The Southern African Confederation of Agricultural Unions (SACAU) hosted its 2018 Annual General Meeting (AGM) and Annual Conference on 14-16 May in Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe. Former president of SACAU, Dr Theo de Jager presented his last chairman report at the meeting before stepping down. Dr de Jager says his most valuable lesson from working with SACAU is: “Coming from a large scale commercial farming background, my tenure on the board of SACAU hurled me into the heart of the smallholder farming environment and forced me to listen to, understand and embrace the interests, needs and aspirations of smallholders in the 12 countries of Southern Africa. I’ve learned that the size of one’s land is of less significance than the size of one’s aspiration on the land, and that farmers learn more from other farmers than from anyone else”.
Dr De Jager served on the SACAU Board for 7 years (he served 5 of the 7 years as president). Moreover, Dr De Jager says he firmly believes that one should step down while most still feeling they could have stayed on.
“I knew my time had come to step down when I was joined on the Board by a strong leader with a clear and pure vision for the organization, and a passion for our mission and our members. Dr Sinare of Tanzania (new president) is a leader with exceptional skills and integrity, and well equipped to take SACAU to the next level,” said Dr de Jager.
