Participation of the Dutch at the PMA
The yearly conference of the Produce Marketing Association (PMA) “Fresh Connections” was held on 16 and 17 August at the Cape Town International Conventional Centre, South Africa. PMA is an important network meeting for fresh food producers and traders.
Through the coordination of the Embassy of the Netherlands in South Africa and the Consulate in Cape Town a Dutch business delegation of 10 companies and institutions participated in the conference. On 17 August the delegation had a two hour workshop at which presentations and discussions on Dutch technologies on Climate Smart Agriculture were made.
The Dutch delegation’s programme, also included a field visit to fruit and lettuce farms in the Western Cape Province. Demonstrations and presentations at these farms showed that the farmers had already started benefiting from latest Dutch technologies on Climate Change adaptation practices.
Visiting Goosen farm
At Goosen fruit Farms in Wolseley a farmer shared information about how they have managed to increase water management efficiency to up to 10% through the use of the weather information internet based portal Fruitlook developed by Dutch company, ELeaf and funded by the Western Cape Provincial Department of Agriculture. A newly established lettuce farm which was also visited by the delegation in Stellenbosch, Western Cape Province has benefited from the cutting edge seed production technologies of Dutch company, Rijk Zwaan.
Trade show
Within the trade show area of the conference, the Embassy had a pavilion at which almost all the Dutch companies represented during the mission exhibited promotional materials. The colorful pavilion drew attention so much so that it was visited by more than 100 conference participants during the two days of the show. Random information sessions were conducted by the Dutch companies as they responded to the enthusiasm of the visitors at the pavilion. These sessions were accompanied by audio and visual demonstrations.
Workshop
During the two hour workshop on 17 August Dutch expert Aart van den Bos (contracted by the Embassy to perform a study on the uptake of Climate Smart technologies in South Africa) presented preliminary findings on the needs in South Africa and possible solutions. Four companies presented their contributions to climate smart solutions, amongst which where start-ups SI Technologies and SunCooler. A booklet and USB stick was distributed with contributions from 25 Dutch Companies (available at the Embassy).
Dutch students
Accompanying the delegation were two Dutch students, Herman de Vree from Helicon opleidingen MBO, Geldermalsen and Susanne van Caam, from HAS University of applied sciences in the Netherlands. These students were hosted through an extensive programme combining the conference activities and the Western Cape Provincial Department of Agriculture educational programme at the Elsenburg College of Agriculture in Stellenbosch. Through these activities the students were able to interact, share their Dutch experiences and learn from their counterparts both at the conference, at Elsenburg College and during the field trips organized by the Dutch Embassy and the Western Cape Provincial Department of Agriculture for them.