Region
Central Karoo District Municipality
South Africa
Western Cape

Sector
Agriculture & Agri-processing

Summary:

The Central Karoo District Municipality is looking to develop its agricultural sector by developing a cold storage facility and a wooden pallet manufacturing plant. The municipality is seeking private investment in these projects.

Contact
Stefanus Jooste

Email
stefanus@skdm.co.za

Tel
+27 23 449 1000

1. Cold Storage Facility

Project Description and Location

• Around Prince Albert and Swartberg in the southern part of Central Karoo there is extensive agricultural production
• Apricots are of very high quality and are exported to major fruit markets
• Apricot production is however very seasonal and during off-season there is very little production and few employment opportunities
• The idea is to build a cold storage facility in order to keep stocks of apricots and have year-round agro-processing and production of e.g. jam

Economic Rationale

• Apricots of a lower quality cannot be exported and need to be sold locally at a lower price
• With appropriate storage facilities these apricots could however be used in jam production or sold as dried fruit
• Exporting not only fresh fruit, but also jam and dry fruit could substantially increase the income from apricot farming

Employment

• It is estimated that the storage facility together with further processing and transportation needs could create 300 jobs in Prince Albert and 150 in Laingsburg.

Project Value

• The estimated cost of the project is R10 000 000
• A major part of the required funding needs to come from investors and/or development agencies.

2. Pallet, Crate and Dry Rack Manufacturing

Project Description

• The idea is to set up a manufacturing unit in Laingsburg, which will produce wooden pallets, crates and dry racks. The local fruit industry has a constant need for pallets for their produce but currently they buy them from outside municipality's borders.

 Economic rationale

• There is a shortage of pallets
• The many fruit producers in the region would be the major customer segment incentivised to buy cheaper pallets locally
• The N1 passing through Laingsburg creates an ideal opportunity for wood supplies and for delivering the product to the main market in Cape Town
• The machinery needed for the production could potentially be used for furniture production as well

Employment

• It is estimated that 20 people would be employed.

Project value

• The total project value is estimated to R4.8 million
• The cost of the necessary land is only R20,000 since the municipality is involved
• The gross profit margin over the first four year period is estimated to 31.6%