Post: Agroforestry Entrepreneurs: Forestry Fostering Rural Entreprises

February 3, 2026

Agroforestry Entrepreneurs: Forestry Fostering Rural Entreprises

MTO, as an integrated Forestry and Sawmilling business with very close working relationships with Government, has since inception recognised our responsibility for the upliftment of the communities in which we operate. In 2018 we rewrote our holistic transformation strategy ensuring that through every initiative we have long-term meaningful impact on all the communities we serve. Our strategy focuses on creating sustainable socio-economic and enterprise development initiatives in our business locations.

Upon commencing our holistic transformation strategy, investment was identified as a key barrier to transformation. While various sources of potential investment did exist, these did not necessarily cater for the variety in investment – scale, type, risk profile, strategic imperatives – being sought by transformation initiatives. In talking to our communities, it was clear the communities required capital for startup, facilities, infrastructure, equipment etc, however more importantly they needed business management guidance, to ensure at the start the foundation from which we built was solid. MTO provided capital with and through carefully selected partners but more importantly we continued to provide time. Time to work with the communities to ensure that the business ventures remain viable, sustainable and would for a long-time ensure the ongoing upliftment of the communities.”

From Ground Nuts to Peanuts and to Prosperity

MTO opened more than 50 hectares of Eucalyptus plantations in White River, Mpumalanga, for women from nearb villages to plant groundnuts. For the past nine years, this has been the Siyatiphilisa Groundnut Project. In 2021, the project grew into an income-generation programme, helping women supplement their social grants by selling their harvests. A lifeline for 122 women – many of them grandmothers heading households and raising orphaned children – it has brought skills, food security, stability and hope to a region hard hit by poverty and unemployment. The dedication and commitment of these women is admirable, considering that the eldest of the group is 90.

The project has had a huge impact in the lives of the women with testimonies including the ability to: pay for school fees, provide school uniforms; house extensions to accommodate the families; and just merely putting food on the table every day, something which some of us take for granted. When we chose food security as a focus area of intervention, we stated our strategic intent as ensuring that no child goes to bed hungry. Testimonies like the ones from the women of the Siyatipilisa project bring hope that anything is possible.

Through a partnership with a Gauteng food consortium, Kalinda Foods, these groundnuts have been transformed into everyday products – creating a new, sustainable income stream.

We are proud to announce that in August 2025 the project reached its next chapter with the creation of Siyatiphilisa Smooth Peanut Butter, a unique brand – grown, managed and marketed by the Siyatiphilisa women themselves – taking the programme from planting to pantry. Since the launch of the peanut butter brand, the women have been inundated with orders ensuring long-term financial and social sustainability. Siyatiplilsa peanut butter has since been registered, with the relevant authorities, as a food product and will soon be available in some retail stores.

With support from the Small Enterprise Development Agency, they’ve received financial and business management training, equipping them to step forward boldly as entrepreneurs and community leaders, because the Siyatiphilisa Groundnut Project is more than farming.

It’s empowerment. It’s sustainability. It’s a future – built with one jar of peanut butter at a time.