Page 11 - Executive Board Meeting 14 July 2021

Dr Cilliers Louw makes use of mentorship and veterinary services in the Western Cape and liaises with the local provincial government technical officers.
Training
SAPPO enrolled the BDMs on a 6-week course with through Dalum Academy of Agricultural Business, Denmark. This was all done within the 20% funding allocated to business development.
Overview
Kgadi Senyatsi reported that the BDM App was used for visits to all the farms and is also used by the BDMs to capture as much data as possible of the location and the number of pigs, whether sows or gilts.
After compiling all the data, it was clear that there was a huge difference from province to province. The Eastern Cape buys more weaners than Gauteng and Mpumalanga.
It was found that farmers were reluctant to provide all the production data. such as marketing, income, etc. They are afraid they might lose SAPPO’s support if they do better. SAPPO was currently only assisting 4 of 12 farmers with their financial management. They are provided with feedback on their financial progress every 3 months.
Christian Zimelka reported that WhatsApp and Facebook groups were used to reach the developing farmers. SAPPO had created the cartoon character, Zach, an authority figure, to convey the correct facts on pig farming. Only urgent challenges and group patterns will be addressed.
Zach was launched a week ago and already has 3 900 followers after only 10 days. Kgadi Senyatsi was responsible for answering the questions posted on the social media.
Peter Mockford was of the opinion that this was good and very useful for the farmers.
No reference will be made to Zach on the SAPPO website to avoid any direct association thereof with the organisation.
Myles van Deventer congratulated SAPPO on Zach and stressed the importance of SAPPO's anonymity.
Willie Miller agreed with Myles van Deventer and Peter Mockford that this was a good concept.
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