GOOD NEWS NATURAL PRODUCE EMPOWERED FOR BETTER

The Good News Natural Produce project situated in Atlantis aspires to produce the best quality chillies with no adverse impact on the environment. Casidra procured infield irrigation, fencing, implements and production inputs within three months after the project received funding from the WCDoA’s Comprehensive Agricultural Support Programme. 

According to our Project Manager, Yandisa Ndongeni, Casidra’s role was to ensure that high quality items are procured, excellent project management advice is applied and the project is completed within a specific timeframe. “I am extremely excited that this project was successfully implemented and completed within a period of three months”, says Ndongeni.

The project’s beneficiaries, Wasiema Adams and Mogamat Abrahams, expressed their gratitude to the Western Cape Department of Agriculture and Casidra for their efficient and professional services rendered.  They see themselves expanding their fresh chilli production to a four-hectare commercial farm, developing new processed products, increasing agri-processing capability and capacity, and securing new export markets for fresh packed chilli products as well as creating more jobs for the community in the near future. 

“We’ve optimised our production to reduce waste, water usage and our impact on the environment, and thereby reduced expenses leaving us with more money to spend on wages.  While we are supportive of transformation in the supply chain, Casidra should consider that beneficiaries need to get maximum value from the grant allocations, since we were typically funding wages from our own funds and had to reduce staff to buy more inputs to meet the project’s requirements”, says Mogamat Abrahams.

“Overall, thank you for your efficient and professional service. You have added greater value and changed our lives for the better”, Abrahams concluded.