Small Farmers’ Trust at Misgund
[Article taken from Capespan COURIER – December 2002]
An Empowerment project in the Langkloof, which was started in 1996 to establish full ownership to a group of 134 farm workers, has been so successful that the workers are now talking about buying their third farm.
Misgund Landgoed, the first farm bought by the Misgund Small Farmers’ Trust, was also the first farm to pack its fruit under the Capespan Foundation’s THANDI™ brand.
The establishment of the Trust is the result of the vision of well-known Langkloof fruit grower, Hendrik Kritzinger, who saw it as the only real opportunity to empower the people who have worked for him for so long. Since the establishment of the first farm, Hendrik Kritzinger’s own farming operations have supported the Trust with technical and operational advice in order to allow it to produce the right products for a discerning international market.
Misgund Landgoed is a 240 hectare farm, of which 33 hectares are under fruit production. A second farm, Laurita, with 66 hectares of orchards, was recently acquired and now the trustees are talking about a third farm. Dividends are paid according to operating profit and it is significant to note that to date the Trust has built up enough capital to finance its own implements and production inputs, and to pay R240 000 in dividends to the 134 shareholders.
A board of 10 trustees, of which eight are shareholders, manages the Trust. Each farm has its own operating office with staff and operational and salary records. The Trustees take all financial and operational decisions.
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