Ncera goes nuts at first macadamia harvest fest
Thousands attend event celebrating 72 tons for export
THE Eastern Cape’s multimillion-rand macadamia project celebrated one of its best harvests in years with a festival at the weekend.
The government-funded Ncera Macadamia Farm (NMF) hosted its inaugural two-day Ncera Macadamia Harvest Festival in Ncera’s Village 1 near Kidd’s Beach.
Attended by thousands of people, including senior government officials, banking executives and villagers, it was described by all as a resounding success.
The project was celebrating 72 tons of harvest which is ready for export to mainland China, the US and European Union countries.
Speaking on Saturday, rural development and agrarian reform MEC Mlibo Qoboshiyane said these were exciting moments for the province.
“This is a great moment for the province and the villagers of Ncera. This, in its inaugural years, is a success.
“We are celebrating this harvest and excited to see people from all walks of life attending this event,” said Qoboshiyane.
It was time for people to embrace agriculture, he added.
“The idea is to take communal farms to commercial farms. This is within the mental attitude of people and unfortunately in agriculture you are not going to plant make money tomorrow.
“It needs patience as there are no shortcuts in agriculture,” said Qoboshiyane.
There were a number of activities organised for the festival, which started on Saturday and ended yesterday afternoon.
On the main stage local music artists performed while the VIP tent saw the likes of established Eastern Cape artists, such as Msaki.
Fashion shows, drum majorettes, musical items from different artists, helicopter rides, bungee jumping and different events for kids were aplenty.
The Eastern Cape Macadamia board chairwoman, former minister of water affairs Lindiwe Hendricks, said she was excited about how the event turned out.
NMF executive director Joe Jongolo today and said Ncera would never be the same again.
“This was our trial and surpassed our expectations. I am so excited that the youth also came out in numbers to support.
“Police and security reported no incidents and we heard no complaints, so we can say the event was a success,” said Jongolo.
He said the 72-ton harvest had fallen short of the 90 tons expected for 2017 because of the drought, but it was still almost seven times more than the project’s first harvest in 2013, when just 8.7 tons were harvest
“Despite the shortfall we are happy with what we’ve achieved and luckily the price of the macadamia nuts at hand is very good,” he said.
Jongolo said next year they were expecting to expand the festival. —