Project Proposal:  Building a Sustainable Heliculture Industry by Empowering Women Farmers in South Africa

This project will assist in solving a number of challenges in South Africa in the following ways:

  1. It will create a brand new, sustainable industry – with new jobs being created, not taken away from other industries.
  2. It will create direct as well as seasonal employment for hundreds of Women every year and thousands after Year 5.  Jobs will continue to grow in the Agriculture, Processing and Hospitality Industries.
  3. It will educate Women in Business Management & Entrepreneurship to enable them to create more local businesses and assist in lowering the unemployment rate.
  4. It will educate Women in Agricultural Farming processes to enable them to create more food producing farms in rural and other areas.
  5. By building a processing plant, this project will ensure sustainability due to the fact that both the supply and demand is being supported. Women Farmers will receive competitive prices for their harvests.
  6. Contract farmers nationwide will be able to sell their produce to the processing plant and therefore earn income to expand.
  7. Contract farmers will be able to sell and/or supply food to their local communities assisting in alleviating of hunger in South Africa.

In addition, the project will:

  1. Reduce imports by supplying Proudly South African products locally.
  2. Be able to export these products as soon as the South African demand is met.
  3. Create hundreds of direct & seasonal jobs for Women assisting in lowering the unemployment rate.
  4. Enable Women to not only earn a sustainable income but also employ local workers at their farms.
  5. Create seasonal employment to contract farmers for setting up farms, assist with harvesting etc.