Phumzile Chifunyise | Agriculture Speaker | Woman in Farming

Phumzile Chifunyise is the Founder of The Crop Box (farm fresh produce supply) and CEO of GreenNatives Pty Ltd, a Skills, Enterprise and Supplier Development agency

Aimed at designing and implementing disruptive, impactful strategies that provide small businesses with access to expertise, growth opportunities, and markets across industries.

In 2020 she launched The Crop Box, a digital based fresh produce delivery service that closes the gap between local farmers and consumers in order to shorten the supply chain and grow local farmers.

Phumzile’s purpose is to advance the presence and overall participation of marginalised groups such as Youth and Women in mainstream economies across the continent, with the view of achieving Localisation, Transformation, and ultimately Job Creation.

She is an advocate for social cohesion and economic inclusion with a 10 year background in Capability Building, Communication, & Economic Development,

Having serviced industries such as Marketing, Sales & Distribution, Sustainability & Corporate Affairs both in Africa and Globally in the private sector.

A qualified Journalist by trade, her expertise lie in Strategy Development, Programme & Project Management, BBBEE, Stakeholder Relations, Oral & Written Communication, and Reputation Management.

Phumzile has enjoyed an admirable career in the private sector including most recently leading one of South Africa’s oldest Enterprise Development programmes at the South African Breweries (SAB KickStart) for Youth & Women entrepreneurs (2017-2019),

Here she pioneered their current agri-preneurship programme for Young Urban Farmers in South Africa.

With a passion for transformation across industries, this also included graduating women in areas such as Logistics into large supply chains.

Lastly, Phumzile is currently a Mrs South Africa 2020 Top 50 Semi-Finalist where she spends time networking with a wide variety of business, corporate women in order to advance her philanthropic causes.

Speaker Engagements:
1.      The Rise of Supplier Development: Proudly SA Buy Local Summit (2018)

2.      The Role of Diverse Stakeholders in Youth Entrepreneurship: Child & Youth Finance International (2019)

3.       Youth In Farming: The Hook Up Dinner/ Ekurhuleni Municipality (2019)

Speaking Topics
The Rise of Supplier Development:

Proudly South Africa Buy Local Summit
A panel with multi-national organizations, my insights here were on the importance of integrating ESD in procurement practices, to transform supply chains and drive local sourcing,

In order to result in true transformation and job creation in South Africa

The Role of Diverse Stakeholders in Youth Entrepreneurship:
Child & Youth Finance International (CYFI)

In this Pan African panel discussion, I provided the importance of innovative solutions to address youth unemployment,

As well as the important role that collaboration across stakeholders plays

Youth In Farming:
The Hook Up Dinner (THUD)

This was one of Phumzile Chifunyise favourite panels, where we explored growth opportunities that young farmers can tap into, as well as how they can take advantage of innovative models to penetrate local markets