Find the right candidate for the job. Agricultural Placements knows African agribusiness

Many agriculture ventures in Africa have failed due to a lack of appropriate technical and/or business skills. “The most important aspect of operating an agriculture related business in Africa is to have the right management on the ground, with the right skills and expertise to manage and execute on the proposed strategy of the business,” says Omri van Zyl, associate director at Deloitte Africa Agribusiness.

He adds that “finding upper to middle tier management is particularly challenging in Africa. Moreover, even more challenging is finding management that understand the commercial aspects of running an enterprise.”

Specialist in agricultural recruitment

Agricultural Placements, a South African-based recruitment agency, specialises in finding and placing the right personnel for agricultural, agro-processing and other agribusiness companies and projects in Africa.

The company has a database of well over 3,000 candidates and its clients range from private individual farmers to large corporate organisations involved in the agribusiness sector.

Agricultural Placements has placed candidates in the following positions, to name a few:

  • Dairy managers
  • Cropping specialists
  • Beef producers
  • Piggery managers
  • Ostrich growers
  • Fruit producers
  • Vegetable growers
  • Sales managers and representatives in the animal feed and fertiliser industries
  • Agronomists
  • Hospitality industry (game farms)
  • Irrigation specialists
  • Aquaculture
  • Horticulture

Although the company is based in South Africa, the majority of its business currently comes from the rest of the continent. Rob Buchanan, managing director of Agricultural Placements, says he is seeing an “astronomical” increase in demand for quality people for projects in countries such as Nigeria, Sudan, Botswana, Zambia and Mozambique, to name a few.

“When we started in 1998 we had very few clients outside of South Africa. But since then we have been able to expand our wings and I would say probably about 60% of our business at the moment comes from outside of South Africa.”

What sets the company apart from other personnel agencies? Says Rob Buchanan: “We specialise in agriculture. I’ve personally been working in the sector for over 30 years. We understand the specific needs of the industry. Our clients also appreciate the individual attention they receive from us.”

If you are therefore looking to start or expand your farming, agro-processing or related business and need the right candidate (that will add value to your business) for the job, please contact Rob Buchanan of Agricultural Placements at:

Email: [email protected]


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