Chris Gillitt Email & Phone Number

Brisbane, Queensland, Australia

Responsible for the planning and delivery of the CANEGROWERS Farm Business Resilience Project. The project is designed to take growers through a benchmarking and professional development program to allow them to be in a better position to assess, plan and develop actions for improved farm business resilience.

Brisbane, Australia

Pacific Labour Facility (PLF) project manager with Palladium is the managing contractor. The PLF supports the administration of the Pacific Labour Scheme (PLS), which is an Australian Government initiative that helps meet employer-worker demand in rural and regional Australia. The PLS enables citizens of nine Pacific islands and Timor-Leste to take up low-skilled and semi-skilled work opportunities in Australia for up to three years. It focuses on sectors with projected employment… Show more Pacific Labour Facility (PLF) project manager with Palladium is the managing contractor. The PLF supports the administration of the Pacific Labour Scheme (PLS), which is an Australian Government initiative that helps meet employer-worker demand in rural and regional Australia. The PLS enables citizens of nine Pacific islands and Timor-Leste to take up low-skilled and semi-skilled work opportunities in Australia for up to three years. It focuses on sectors with projected employment growth in Australia, is employer-sponsored, requires labour market testing to ensure Australians have priority for local jobs and contains protections to safeguard against worker exploitation.I previously project managed the Market Development Facility (MDF), starting with a handover of the existing DFAT project between managing contractors. MDF is a multi-country private sector development program funded by the Australian Government, currently operating in Fiji, Timor-Leste, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Papua New Guinea.MDF supports businesses with innovative ideas, investment and regulatory reform that will increase business performance, stimulate economic growth and ultimately benefits the poor – as workers, producers, and consumers.MDF’s goal is to create additional employment and income for poor women and men in rural and urban areas through sustainable and broad-based pro-poor growth. Show less

Brisbane, Australia

The role is focused on business development, project management, and technical advisory support for economic assessments, including a variety of sectors, opportunities and projects APAC Region. We engage with private and public sector institutions to build partnerships and implement programmes that have a lasting social and financial impact, using collaborative models and systemic approaches. Example recent assignments include the development of a feasibility model for collaborative and… Show more The role is focused on business development, project management, and technical advisory support for economic assessments, including a variety of sectors, opportunities and projects APAC Region. We engage with private and public sector institutions to build partnerships and implement programmes that have a lasting social and financial impact, using collaborative models and systemic approaches. Example recent assignments include the development of a feasibility model for collaborative and sustainable cocoa production in Indonesia and a project focused on determining means for strengthening Indonesian beef supply chains for improved animal welfare. Show less

Dubai & Abu Dhabi (Through 2017); 2018: Brisbane, Australia

My primary responsibilities in this position involved business development, project management, and providing technical input/sector expertise primarily on agricultural, but including a variety of sectors, opportunities and projects in the Middle East. The role included active engagement within the GCC private sector with a focus on agribusiness and economic consulting for large projects, project design and implementation. This has included proposal writing, project budget design and reporting.… Show more My primary responsibilities in this position involved business development, project management, and providing technical input/sector expertise primarily on agricultural, but including a variety of sectors, opportunities and projects in the Middle East. The role included active engagement within the GCC private sector with a focus on agribusiness and economic consulting for large projects, project design and implementation. This has included proposal writing, project budget design and reporting. In addition, I have been engaged in support of strategy execution consulting projects both in business development as well as support team on projects. I managed a wide range of Business Development efforts within the GCC, as well as supporting a variety of adjacent space projects.In Qatar, for the Qatar Ministry of Municipality and Environment, I provided situational analysis (PESTEL, VCA, SWOT etc) and review of sector strategies, including agriculture, livestock, fisheries and environment. In India, I was included on the team which is developing the concept of the first health sector Development Impact Bond (DIB). My role was to model a range of complex cash flow scenarios based on parameters included in the design, which included Outcome Funders, Investors and Implementers, which requires a multi-perspective and dynamic cash flow model. More on this here (https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/innovative-financing-journey-thousand-miles-peter-vanderwal/)In Indonesia, I joined a small team for assessing the strength of an enterprise which was identified as a potential Social Impact Investment for Palladium’s Impact Investment initiative. The operation was not established enough to warrant investment at that stage but showed great potential.In UAE, I was engaged on a full-time basis on the Abu Dhabi Farmers Services Centre Project as the agricultural economics consultant providing advisory services to Abu Dhabi farmers. See further details below. Show less

Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates

Chris provided agricultural economic advisory services to Abu Dhabi farmers, as well as internal support to the organisation on all aspects of the operational value chain. The tasks for this role include:----------------------------------------In-depth economic assessments of various elements along the value chain. Crop gross margins, packaging review with returnable crate feasibility study, commercial operations financial performance analysis, feasibility studies for major… Show more Chris provided agricultural economic advisory services to Abu Dhabi farmers, as well as internal support to the organisation on all aspects of the operational value chain. The tasks for this role include:----------------------------------------In-depth economic assessments of various elements along the value chain. Crop gross margins, packaging review with returnable crate feasibility study, commercial operations financial performance analysis, feasibility studies for major projects such as local production and supply of fresh herbs to supermarket chain, as well as value chain studies for the organization operations.Developed a crop planning system matching crop supply from farm contracts with market demand. Designed an automated optimizing system (using excel VBA programming), to balance weekly supply against estimated demand for more than 40 crops.Created comprehensive Gross Margin template (linking directly to internal database of agricultural inputs sold by the organization) to provide real-time benchmarks of production costs for 40 crops grown in the region. Gathered survey information from Abu Dhabi Farms and consolidated the data in the gross margin template in order to compare actual farm cost of production with expected benchmarks. Show less

North Coast Region, Kwazulu-Natal, South Africa

Developed, coordinated, implemented and managed the actions arising from SACGA's business objectives directed at sustainable development of the local grower organizational structures. Manage and protect the interests of sugar cane growers and support the leadership of the organisation. Provided advice, information and technical support to growers and the grower structures on all relevant issues and on all aspects related to Industry Agreements. Provide cane growers with relevant… Show more Developed, coordinated, implemented and managed the actions arising from SACGA's business objectives directed at sustainable development of the local grower organizational structures. Manage and protect the interests of sugar cane growers and support the leadership of the organisation. Provided advice, information and technical support to growers and the grower structures on all relevant issues and on all aspects related to Industry Agreements. Provide cane growers with relevant research, data, information, and support services to develop, maintain and enhance successful farming regions.Specific services to farmers include:-----------------------------------------------Economic assessments of existing farm businesses with long-term budget as well as monthly cash flow projections. Research of the impact of new developments in the sugarcane value chain, such as the implementation of a transport joint-venture between the grower organization, the milling company and the selected haulier. Business development and proposals for investment in new revenue streams from alternative products from sugarcane, such as ethanol production and electricity co-generation. Responsible for producing over 30 business plans for grant funding of land reform farms which required planning of intervention strategies and resulting financial improvements. Show less

Mount Edgecombe

The purpose of the position is to manage the data collection and analysis of the organizations economic database and includes development of surveys, techniques and reporting methods to enable timeous dissemination of results to internal and external stakeholders. The position includes the management of technical staff as well as management of the database systems of the organizations (Oracle based). Liaison with various stakeholders – internal and external – and custom data analysis… Show more The purpose of the position is to manage the data collection and analysis of the organizations economic database and includes development of surveys, techniques and reporting methods to enable timeous dissemination of results to internal and external stakeholders. The position includes the management of technical staff as well as management of the database systems of the organizations (Oracle based). Liaison with various stakeholders – internal and external – and custom data analysis and reporting are also key to the role. The role requires a high level of organizational and administration abilities as well as planning for deadlines of annual surveys.Undertook specific and focused studies of the sugar industry value chain including: Cost of production survey and studies. An annual survey of almost 400 farms is conducted and regional average costs of production are calculated. The survey included contact with the entire population of commercial farmers, including in-person visits to assess farms in certain regions where mixed farming occurs. The resulting database is analyzed in order to provide support to numerous aspects in the industry such as impacts of price changes, alternative fertilizers, changes in transport and mechanization, impact of changes along the supply chain. Labour productivity studies, which monitor the trend in labour productivity and wages in various regions of the sugar industry. Transport and logistics surveys and research. The cost of sugarcane transport makes up a large component of variable cost and is also sensitive to change in legislation which evolves rapidly in South Africa. Show less

Kwazulu-Natal

I worked as a farm manager on various farms during university vacations. These were mostly sugarcane and beef farming enterprises. I was responsible for the day-to-day management of these businesses whilst the owner was away. During this time I also managed a 24-hour haulage operation which delivered approximately 40 000 tons of sugarcane to the mill during a season.

Pietermaritzburg Area, South Africa

I began my professional career as a computer programmer after completing a course in COBOL programming. The Bureau used DBL (Dynamic Business Language) which is similar to COBOL. I was required to troubleshoot programs which maintain clients’ company data. This was often stock data or company payrolls, which the bureau would manage on the clients’ behalf.

Msc Agric, Agricultural Economics, Cum Laude

http://www.ukzn.ac.za/

Education record

http://www.maritzburgcollege.org.za/