RMI Development (Pty) Ltd
Facilitators & Mentors in Agribusiness
RMI Development is a team of Development Facilitators and Mentors in Agribusiness, with 20 years’ experience of creating sustainable community owned commercial businesses. We act as a guide for investors, communities, and farmers, helping them to find ways to co-create a path to mutual prosperity. In South Africa, RMI is a BEE Level 2 Contributor and is currently engaged in horticulture and macadamia projects in the Mpumalanga province. It is part of a group of three entities, with one registered in Mauritius and doing business in the rest of Africa, and another registered and operating in Eswatini.
Our Projects
Outside of South Africa RMI has undertaken projects in several countries, including Belize, Eswatini, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Tanzania, Zambia, Zimbabwe and has a keen understanding of the development landscape, particularly agriculture and the challenges of small-scale farmers. Experience and Expertise
The RMI core team boasts a combined total of more than 100 years’ experience in the field of development. The experience covers institutional building, delivering change, water resources management, irrigation design, agribusiness development, social facilitation, land and spatial development planning. RMI has also built robust systems for enabling charitable organizations and foundations to channel funding into sustainable, livelihoods projects for communities, with peace of mind. Our Approach
RMI uses a unique empowerment approach that puts the people at the centre of development. This is embodied in RMI’s motto of “Using crops to grow people”. We use a 3D approach that addresses and grows the Economic, Physical and Social dimensions of development. Through this approach, RMI has facilitated the creation of numerous community owned businesses in several countries, with a high survival and longevity rate. Using this model more than 40 farmers associations have been created with zero failure rate for those in the sugar industry and generating more than R300 million annually. |
RMI Strategy
Our strategy prioritises engagement of youth in the design and implementation of projects as a deliberate approach to sustainability, thereby developing second-generation farmers who climb up the agriculture value chain over time. The organization has deep and wide experience in the sugar industry, particularly the smallholder sugar cane subsector. Among the RMI team are renown experts in this regard. The range of projects facilitated and supported by RMI over the years includes macadamia, horticulture, coffee, maize, rice, cassava, and small stock. For any project RMI can draw on the expertise of these team members to ensure success:
❖ Doctor Lukhele - Executive Director (South Africa): Water Resources Management, Institutional Building & Business Management. ❖ Erik Buiten: Land reform, Business development & Spatial Planning ❖ Busie Lukhele: Business Change Management ❖ Ian Sherry: Business Smallholder & Business Systems Development ❖Jerry Nxumalo: Social Transformation Specialist & Governance Training. ❖ Mike Ogg: Agribusiness & Outgrower development. Specialist in Sugar industry issues. |
Contact: 46 Eleventh Street, Menlo Park, Pretoria 0081. Email. erik@rmi-dev.com +27 083 325 8159