Founder
CurrentAgriculture contributes just less that 4% to the South African GDP. However, when one considers the full agricultural value chain through from the “soil to the shelf” where agricultural goods, products and services are consumed and /or used then its true contribution raises to closer that 14 – 15% which makes the agricultural sector a critical contributor to the South African economy. Is the core activity of “the rural poor” who are mainly African, but more importantly are the core group of persons faced by severe poverty, food insecurity, joblessness and disease. Over the past decade, the agriculture sector which contributes significantly and disproportionately to employment since the cost of creating a job opportunity is so much lower for the sector compared to mining, manufacturing, services and most other industries, has unfortunately shed well over 500,000 jobs. The sector has seen a decline in the number of commercial farmers from over 45,000 to under 38,000 in less than 10 years with dramatic drops in such sectors such as dairy, sugar cane farming and in the cotton value chain. Calico Capital’s Investment Strategy is to originate investment opportunities in the South African Agricultural Sector which would not only generate respectable returns on investment but will also act as catalysts for further investment and expansion of an industry segment within the sector.
