The fund will seek to create shared value solutions that help build a sustainable food system by creating local employment opportunities and increasing local procurement and supplier diversity.

“The Kgodiso Development Fund will prioritise activities that support the growth and scaling up of black-owned emerging farming enterprises and small, medium-sized and microenterprise (SMME) businesses, promote regenerative agriculture practices and encourage the adoption of innovation to revitalise local production within South Africa’s agriculture sector,” says Kgodiso Development Fund executive director Diale Tilo.

“PepsiCo aims to play a bigger role in supporting activities that contribute to the long-term sustainability and resilience of South Africa’s food system. The Kgodiso Development Fund will act as a catalyst to create local jobs, increase local procurement, build small businesses, support education and holistically contribute to black economic empowerment in South Africa,” says PepsiCo sub-Saharan Africa CEO Tertius Carstens.

The fund hopes to deliver a meaningful impact through its commitment to creating shared value solutions and transformation of supply and value chains. Although founded by PepsiCo, it will be run as an independent fund, with an executive director and a board of trustees.

The fund will allocate R300-million to agricultural development to assist black-owned emerging farming enterprises to upscale their businesses and ensure that they are provided with opportunities to integrate into the value chain.

“This will help transform the country’s agricultural landscape by developing a new generation of sustainable farming enterprises,” says Tilo.

Courtesy of Engineering News – read full article here.