The family farming network Saai has launched an association for agencies that help South Africans find work on farms in the USA. The association, H2A Agency Association or H2AAA, aims to protect and promote the integrity of the profession and the opportunities made available annually to South Africans and farm workers from elsewhere in the world.
H-2A is a temporary visa program that has enabled farmers in the USA, since 1952, to recruit seasonal workers from various countries around the world to work on their farms. In the 2024/2025 season, about 25,000 South Africans participated in the program. Farmers in the USA mostly contact agencies that screen job applicants, assist them with administrative and travel arrangements, and act as intermediaries between US farmers and South African workers.
Dr. Theo de Jager, chairperson of the Saai board, says that if similar opportunities were available to young people in South Africa, there would not be so many of them going to farm in the USA each year. “They work with livestock, manage farms, act as machine operators, tractor and truck drivers, and are especially busy during planting and harvest seasons. When they return, they do so with much more than just good capital to further their studies or buy property, they also bring back valuable experience with the latest technology and exposure to internationally competitive farm management models.”
Agencies that facilitate and explore these opportunities for South Africans have, for the first time, been compelled to organize themselves better and to introduce self-regulating measures to protect the industry. “There is a growing number of fly-by-night operators exploiting uninformed, and often desperate, applicants, creating unrealistic expectations and then walking away with large sums of money without delivering,” says Gideon Jacobs, newly elected Secretrary, who has himself worked under the program for several years and also runs an agency. “They give our industry a bad name, both among applicants in South Africa and among farmers in the USA.”
According to William Radloff, newly elected Chairman of H2AAA, from Agriplacements International Agency, farmers in the USA incur significant expenses to bring South African workers to their farms. When those workers arrive in the USA, some agents increasingly lure them away to other farmers, which damages the reputation of the South African offering. “Our South African applicants are popular because they are dedicated and hard-working, with strong experience and skills. This is the reputation we must protect at all costs! When a nationality gets a reputation for not being loyal workers and for hopping from farm to farm, farmers tend to prefer other workers, and our H2A agency association will focus on protecting the desirability and brand of South African farm workers.”
Francois Rossouw, Chief Executive of Saai, says that although the association cannot prevent US farmers and South African applicants from doing business with any person or entity claiming to have a footprint in the industry, the risks involved can be highlighted. “Saai is launching this association with a code of conduct signed by all members. The association’s constitution provides for an integrity committee that must enforce the code of conduct, can receive complaints, investigate them transparently, and take steps against unethical conduct. Any applicant in South Africa or farmer in the USA wanting to do business with an agency can see on the website whether that agency subscribes to the code of conduct and is in good standing. If such an agency is not a member subject to the code of conduct, clients must understand that their risk is greater,” he says.
De Jager says that they have been in talks with H2A agencies for some time, and the initiative to launch H2AAA came from within the industry itself. “It is an association for the industry, from the industry,” he says. “We are grateful for the broad traction we received leading up to the establishment, with the overwhelming majority of agencies as founding members. There are certainly still agencies we missed in our communication effort, but we hope to bring them on board as soon as possible.”
William Radloff has been elected as Chairperson of the association, Charlotte Portwig Vice Chair, Gideon Jacobs as Secretary, Frederik Visser Treasurer and Callie Visagie as Convenor of the Integrity Committee.
The H2AAA’s website is https://bit.ly/h2aaa
