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CHAPTER 8
Grain SA’s Farmer Development Working Group
The structure of Grain SA is such that every focus area is supported by a Work-
ing Group comprised of members of the Executive and management. In this way
the Executive manages to stay informed about developments on the ground. The
Chairperson of this Working Group is essentially the channel of communication
from the operational division to the decision making authority which is the Execu-
tive and vice versa. When Grain SA was founded in June 1999, Pretorius came
into the organisation with the experience he had gathered from the development
activities of NOPO and the same passion for the work that needed to be done.
He held this position until April 2006 when he retired and Jenny Mathews was
elected in his stead – a position she held until her retirement from the Executive of
Grain SA in March 2012.
INTERVIEW WITH JENNY MATHEWS
Interview with Estie de Villiers for
SA Graan/Grain
magazine, August 2015
“The educator in me was very excited to learn about Grain SA’s dedicated
Farmer Development Programme, headed up by Ms Jane McPherson. I
immediately signed up to be a member of that Working Group. I had wanted
to find a way to make a small contribution towards the healing of this land and
I saw this as an opportunity.
This encounter changed my life.
I recently told Jane that she, together with
her incredible team of people, opened my eyes to something truly wonderful
happening at grassroots agriculture; and the farmers who I have met along
the way, have changed my heart.
“I have met so many beautiful people who
work hard, long hours with a smile on their faces. They see my heart and not
the colour of my skin. My motto has become: ‘It’s not the colour of our skin,
but the colour of our heart that matters.’”
According to Jenny many of the emerging farmers’ challenges are exactly the
same as for commercial producers, since agriculture in general is extremely
stressed and profitability is under heavy pressure. ’Producers are just strug-
gling to survive, especially after the terrible 2014/2015 season which saw
many crop failures. This is exacerbated for many emerging farmers because
they struggle to access finance for inputs and they often do not hold the title
to their farms so they can’t use the land as security.
’The truly dedicated farmers who I have met are hard workers who not only
need mentorship and education, but also recapitalisation funding to ensure
that their businesses get a fair chance of survival. Just to give any man or
woman a piece of land is not a recipe for successful land reform,‛ she said.
Ms Jenny Mathews
For everything under the sun there is a season and it was time to pass the baton of
leadership on. The committee elected Mr Victor Mongoato as the new Chairperson
and he is still the Chairperson of the Working Group. In support of transformation
within the organisation, the Executive co-opted him to the organisation’s Manage-
ment Committee in this capacity.
Establishment of a ‘Voice of the Farmer’ sub-committee
It was the feeling of the Working Group that there was not enough representation
from the developing farmers to ensure enough insight was available about circum-
stances in the different regions. The Executive had already given its approval that
the Working Group organise to co-opt more farmers, so a special meeting with
the advanced farmers was called during Grain SA’s NAMPO Harvest Day in 2009.
They formed a sub-committee comprised of nine farmers who they mandated to
speak on their behalf as ’the voice of the farmer’. The first meeting with the elected
members was held on 8 September 2009.