SA Graan Augustus 2015

Syngenta produces

Smart Farmers

the 2015 Grain Academy graduation

yngenta, one of South Africa’s leading agri-business com-

panies, acknowledged 20 young commercial growers at

their graduation ceremony for the 2015 Grain Academy – a

three month business and leadership programme aimed

at equipping our new generation growers with the skills to address

the challenges that our agricultural industry face.

The guest speakers at this year’s ceremony included: Messrs

Sakkie van Zyl (a Grain Academy alumni and the Agri SA Young

Farmer of the Year for 2014), Louw Steytler (chairman: Grain SA),

Dan Kriek (president: Free State Agriculture), as well as Antonie

Delport (managing director: Syngenta SA).

Speaking to the graduating class, Delport said: “In partnership

with the University of the Free State and with the support of

Grain SA, we are honoured to congratulate our graduates on the

successful completion of this year’s programme. Special men-

tion needs to go to the two female delegates who were part of this

year’s team. Your achievement highlights the contribution made by

women to our agriculture sector.”

Steytler added: “It is up to us who are passionate about the agri-

cultural industry to be the pioneers – it’s our responsibility to take

charge of the future of agriculture by developing a younger gen-

eration of growers. It is therefore crucial that we equip our young

and determined growers with strong business-minded qualities to

cultivate the future of agriculture in our country.”

Delport also said that if it is our land and our crops that will cre-

ate sustainability for our planet’s future, then it’s our producers

who will steer us to it. And this realisation lead to Syngenta’s

SmartFarm Campaign, launched in May this year: Instilling a mind-

fulness that each and every decision made on the farm has a direct

impact on growers’ profitability and sustainability. By investing

in leadership capacity development through its Grain Academy

programme, Syngenta confirms its commitment by empowering

Smart Farmers for the future.

Some of the projects which the graduates were challenged with

are current and topical issues that the agriculture industry faces,

and included:

Job losses and the necessity for job creation in agriculture ver-

sus the impact of mechanisation.

Employee benefits with a focus on best practices regarding

housing, education, medical and other benefits for labour.

Land reform and the negative impact of the uncertainty thereof

on agriculture in South Africa; taking into consideration stake-

holder policy positions, political developments as well as stake-

holder proposals and models.

Emerging farmer capacity and the absence of effective capac-

ity development models and insufficient support of emerging

farmers regarding finance, ownership and mentoring among

others, within the context of increasing expectations of land

ownership.

After congratulating the 20 graduates, Van Zyl emphasised that we

need to remind ourselves that this is but the start – there’s still a long

road ahead. “Indeed, now is a time to celebrate, but let’s also be

swift in applying what we’ve learnt,” he stressed.

“The agri-world is forever changing with constant new challenges

on the horizon. It’s how we take the knowledge we’ve gained

from the leadership programme and how we build on that knowl-

edge that will ultimately determine the future success of agricul-

ture,” said Kriek.

It has always been part of Syngenta’s objective to empower young

growers and to enlighten and encourage them to become progres-

sive and liberated from outdated traditional approaches to farming.

Syngenta understands – and its Grain Academy is testimony to this

– that the agricultural times that we are currently in, calls for a mod-

ern way of thinking among growers, willing to employ a contempo-

rary and scientifically-backed approach to the future of agriculture.

August 2015

RELEVANT

ISADORA ISAACS,

on behalf of Syngenta SA

1: Antonie Delport congratulates Roland Driemeyer, a Grain Academy

graduate, on his successful completion of the programme.

2: Some of the delegates of the 2015 Syngenta Grain Academy:

Arrie Muller, Johan Ferreira, Tom van Rooyen, Esias Scheepers,

Fanie Jansen van Rensburg, Jonathan Francisco, Magnus Theunissen

and Chris Kleingeld.

3: Guest speakers at the 2015 Syngenta Grain Academy graduation:

Louw Steytler, Sakkie van Zyl, Linda van der Merwe (MC and head:

Marketing, Syngenta SA), Dan Kriek, Antonie Delport and

Jannie de Villiers (CEO: Grain SA).