Securing The Future Of SA Macadamias

The Southern African Macadamia Growers’ Association has undergone major changes, breaking away from Subtrop to become an independent entity and introducing statutory levies. Lindi Botha spoke to newly appointed CEO Lizel Pretorius about the association’s future.

- Lindi Botha

WHAT WAS BEHIND THE DECISION TO BREAK AWAY FROM SUBTROP AND FORM AN INDEPENDENT, NONPROFIT INDUSTRY BODY?

The macadamia industry in South Africa has grown rapidly over the past few years. This has brought about a need for a fulltime team focusing specifically on macadamias to address potential challenges and explore opportunities, especially in research, market development and stakeholder communication. An evolution committee was established to guide the South African Macadamia Growers’ Association (SAMAC) breakaway from Subtrop and decide on its key objectives. The most important resolution to come out of the committee was to ensure that SAMAC was an independent organisation that could mitigate risk in the orchards and markets, and explore new opportunities to increase both demand and supply of macadamia nuts.

SAMAC’s main aim is to build and maintain a lean, profitable organisation. This will require sound financial governance and administration, driven by benchmarking remuneration levels and policies, and by evaluating performance annually. To increase efficiency, the board has been reduced from 13 to six directors, plus the CEO. They have been assigned portfolios that align with their specific skill sets.

The idea of forming a non-profit company was not anticipated initially, but we wanted to ensure better corporate governance and transparency for our members, particularly as our funding would increase significantly in the near future with the renewal of the statutory levy.

Delivering value for the levies is paramount. This includes ensuring that growers have access to the latest research on macadamia production; investigating new technologies to assist farmers; representing South Africa on the global stage, thus ensuring the country remains the supplier of choice for macadamia nuts; and utilising all opportunities to open new markets.