The Department of Trade & Industry (dti) has chosen Africa’s premier food and beverage event to announce its one billion boost for South African agriculture.

Trade and Industry Minister Dr Rob Davies will announce full details of the new one billion rand Agro-processing Support Scheme (APSS) at Africa’s Big 7 expo in Johannesburg on Tuesday (June 27).

The scheme offers individual grants of up to Rand 20 million to support small farmers, create jobs, increase rural development and help boost exports.

“I am confident that the agro-processing incentive will make a positive difference by creating jobs and supporting smallholder farmers, amongst others,” says Davies said, who described the target producers as an important labour-intensive sector, prioritised in the Industrial Policy Action Plan.

The new announcement is expected to address initial criticisms when it was first discussed two weeks ago where grant recipients having to start funded projects within 90 days was considered too short and also that the 30 per cent minimum black inputs to any project may restrict growth. Davies is expected to deal with these and clarify exactly how APSS will be implemented.

Africa’s Big 7 fully supports the country’s smaller farmers and has devoted a conference day to support smallholders and urban farmers with a series of interactive free-to-attend workshops. Sessions are intended to improve the productivity, efficiency and profitability of existing farms and prepare them for expansion. The day has sessions on improving yields, using better seeds and fertilisers and advice on accessing finance and marketing.

Dr Davies’ APSS announcement targets food and beverage value addition and processing (including black-owned winemakers), feed production, fertiliser production, fibre production and furniture. The announcement forms part of the dti’s transition away from generalised incentives towards sector-specific programmes, the minister says.

And every session that form part of this year’s AB7 conference programme earns career enhancing Continuing Professional Development (CPD) accreditation for delegates. CPD operates all over the world and international show organiser dmg events, which acquired AB7 last year, introduces CPD to South Africa in 2017. CPD benefits the employee, the employer and ensures dmg conferences are of recognised international standard.

Special features at AB7 2017 also includes Café Culture featuring competitions and free barista training with a healthy blend of mixology and chefs kitchen of the future challenge, which will bring together sub-Saharan Africa’s finest worthy of Africa’s premier food show.

AB7, now in its 16^th year, was acquired last year by dmg events Middle East, Asia & Africa and rebranded and relaunched for 2017.

It is co-located with SAITEX 2017 – Africa’s largest product sourcing event – and The Hotel Show Africa 2017, one of the world’s most successful hospitality event brands. Together they make up Retail & Hospitality Week 2017 at The Gallagher Convention Centre, Johannesburg, from June 25 to 27.

You can see the full Food Forum conference programme at www.africabig7.com and also register for show and conference passes.

Press information
The 15^th edition of Africa’s Big 7 (AB7) runs from June 25-27 at The Gallagher Convention Centre, Midrand, Johannesburg, South Africa. It is the continent’s largest food and beverage industry trade expo. Its seven specialised sectors cover everything from fresh produce and ingredients to manufacturing technologies, processing and packaging equipment, retail ready products, hospitality and catering equipment and much more. For more information visit www.africabig7.com
Africa’s Big 7, was acquired in 2016 by dmg ems Africa events, part of dmg events Middle East, Asia & Africa, a wholly owned subsidiary of Daily Mail & General Trust (DMGT).
dmg events Middle East, Asia & Africa was founded in 1989 and has operated in the Middle East since 1995 and owns some the region’s biggest shows including The Hotel Show and The Big 5. Headquartered in Dubai, UAE and with satellite offices in India, South Africa and the UK, dmg events Middle East, Asia & Africa organises more than 45 events across the Middle East, Africa, Asia, North America and Europe. The events attract more than 250,000 customers every year and provide opportunities for trade professionals to do business, network and learn. For more information visit www.dmgeventsme.com
DMGT manages a balanced multinational portfolio of entrepreneurial companies, with total revenues of almost $3bn, that provide a diverse range of businesses and consumers with compelling information, analysis, insight, news and entertainment. The company employs more than 10,000 people and is listed on the London Stock Exchange. DMGT aims to provide the highest quality information, insight and services to attractive growth markets in innovative ways, building on a track record of earnings and dividend growth. For more information visit www.dmgt.com
For further information, please contact:
Gary Wright, Head of PR & Comms, dmg-ems Africa
E: [email protected] T: +27 (0) 11 783 7250 W: www.dmgeventsme.comA: P O Box 650302 BENMORE 2010, South Africa