Lukhanyo Nkombisa, General Manager of the Citrus Growers’ Association Grower Development Company (CGDC), outlined an ambitious vision for transforming how the industry will support emerging and established growers through a proposed new transformation fund. He addressed to delegates at the CGDC Grower Indaba, hosted by the Citrus Growers’ Association of Southern Africa at the Birchwood Hotel & OR Tambo Conference Centre in Boksburg this week.
By Maile Matsimela, Digital Editor at African Farming
Acknowledging Current Challenges
Nkombisa opened his presentation by directly addressing the financial challenges facing many growers in the industry. “We know that most of the growers don’t have access to finance, and they have a lot of challenges when it comes to that,” he stated.
The CGDC has been actively working with various institutions, including government departments, private sector entities and financial institutions, to address these funding challenges. Internal resources include the Enterprise Development Fund (EDF), which receives funding from levies and support from provincial and national agriculture departments.
Also read: News from the CGDC Grower Indaba – ‘Citrus industry showed transformation not just possible, but profitable and sustainable’
Learning From Past Experiences
Reflecting on previous initiatives, Nkombisa shared lessons learnt from The Jobs Fund, which recently concluded. Despite good intentions, the programme fell short of its objectives. “We had a target of 30 growers to participate, but this target was not reached due to some shortcomings that the growers are faced with,” he explained.
These experiences have shaped current thinking about how to structure future support mechanisms more effectively. Rather than repeating past approaches, the focus has shifted towards understanding why previous initiatives struggled and how to design better solutions.
Introducing The Citrus Transformation Fund Concept
Building on these lessons, Nkombisa introduced the concept of a new Citrus Transformation Fund designed to address the shortcomings of previous approaches. A key innovation is the plan to engage multiple financial institutions rather than working exclusively with single partners.
“We want to open up to all banks and all funding institutions to come on board so that everyone is able to access the fund that suits its entity,” Nkombisa explained. This approach aims to provide diverse access options for different types of growers, including small growers, standalone entities and commercial-grower partnerships.
However, he was careful to manage expectations about timing. “During lunch, don’t ask me when to submit the applications for this fund. We are still discussing internally,” he told the audience, emphasising that the initiative is in its early planning stages.
Also read: Live from the CGDC Grower Indaba
Redesigning Current Approaches
A critical component of the new strategy involves reviewing and potentially redesigning the existing EDF. Nkombisa posed challenging questions about the current impact: “Are we making impact? And if we’re not making impact, what is it that we need to do? So, we need to redesign the EDF.”
Nkombisa emphasised the critical role that accurate information will play in the success of any new funding mechanism. His team is conducting comprehensive assessments on farms to create tailored development plans for individual growers.
“Information is very critical for us to be able to put this fund together. We’re going to need your information because under the due diligence, we’re going to have each and every entity development plan,” he explained.
These efforts include initiatives like the Fruit Data project, which examines economic viability and best practices among growers. The goal is to avoid creating additional debt burdens for struggling operations while identifying genuine opportunities for sustainable growth.
The due diligence process has revealed concerning patterns among many growers, including heavy debt burdens, year-on-year losses and structural issues that limit access to finance. The proposed fund aims to address these fundamental challenges rather than simply providing additional capital.
“We don’t want to [burden you with more debt], but we want to ensure that your business is profitable and sustainable, and that you’ve got access to finance,” Nkombisa stated, highlighting the focus on long-term viability rather than short-term relief.
Connecting To Broader Transformation Goals
Nkombisa linked the transformation fund concept to broader industry objectives that seek to increase black grower contributions to the sector.
Throughout his presentation, Nkombisa emphasised the importance of collaborative approaches involving banks, government and private institutions. The success of the transformation fund will depend on coordinated support from multiple stakeholders rather than isolated efforts.
“We brought all the stakeholders together so that this initiative – this vision we’re working on – has your backing. So, you can say, ‘You know what, CGDC, we support you on this initiative,’” he explained, calling for unified commitment to the transformation agenda.
