The Department of Agriculture Land Reform and Rural Development ‘s Female Entrepreneur Awards selection panel has winded up its selection processes.
This after about 39 Female Farmer projects were visited by the Department’s Adjudication team.
The two-day exercise entails watching all the female farmer videos and scrutinizing various profiles. The purpose of this exercise was to ascertain how well the female farmers know their projects, both livestock and crop.
The Female Entrepreneur Awards Competition (FEA) is an annual event, striving to acknowledge the contribution of women, young women and women with disabilities in the sector through food security, job creation, economic growth and poverty alleviation. This happens through leveraging entrepreneurs from being subsistence to commercial farmers.
Entries were in the following categories:
•Best Female Farmworker in The Sector
•Best Subsistence Producer
•Top Entrepreneur: Smallholder
•Top Entrepreneur: Processing
•Top Entrepreneur: Non
•Top Entrepreneur: Commercial
•MEC Special Awards
-Youth
- Disabled
Factors that disqualified certain contestants included the following:
-Lack of entity registration certificate
-Failure to add value to the communities
-Inability to adhere to standards and regulations.
-Absence or non- demonstration of exporting certificate
-Failure to demonstrate good sense in financial management, record keeping and audited financial statements.
-Less than a two years in the industry
The Departments received less entries this year compared to previous years due to the tougher competition rules, more especially in categories like Smallholder, Processing, Export and Commercial.
The selection panel consisted of officials from the Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development (DALR&RD), the Department of Agriculture Forestry and Fisheries (DAFF), the Department of Rural Development and Land Reform and representatives from National African Farmers Union (NAFU) and African Farmers Association of South Africa (AFASA).
The conclusion by the selection panel paves a way for the Department’s top class gala event - that will take place on the 08 August 2018 either in Warrenton or Hartswater. Details of the total prize money per category will be outlined as the gala event draw closer.
Mr Phemelo Manankong –External Communications Officer
@ 053 802 5622/ 066 303 8177
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www.agrinc.gov.za
Directorate: Communications Services – Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development.