The Department of Agriculture Land Reform and Rural Development ‘s Female Entrepreneur Awards selection panel has winded up its selection processes.

This comes after about 39 female farmer projects were visited by the Department’s adjudication team.

 The two-day exercise entailed watching all the female farmer videos and scrutinising various profiles. The purpose of this exercise was to determine how well the female farmers know their projects – in both livestock and crops. 

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, focussing on food security, job creation, economic growth and poverty alleviation. This happens by leveraging entrepreneurs from being subsistence to commercial farmers.

Entries were received in the following categories : Best female farmworker in the sector , best subsistence producer, top entrepreneur : smallholder, top entrepreneur : processing, 

top entrepreneur: non- commercial, top entrepreneur: commercial, the MEC special awards, youth and disabled.

Factors that disqualified certain contestants include the following : Lack of the entity’s registration certificate, failure to add value to the communities, inability to adhere to standards and regulations, the absence or non-demonstration of exporting certificate, failure to demonstrate good sense in financial management, record keeping and audited financial statements and less than two years in the industry.

The Departments received less entries this year compared to previous years due to the tougher competition rules – 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 draws closer.

Directorate Communications Services : Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development