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Help Build Africa's Next Generation of Agripreneurs

Fund a programme or partner with EARN International to create jobs, grow food security and build agribusinesses across Africa.

Start your enquiryAbout African Greeneurs

Six ways to help

Choose the Kind of Support That Fits Your Organisation

  • Fund a Programme

    Sponsor training, bursaries or a whole cohort and turn funding into jobs, food and new agribusinesses.

    Choose this

  • Open Market Access

    Buy from our agripreneurs or connect them to off-take and logistics, so their harvest has somewhere to go.

    Choose this

  • Provide Land Access

    Make land or infrastructure available for trained agripreneurs to farm and grow their businesses.

    Choose this

  • Mentor or Facilitate

    Share your knowledge as a mentor, guest facilitator or technical expert.

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  • Partner as an Institution

    Work with us as a university, research body, government department or NGO to design and deliver programmes.

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  • Train With Us

    Send your staff, members or cooperative on our courses and programmes to build skills at scale.

    Choose this

Giving as an individual? Sponsor monthly through the Josudan Foundation, the non-profit that funds African Greeneurs programmes.

What you support

Our 360° Model Takes Trainees From Selection to Market

Your support flows into a complete system of training, tools, land access and market linkages, not a single workshop.

  1. Candidate Selection & Assessment
  2. Modern Training Centres with Advanced Farming Technologies
  3. Capacity Development & Skills Building
  4. Professional Training & Career Growth
  5. Provision of Practical Tools & Resources
  6. Accelerate Post-transition Land Access Placement
  7. Market Linkages & Employment Opportunities

Proven track record

From One Founding Cohort to Four Funders in Four Provinces

Since 2019 the Agripreneur Development Programme has grown from a single founding cohort in Lephalale into a multi-funder programme active in four provinces. Four corporate funders, Exxaro, Nedbank, Lesedi Power and Eskom Komati, have backed it across five cohorts, and each cohort has built on what the one before it delivered.

Social funding secured, 2019 to 2026
R30 million+
Agripreneurs trained to date
50
Jobs created by agripreneur graduates
150+
Provinces active: Limpopo, Gauteng, Northern Cape and Mpumalanga
4
Corporate funders backing the programme
4
  1. Cabbages, beetroot and peas growing in straw-mulched soil in an open field

    2019 to 2020

    Founding cohort

    Funder
    Exxaro Resources (R10 million)
    Intake
    10 agripreneurs
    Where
    Limpopo (Lephalale)

    Completed in 2020. All ten settled on Exxaro-leased farmland, where their agricultural enterprises still operate and create jobs in the Lephalale farming community.

  2. The Nedbank cohort of agripreneurs with EARN and Nedbank staff at the launch

    September and December 2024

    Nedbank cohorts

    Funder
    Nedbank
    Intake
    20 candidates
    Where
    Gauteng, Northern Cape and Mpumalanga

    Full accommodation and stipend support. Now in the Post-Accelerate Transition, with enterprise development and job creation under way.

    See the photos
  3. An EARN aquaponics greenhouse: fish tanks and biofilters beside rows of blue gravel grow beds

    2024 to 2025

    Lesedi Power cohort

    Funder
    Lesedi Power
    Intake
    6 candidates
    Where
    Gauteng, Northern Cape and Mpumalanga

    Full accommodation and stipend support. Now in the Post-Accelerate Transition, with enterprise development and job creation under way.

  4. The Komati agripreneurs of 2025 and 2026 waving outside a farm building

    June 2025 and May 2026

    Eskom Komati cohort

    Funder
    Eskom Komati CSI, through the Josudan Foundation NPC
    Intake
    15 candidates
    Where
    Mpumalanga (Komati)

    Full accommodation and stipend support. In August 2026 eight agripreneurs began their Post-Accelerate Transition at EARN's commercial farm while permanent agricultural land is secured in Komati.

    See the photos

From the Programme

See the full gallery

What the Record Shows

  • Repeat, diversified funding: four funders across mining, banking and energy have invested more than R30 million, so the programme does not rely on any single sponsor.
  • Lasting outcomes: the 2019 to 2020 founding cohort is still farming six years later.
  • Steady growth: from one site in Limpopo to four provinces, and from 10 to 50 agripreneurs.
  • Impact beyond the programme: graduates have created more than 150 jobs.

Market access

Trained to Produce, Connected to Buyers

Agripreneurs' enterprises already supply major retail and fresh produce markets, including Pick n Pay, through AG Horticulture, the EARN group's market aggregation platform. Trainees are not only taught to grow: they are linked to reliable commercial buyers and formal retail supply chains.

Backed by: Exxaro Resources, Nedbank, Lesedi Power, Eskom Komati CSI (through the Josudan Foundation NPC).

Who we work with

The Funders, Markets, Experts and Universities Behind Our Agripreneurs

Funding partner

Nedbank

Nedbank funded two agripreneur cohorts in September and December 2024: 20 candidates from Gauteng, the Northern Cape and Mpumalanga, with full accommodation and stipend support. The films and photographs here are from the Nedbank and EARN event on the training farm.

Candidates funded
20
Cohorts, September and December 2024
2
Provinces reached
3

See all Nedbank photos and films

Funding partner

Eskom

Eskom Komati CSI, through the Josudan Foundation NPC, funded a cohort of 15 candidates in Komati. At Grootvlei Power Station, on Eskom land, Eskom, the Government of the Netherlands and the Mpumalanga provincial government launched the Grootvlei Climate Smart Horticulture Centre on 27 January 2026, a pilot under Eskom's Just Energy Transition programme that EARN leads and manages. It started on half a hectare; the plan is a 20-hectare training and demonstration facility within five years.

Komati candidates funded
15
Grootvlei centre launched
27 Jan 2026
Planned at Grootvlei
20 ha

See all Eskom photos and films

Founding funder

Exxaro

Exxaro funded EARN's founding cohort in Lephalale, 2019 to 2020: R10 million. All ten agripreneurs settled on Exxaro-leased farmland, where their enterprises still operate. The films below are from Lephalale.

Founding investment
R10m
Agripreneurs settled
10
The founding cohort
2019

See all Exxaro photos and films

Academic partner

North-West University

North-West University's Faculty of Engineering welcomed the EARN and African Greeneurs team to its campus to explore research in agricultural engineering.

See all North-West University photos and films

Market partner

Pick n Pay

Agripreneurs' produce reaches Pick n Pay shelves through AG Horticulture, the EARN group's market aggregation platform: trained to produce, and connected to reliable commercial buyers. Below, the journey from tunnel to shelf, and the produce AG Horticulture supplies.

See all Pick n Pay photos and films

Expert partner

PUM Netherlands Senior Experts

PUM, a Dutch organisation of volunteer senior experts, has worked with EARN since 2024.

Advising EARN since
2024
PUM experts so far
3
With EARN, July 2026
3 weeks

In 2024 expert Jaap van den Beukel assessed the organisation. In 2025 Marjo Baeten helped make the Agripreneur Development Programme's curriculum more structured and competency-based.

In July 2026 horticulture expert Tjaart Hofman spent three weeks with EARN: he added integrated pest management, crop diseases and the safe use of crop protection products to the training materials, taught the new Activate group, and visited EARN's farms in Centurion, Elandsfontein and Grootvlei.

Read the article on PUM's website

Agrivoltaics partner

Planetary CARE

Planetary CARE and Butterfly Power designed EARN's multi-phase agrivoltaics project for African Greeneurs: hybrid solar generation and storage with an EV micro-grid, a new office and training hub under a bifacial solar roof, solar greenhouses, orchards under solar canopies, floating solar and a research programme. These are pages from the project plans.

Planetary CARE's project pageSee all Planetary CARE photos

Foundation partner

Josudan Foundation

The Josudan Foundation, part of the EARN ecosystem, funds and supports agripreneurs, including the Eskom Komati cohort. These films, shown at the graduation ceremony, are its graduates in their own words.

Visit the Josudan FoundationSee all Josudan Foundation films

Strategic partner, MASSTER Project (Erasmus+)

Tshwane University of Technology

TUT has named African Greeneurs a strategic partner in building a new council for agricultural and rural development in Gauteng.

Countries in MASSTER
6
Pilot community, Tshwane
Tswaing
The MASSTER project
2023 to 2026

Tshwane University of Technology (TUT) has identified African Greeneurs, part of the EARN International group, as a strategic partner in MASSTER: Managing (South) Africa and Senegal Sustainability Targets through Economic Diversification of Rural Areas. MASSTER is an EU-funded Erasmus+ Capacity Building in Higher Education project, run by universities and partners across South Africa, Senegal, Germany, Italy, France and Serbia. It promotes entrepreneurship, innovation, skills development and sustainable rural development through the Whole-of-Society Approach: universities, government, industry, communities, civil society and development partners working as one.

A council built with the community. In Gauteng, the Tswaing Community in Tshwane, under the leadership of His Majesty King Rapitsi Mohaleamalla, is the project's pilot community. TUT and the Tswaing Community have signed a Memorandum of Cooperation. TUT is now establishing the Whole of Society Agricultural and Rural Development (WSAARD) Council, and has invited African Greeneurs to help shape its Founding Act and Rules of Procedure.

What each partner brings. TUT brings academic expertise, research, extension services, training, mentorship and capacity building. Agricultural partners like African Greeneurs bring practical support, field access and industry knowledge, and open doors to markets and entrepreneurship. Together, partners co-develop projects, track their impact, mobilise funding from government, the private sector and donors, and share training facilities, research laboratories and livestock demonstration sites.

The outcome. The council works for resilient, inclusive rural communities: more rural development opportunities, more innovation and enterprise, evidence-based planning, and young people building their careers in the communities they come from. It is the same purpose behind every African Greeneurs programme: developing Africa's youth into successful agripreneurs.

Share our vision for rural Africa? Partner with us

About the MASSTER projectSee all Tshwane University of Technology photos

How funding works

Three Funding Routes, One Integrated Programme

EARN is a registered B-BBEE Enterprise and Supplier Development (ESD) and Corporate Social Investment (CSI) implementing partner, through EARN Biz Solutions. Corporates can meet their social investment obligations with structured, reportable, compliant impact delivery.

  • Infrastructure and commercial hubs

    Impact Fund

    Training infrastructure, commercial growing facilities, packaging hubs and technology systems, so the programme can serve more agripreneurs.

    Sources: DFI capital, blended finance, impact investors

  • Training, innovation and development

    Social Fund

    EARN's training and development programmes.

    Sources: Government grants, ESD, CSI, development agencies

  • Support after transition

    Agriculture Fund

    Start-up capital, working capital, infrastructure and operating costs for agribusiness owners on their own land during the 24-month Post-Accelerate Transition.

    Sources: Agricultural banks, blended finance, land reform funds

Just Energy Transition Partner

As South Africa advances its Just Energy Transition (JET) Investment Plan, EARN works as an implementation partner: skills development, enterprise creation and community-level energy in the agricultural value chain, including solar-powered greenhouses and irrigation, water-efficient and regenerative farming, and green economy jobs. EARN is seeking JET implementation partnerships with government, development finance institutions and development partners across South Africa and the SADC region.

Growth Plan to 2030

  1. Now: 2024 to 2026

    South African Foundation

    • Active in Limpopo, Gauteng, Northern Cape and Mpumalanga
    • 50 agripreneurs trained, R30 million+ social funding secured
    • Commercial training centres operational
    • AG Horticulture market access partnerships in place

  2. Next: 2026 to 2027

    Provincial Scaling

    • Expansion into Limpopo, the Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal
    • 100+ agripreneurs a year
    • An EARN franchise hub model and a digital learning platform
    • JET and development finance programme funding

  3. Then: 2028 to 2030

    Pan-African Network

    • SADC expansion: Zimbabwe, Zambia and Mozambique
    • 1 000+ agripreneurs trained across the continent
    • A pan-African agripreneur marketplace
    • Continental JET partnerships

Our partners

Organisations Working With Us to Grow Africa's Agripreneurs

  • Nedbank
  • Eskom
  • Exxaro
  • North-West University
  • Pick n Pay
  • PUM Netherlands Senior Experts
  • Planetary CARE
  • Josudan Foundation
  • Tshwane University of Technology
  • Afraponix
  • Astratek
  • Foundations for Farming
  • GIMI Institute
  • RSA Group
  • in2food
  • RFC
  • sefa, Small Enterprise Finance Agency
  • ARC, Agricultural Research Council
  • Comply Cloud
  • The JVR Africa Group
  • Blendhub
  • AGRIVI
  • Soil Foodweb School
  • Bosman van Zaal
  • Aquaponics Innovations

Start your enquiry

Two Minutes Now, Then We Take It From There

Tell us how you'd like to help. We'll take you to a short enquiry form with your answers already filled in, and our partnerships team will follow up personally.

How would you like to help?

Next: a few quick questions about the support you have in mind.