Sustainability gets its own programme

Hortgro has established the Resource Management and Sustainability Programme to help ensure the future of the deciduous-fruit industry. By Anna Mouton.

“Something related to sustainability comes up nearly every day, including new policies and regulations, compliance and tax issues, and climate change,” says Anton Rabe, Executive Director of Hortgro. “Our challenge is to proactively influence these processes and best position ourselves as an industry.”

Hortgro identified the need for a dedicated sustainability programme during the creation of its four-year strategic plan for 2023–2027. The goal of the programme is to enable pome- and stone-fruit producers to access natural resources, support the sustainable management of these resources, and mitigate associated risks.

In April 2024, Hortgro appointed Nitasha Baijnath-Pillay to head up the new Resource Management and Sustainability (RMS) Programme. She has more than 20 years of experience in environmental management at both national and provincial government levels.

“At Hortgro, I’ve learnt that you can’t have sustainability if you don’t have a thriving business,” says Baijnath-Pillay. “Business sustainability is not only about profit margins but also about addressing the environmental, social, and governance requirements that allow you to be competitive and profitable.”

Finding workable solutions

The key to sustainable pome- and stone-fruit production is improved efficiency. Caught in the narrowing gap between input costs and fruit prices, growers are acutely aware of the need to do more with less. Reducing inputs often benefits the environment — one example is saving water and electricity through better irrigation practices.

Although growers are famously inventive (’n boer maak ’n plan), they can’t solve every problem on their own. This is why Hortgro Science works closely with industry to identify research questions and fund relevant projects.

Sustainability has long been an implicit research focus, but it’s now front and centre, with Baijnath-Pillay joining the various Hortgro Science working groups assessing research project proposals.

To illustrate this approach in action, consider climate research. Climate change mitigation is one of the RMS Programme’s strategic objectives. Hortgro Science has already completed 38 projects related to climate resilience and adaptive capacity since 2005. It has another 13 in progress, according to Marno van der Westhuizen, Crop Production Programme Manager at Hortgro Science.

He lists several areas for further exploration, including more efficient use of water, fertiliser, agrochemicals, fuel, and electricity. Some of these could be addressed through research, and others through, for example, technology transfer. This ties into another RMS Programme objective, which is to explore innovative technologies.

“One aspect of our research is to test new technologies and see how best to modify and implement them,” says Baijnath-Pillay.

“It’s about technology that gives you efficiency, saves natural resources, and limits pollution in order to increase sustainability throughout the value chain. We want to give growers information, so they can make informed decisions and become more resilient.”

Advocating for the grower

There is no question about Hortgro’s commitment to sustainability, but environmental and social sustainability that puts growers out of business isn’t true sustainability. Hence, a crucial aspect of the RMS Programme is ensuring our industry has a seat at the table when policies, legislation, and regulations are discussed.

“It sometimes feels as though policymakers are sitting somewhere in an ivory tower, thinking up all sorts of wonderful ideas, but they don’t have a clue about the implications at a farm or a pack-house level,” says Rabe. “They don’t appreciate the impact on businesses’ bottom lines, job opportunities, and rural communities.”

For example, the deciduous-fruit industry is represented in discussions around the European Union’s Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism, South Africa’s draft regulations and sectoral emission targets under the Climate Change Act (Act 22 of 2024), and GlobalG.A.P.’s Environmental Sustainability Solution.

Baijnath-Pillay represents the pome- and stone-fruit industry at Southern Hemisphere Fruit Alliance meetings to draft comments on various policy-related documents that impact the South African industry, for example, the new Packaging and Packaging Waste Directive from the European Union.

“We need to be ready for new regulations, but we also need to contribute to discussions to ensure we’re not being disadvantaged at any stage,” she says.

She has been working with the Packhouse Action Group to understand and update the industry’s plastics strategy. She also led a panel of sustainable packaging experts as part of the Footprint webinar series. Meanwhile, Hortgro Science continues to pursue research to improve packaging.

“With the anticipated release of the Hortgro Strategic Water Resource Plan and the Western Cape Water Resilience Strategy in 2026, water is my next big focus area,” says Baijnath-Pillay.

Among other activities, she will collaborate with the government to safeguard growers’ access to water in various production regions and lobby for the maintenance and upgrading of water infrastructure.

Knowledge is power

“We must implement the different dimensions of sustainability at a pace that doesn’t threaten the commercial viability of our growers and our industry,” says Rabe. “That means empowering our growers with knowledge, which requires packaging and communicating information effectively.”

Hortgro has always used diverse platforms, including Technical Symposia, newsletters, the Fresh Quarterly, and the South African Fruit Journal, to connect with growers and other stakeholders. More recently, Baijnath-Pillay launched the Footprint webinar series, mentioned above, which aims to spotlight sustainable practices, risks and mitigation.

In addition to sustainable packaging, episodes have covered soil health and green financing, with the most recent webinar delving into carbon footprinting. All episodes are available on the Hortgro YouTube channel.

“Our growers need to be aware of, for example, the implications of the European Vision for Food and Agriculture so that we can stay competitive and in business,” says Baijnath-Pillay. “We want to communicate the research results, management options, and expert information, so growers understand what they need to do, and why.”

Rabe is very clear about what sustainability ultimately means. “Sustainability must include commercial sustainability. We want growers to be profitable,” he says. “They must want and be enabled to plant orchards, create jobs, and improve the rural economy.”