Botswana citrus growers pleased to join the Southern African association, CGA

Citrus growers in Botswana have joined the Citrus Growers Association of Southern Africa (CGA) as the body represents 1 564 growers.

Citrus Growers Association has members in Zimbabwe, South Africa, eSwatini as well as Botswana and it aims to help maximise long-term growth, profitability, and sustainability in the country.

On top of that, CGA also helps to empower its members such as Botswana with increased access to global markets, assisting them to optimise the cost-effective production of high-quality fruit from their region and making industry resources available to them including the latest research from globally recognised Citrus Research International.

Botswana citrus farm Selebi Phikwe Citrus operational manager Johan van Vuuren says becoming part of CGA is a great move for them.

“Joining the CGA is a great achievement when it comes to unlocking opportunities for citrus growers in our country. Our farmers and labour force face several challenges when it comes to accessing critical industry resources to improve and grow the sector,” he said according to Engineering News.

“By becoming members of the CGA, Botswana citrus growers will now be able to unlock increased access to these critical resources and support structures to ensure the continued growth of the industry, farms and businesses. 
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“We look forward to using the CGA as a platform to share and absorb knowledge from others who have more experience in this line of work.”

As things stand, it is reported that there are 164 citrus growers in the Southern African country, Botswana, with 94% of these being small-scale farmers that produce citrus on under 5 hectares. The remaining 6% fall into the category of medium-sized to large-scale farmers.

The sector currently supports just more than 1 000 jobs, with 75% of employees being female, the CGA says.

“Supporting small-scale growers is one of the main focus areas of the CGA and its Grower Development Company. We look forward to sharing our knowledge and expertise with Botswana growers,” said CGA CEO Justin Chadwick.

“Southern African growers have become renowned for their excellent quality fruit, which is the result of a major investment in research and innovation over the past few years and we look forward to continuing expanding the CGA footprint to other African countries.”

The Citrus Growers Association remains committed to representing and furthering the interests of citrus growers across the Southern part of the African continent to ensure they remain key economic contributors in their respective countries, said Chadwick.

Main Image: Citrus Farm/Citrus Industry Magazine