• In May 2022, an organisation-wide survey was undertaken to gather new facts (realities) about personal wellness interests, needs and desires of the PPECB employees. Subsequent to a procurement process, a service provider was appointed to provide the revised Employee Wellness Programme aligned, as closely as possible, to the personal wellness interests, needs and desires of the PPECB employees; and
• In August 2022, the CEO and COO conducted roadshows across the organisation, and brought employee queries for our attention. The Human Capital department has since held various discussions with line management and employees to dig deeper into queries raised. Action plans were established and implemented accordingly. As a result, an open communication channel with the Human Capital department has been created in order to continually improve the employee experience.

The Agri Export Technologist Programme (AETP) is offered annually to unemployed and disadvantaged agriculture graduates. The 2022 target of 45 was exceeded, with 52 learners graduating with a National Certificate in Agri Export Technology. Upon completion, all learners received further seasonal employment opportunities with the PPECB.

Co-funding from the Agricultural Sector Education and Training Authority (AgriSETA), was secured, which enabled us to also provide 11 unemployed graduates with work experience in the Laboratory, Information and Communications Technology (ICT), Human Capital and Finance departments. All students have gained further employment following their graduate placements.

The Learning and Development unit’s priority initiatives centred on upskilling and re-skilling employees for the rapidly changing world of work. We achieved our 2022 target of identifying and training ten new skills.

In the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) landscape power skills (including collaboration, communication and empathy) are more important than ever. A New World of Work Leadership Re-skilling initiative for the Operational Management Committee (MANCO) team was therefore introduced. Apart from new theory, social learning in the form of facilitated peer coaching groups was provided for MANCO members to upskill them in Leading in Disruptive Times and Leading Hybrid Future Fit Teams. Feedback received was that the intervention provided a platform to upskill, reconnect and realign as a management team post-pandemic. The new Leadership Development Programme (LDP) was also updated with these 4IR leadership competencies. The 2022 intake of 25 learners are currently completing the National Qualification Framework (NQF) Level 4, and 20 employees are currently completing the NQF Level 5. The post-assessment results will be used to identify high-potential future leaders for the PPECB at the end of the 12-month learnership. Our previous LDP graduates (2019-2021) also received the same supplementary skills training to ensure that their leadership skills remain relevant.

Managers and employees have reported seeing the impact from the LDP as managers are better able to ‘assist employees while applying different leadership skills effectively’. In addition the LDP has enabled employees to deal with emotions with emotional intelligence and provided an understanding of different personality and communication styles thus reducing team friction. IThrive and PPECB Supervisory Training also now include 4IR power skills.

Cultivating Resilience and Holistic Wellness Management was included in all these reskilling programmes due to the increased need for well-being training. In line with advances in learning and development, employees benefit more from a combination of in-house courses and off-the-shelf content. Therefore, a library of open e-learning courses has been developed, including topics such as Learning Agility/Growth Mindset and Adaptability and Resilience. The library is increasing access to skills whenever required and is also enabling more ownership of professional development.

In support of the strategic objective of enhancing the PPECB’s customer experience, an in-house Customer Excellence e-learning course was developed to ensure employees are informed of the customer service standards expected, understand applicable policy and procedures, and are equipped with practical skills to professionally deal with challenging situations. Customer service training was also included in the ERP training.

In preparing our employees for rapid digitalisation, 36 delegates completed the new Data Literacy Upskilling initiative, and 11 employees were trained in practical Data Quality Management. The return on investment was realised in the identification of eight Data Champs whom the business intelligence (BI) department has co-opted as part of the Data Quality Forum.

These new skills were in addition to the standard Personal Development Plan (PDP) requests and Compliance Training delivered. In total, 598 employees received formal training. One hundred e-learning courses are available on our online learning portal, with 4 579 course completions for the period.

• Smallholder farmer development
  A smallholder farmer or producer is defined as a producer that produces at primary, secondary, and tertiary levels for household consumption as well as markets. Therefore, farming is consciously undertaken to meet the needs of households and derive a source of income.
  These are usually the new entrants aspiring to produce for the market at a profit with a maximum annual turnover of R5 million. The PPECB smallholder farmer development programme focuses on training and upskilling smallholder farmers from designated groups to see them graduate from subsistence to commercial farming.
• Export Readiness and Market Access programme
  The PPECB has agreements with all provinces where SAGAP certification and training is provided to selected smallholder farmers to enable their export readiness and thereby increase market access.
  • Training workshops for 721 smallholder farmers have been conducted for the yearto-date. The annual target was exceeded as provinces expanded their programmes and demand by farmers and the markets for food safety certification increased.
  • 105 smallholder farmers producing raisins, rooibos, vegetables and fruit were certified for export.
• The SA Agri Academy training programme
  This market access development programme enables delegates to produce a business plan and be coached over a three-year period to implement it successfully. The following groups participate in this Enterprise Development Programme:

  Western Cape:

  • 2021 – 2024: 18 participants (a combination of the hospitality and primary agricultural value chain) – focus on vegetable farming
  • 2022 – 2024: 27 participants (a combination of the hospitality and primary agricultural value chain) – focus on mix farming, agri youth from farms and inclusion of a school for learners with disabilities

  Eastern Cape

  • 2022 – 2024: Two cooperatives with 20 farmers and 41 employees

  Mpumalanga:

  • 2022 – 2023: 15 female farmers operating in one cooperative to be added to the first group of 17 from 2020 to create a group of farmers who are clustered together to achieve greater production output, market access and funding.

  Limpopo:

  • 2021 – 2023: Grasp Primary – ten female farmers in one cooperative and ten youths preparing for SAGAP will add to contract farming. Market: Spar.

  Free State:

  • 2020 – 2022: Mix farming group of 20 farmers. Potential market: Shoprite, preparing for SAGAP.

  KwaZulu-Natal:

  • 2022 – 2024: 12 youth farmers focusing on vegetables, preparing for SAGAP.

IMPACT: The foundation laid by the South African Agri Academy (SAAA) and the PPECB partnership agreement in Limpopo enabled SAAA to broker a R5m grant from the Industrial Development Corporation (IDC) to assist the female farmers to do fencing and irrigation and obtain sustainable market access. This process will be extended to the Mpumalanga cooperative group of female farmers. All the farmers will benefit once they meet the criteria to apply for affordable production loans. This will enable them to grow and become commercially viable. The Western Cape Mamre and Malmsbury farmers received Comprehensive Agricultural Support Programme (CASP) funding for production expansion.

• Corporate Social Investment:The PPECB has launched initiatives directed at contributing to the betterment of general society, whether financially or in kind.

• Improving employee benefits and compensation packages to remain competitive in the labour market;
• Implementing a wellness programme to promote physical and mental well-being in the workplace; and
• Conducting regular employee engagement surveys to monitor employee satisfaction and identify areas for improvement.