Innovative Business Model Empowers Communities

Mkululi Pakade, director of East Cape Macadamia, has devised a business model that positions the Eastern Cape’s local communities firmly within the macadamia industry.

- Grant Hollins

Macadamias were introduced to South Africa in the 1960s, and the industry has since burgeoned into arguably the fastest-growing tree crop industry in the country. Competing with Australia as the world’s largest producer, South Africa’s macadamia industry has grown rapidly from an annual production sales value of R32 million in 1996, to over R4 billion in 2015.

While the majority of the country’s macadamias are produced in three provinces, Limpopo, Mpumalanga and KwaZulu-Natal, the Eastern Cape’s climate, especially along the eastern coastal belt from Bizana to just beyond East London, is also suitable for macadamia production. However, most of the potential production land is situated within the former homelands of the Transkei and Ciskei, and few commercial macadamia farmers have been able to access this. Moreover, the province’s contribution to this lucrative industry has been insignificant.

EMPOWERMENT THROUGH BUSINESS INNOVATION

East Cape Macadamia (Pty) Ltd (ECM) has developed a business model that aims to increase provincial involvement in the industry, as well as empower rural communities in the process. According to Mkululi Pakade, one of the company’s directors, ECM wants to build the province’s macadamia industry by positioning communities as key players in the industry.