARN 2 LIVE VEGETABLE GARDEN PROJECT

LEARN 2 LIVE is a community organisation situated at Wallacedene, which has established a vegetable garden to empower its community. The project was funded by the Western Cape Department of Agriculture’s Comprehensive Agricultural Support Programme for R44 000. Casidra, as the implementing agent, with Cynthia Lebenya as the Project Manager, used the funding to procure the field irrigation system, protective clothing and production inputs. The project currently produces vegetables and has established a medicinal garden. The project provides basic agricultural training to...

INTEGRI-AGRI (PTY) LTD FREE-RANGE EGG FARMING

Integri-Agri (Pty) Ltd is a free-range egg farm located on the Boschendal Farm in the Stellenbosch area. This farming project was established by Rico Vergotine who oversees all farming operations with other two workers. Integri-Agri’s main objective is to produce the best quality eggs and broiler chickens with no negative impact on the environment. This farm aims to enhance an already existing free-range, pasture-raised operation, producing free-range (organic) eggs for the local supermarkets and restaurants. The project’s application for funding...

Education and Outcomes: vocational opportunities in the rural areas

“I do not wish for this life for my children. We can’t all end up being farm workers. They must be the generation that does something better with their lives.” ~ farm worker, anonymous. No matter how much attention is paid to improving education opportunities in South Africa, improvements in less-privileged areas, including specifically in the rural areas, remain a vital part of the process. In the past, people living in outlying areas often had to rely on farm schooling for...

Life in our Hands: protecting our environmental assets

Every year the very foundation of our existence and survival is put under pressure by numerous factors, most of which are affected by humans. Over the years, deforestation has affected several regions of the world in a negative way. Greater population growth means loss of forested land, and pressure on natural resources like our water systems and coastlines through the every-growing need to feed people. Yet without our vital environmental assets, we would be unable to farm, fish, and...

The Unexpected Revolution: why rural economies hold keys to job creation

When we think of job creation, we often think of big business or city/town projects that bring about accompanying opportunities for work. However, we tend to overlook the great potential lying in country areas where multi-faceted agricultural and related business opportunities are still untapped. All roads lead to Rome, they may say, but in essence successful initiatives can be found anywhere, not only in the towns and cities. How can we effect change? There is much talk about...

Langa Mountain Tomatoes

Yandisa Langa is the founder and sole owner/beneficiary of Langa Mountain Tomatoes in Tokai. This project produces and supplies tomatoes to local vegetable stalls, supermarkets and restaurants, and has created jobs for three employees in the area. Langa is a born entrepreneur and worked as a security guard at one of the local malls when he spotted a niche in the supply and delivery market. What inspired his idea was enquiries about the delays in food deliveries and the shortage...

KAUTHARS CHICKEN BROILERS

Casidra has successfully completed the implementation of two chicken sheds for Kauthars Chicken Broilers in Hopefield. This is a Chicken broiler project that was started in 2016 and belongs to three female previously disadvantaged individuals. These beneficiaries applied for funding for the construction of broiler houses and production inputs and their request was approved by the Commodity Project Allocation Committee of the Western Cape Department of Agriculture. Approximately R700 000 of Comprehensive Agricultural Support Programme funds was allocated to the...

Chief Executive Officer’s Desk – September 2018

Towards the end of 2017 the harsh reality of the current and intense drought experienced by the Western Cape, continued to play out. Casidra supported the Western Cape Department of Agriculture (WCDoA) in the procurement and provision of drought relief feed to farmers to support their livestock through this difficult period. The conditions also required farmers to reduce their herds, some of whom at times had a few more animals than they should have. To this effect, the drought...

CASIDRA RECEIVES LANDCARE’s WATER CARE CAMPAIGN AWARD

Casidra was privileged to form part of the adjudication panel at the Western Cape Department of Agriculture’s (WCDoA) Junior LandCare’s water care campaign held at Elsenburg on 20 June 2018.  The adjudication panel was tasked with scoring grade 6 and 7 learners on speech, poster, drama and debate relating to Conservation of Natural Resources, Water, Environment and Energy. Ten schools participated in the speech category, five in the poster category, four in the debate category and six in the drama...

Good Governance through Partnerships

“Good governance never depends upon laws, but upon the personal qualities of those who govern.” ~ Frank Herbert Good Governance is a relatively new concept along with human rights, democracy and public participation. It means that any organisation, such as government institutions or private companies – or any facility that purports to provide a service, conduct public affairs and manage public resources – must act in the public interest at all times. In other words, governments and organisations must...

Building an efficient, competitive and responsive infrastructure network

Infrastructure is the fundamental facility and system network serving a country, city, or community, including the services and resources necessary for the overall economy to function. It presents the physical systems of a business or nation such as: transportation, communication, sewage, water and electricity; these are all part of the infrastructure, and they are vital to a country’s economic development and prosperity. Without these basic, dynamically interlinked elements, cities cannot operate efficiently, and an economy cannot be soundly built...

Youth Development Opportunities: Community, Land and Lateral Thinking

The Way Forward “No man is an island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the Continent, a part of the main.” ~ John Donne (1624) The great lesson of life is that while we may appear to be sailing our own ship, we very rarely are. There is always a broader community at work, supporting our dreams, and bolstering our endeavours. The trick is to draw from our background of family and friends, while at the...

Food Security: the challenge of global hunger

Ensuring nutrition for the world’s burgeoning population is an ongoing concern in many countries. Food is considered a basic human right – yet in a world of billions, there are still many millions who suffer shortage of this vital commodity, or lack of access to good nutrition. There are many areas of action to alleviate this situation such as science programmes, biotechnology, improved animal husbandry, precision farming techniques, genetic modification, agricultural training, subsistence farming, garden farms, hydroponics, etc. But...

Changing Lives: Empowered, Fair and Inclusive Citizenship

Understanding what it means to be a citizen goes to the heart of personal and national identity. It’s about legal equality for each citizen – which means that you are entitled to equal rights with regard to: the right to vote, the right to serve in the military, the right to marry a native citizen, and the right to fair and equal representation in government and the law. The Power of Inclusive Citizenship Inclusive citizenship creates...

PINEHAVEN AGRICULTURAL TRADING (PTY) LTD

Pinehaven Agricultural Trading is a vegetable project that belongs to a family of five beneficiaries (three youths and two females). The land in production comprises 5.5 hectares in Lynedoch situated approximately 7km outside Stellenbosch. The vegetable crops planted include spinach, beetroot, green pepper, carrots, etc. and are distributed to vegetable markets after every successful harvest. The project has created jobs for 15 permanent workers and 30 seasonal workers. It has unleashed its potential and demonstrated to be highly...

World Food Day Celebration at Villiersdorp

One of the greatest challenges our impoverished communities face is a lack of food security, and the Western Cape Department of Agriculture (WCDoA) is attempting to turn this tide when it hosted the annual World Food Day celebration in Villiersdorp on Friday the 12th of October 2017. This was a well organised and attended event to promote sustainable food security amongst the Villiersdorp communities which crowded their stadium on the day to celebrate and receive food parcels and household...

Western Cape Commodity Project Receives Silver Award

Congratulations to the tri-partnership between Casidra, Hortgro and the WCDoA for winning the Silver Award for the Best Implemented Comprehensive Agricultural Support Programme during the Western Cape Premier’s Annual Service Excellence Awards’ ceremony, which took place on the 28th of August 2017 in Cape Town.   This ceremony was an opportunity for the Premier and broader public to acknowledge outstanding performances from public service professionals in the Western Cape Government. Delivering the keynote address, Premier Zille said: “As we...

NEW YEAR MESSAGE FROM THE CEO

The Casidra 2018-year commenced at the solid pace with which it concluded in 2017. Concluding 2017, Casidra was wholly immersed assisting the Western Cape Department of Agriculture (WCDoA) in supporting livestock farmers in the drought-stricken areas of the Western Cape (WC). The Emergency Drought Relief programme required that feed be sourced from various agribusinesses to provide support to the farmers that qualified for the programme. Some of these stock items gradually started running low and supply became problematic at...

Season’s Greetings

MESSAGE FROM THE CEO’S DESK – September 2017

The grim reality and probable effects of climate change, and especially if it was still disputed, started to be felt by everyone in the sector and most profoundly by the beneficiaries Casidra supports through the agriculture programmes the company implements. The drought conditions in the Western Cape province continue to place a damper on the agriculture sector in the province. Records confirmed that the current drought is the worst the region experienced in over 100 years. While measures are...

CASIDRA RECEIVES RECOGNITION FOR 2015/16 CLEAN AUDIT

The Western Cape has been officially confirmed as the country’s Top Province in the 2015/16 provincial and local audit outcomes during a ceremony held on Monday, 10 April 2017 where deserving provincial and municipal departments as well as entities were awarded by representatives (Mr Solly Segooa and Ms Sharonne Adams) of the Auditor-General of SA. The Province also achieved clean audits for 12 of its 13 departments. A total of 23 out of 30 Western Cape municipalities were also awarded clean...

BOARD AND MANAGEMENT VISIT PROJECTS IN KANNALAND

Casidra’s Board Members and Management Team visited the following projects in the Kannaland region on 27 and 28 June 2017 to give the Board an insight and glimpse of the challenges experienced within projects. The first project to be visited was Amalienstein and the Board was overwhelmed by the dedicated staff who shared the challenges experienced on the farm.   Amalienstein is a non-profitable farm with a relatively small of the dairy, high overhead costs as a result of the...

NEWS IN BRIEF: PROJECT IMPLEMENTATION HIGHLIGHTS

EROSION PROTECTION STRUCTURES IN BRANDWACHT RIVER Casidra is implementing a R24 million project to construct 27 gabion groynes over a stretch of 3 kilometers, which includes landscaping and planting along the Brandwacht River near Brandwacht.  This is a Western Cape Department of Agriculture project and is situated in the vicinity of Ruitersbos between Mossel Bay and Kleinbrak, and the work is part of the Disaster Management Programme. It will continue to be in the construction phase and is expected...

Environmental Impact Assessment Section 24G

An Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) is a legal requirement that necessitates an investigation into the potential impact planned activities may have on the environment in which they are to be effected. This process culminates into either the issuance of environmental authorisation for those activities and/or waste license. These investigations can take the form of either a Basic Assessment (BA) or a full scoping and EIA.   The Minister of Environmental Affairs and Development Planning (DEADP), has prescribed in...