Researchers Shingie Chisoro and Prof Simon Roberts unpack the key factors driving this exceptional success in a study published inChisoro is a Ph.D. candidate and Roberts the Lead Researcher at the Center for Competition, Regulation and Economic Development , within the College of Business & Economics at the University of Johannesburg.
The CGA's pursuit of value for growers has however created a different business risk and opportunity model for citrus growers in South Africa, compared to other agriculture industries. Each citrus exporter in South Africa contributes to the industry levy, charged per carton of exported fruit. In this way, the CGA has access to ongoing and independent resources.
The CGA has placed research and development at the center of the industry. They are also smart in how they leverage their R&D to be entrepreneurial in developing key inputs in new or improved cultivars, and crop protection products for established and new pests. The global citrus export industry based in South Africa is an outlier in many ways, not least for its continued vigorous growth. Somehow, the industry is now the second biggest in the world after Spain, while operating from a developing country facing many challenges. UJ researchers Shingie Chisoro and Simon Roberts unpack critical factors driving this exceptional success. Credit: Therese van Wyk, University of Johannesburg.
In this context, building a sustainable industry in South Africa required the inclusion of previously excluded Black farmers and the balancing of different interests, to sustain a broad and stable coalition of players and stakeholders.