Sydney has extensive experience in fruit and vegetable scheduling, procurement, wholesaling and retailing in East and Southern Africa. Sydney has worked for the largest fresh produce market on the African continent, the Johannesburg Fresh Produce Market as Wholesale Operations Manager, assisting smallholder farmers to enter commercial supply chains. He has also worked for Inter-fresh Pvt Ltd both as a Fresh Produce Procurement Manager and a Retail Operations Manager.
In these roles, Sydney coordinated supply and demand between farmers and institutional buyers to ensure year-round supply of quality produce. Within the development sector, Sydney supported the design of the fruit and vegetable (FAV) component of the DFID funded Enterprise Partners programme in Ethiopia which sought to link Ethiopian farmers with lucrative markets in Europe.
In South Africa, Sydney has led the design and implementation of the DFID funded Trade in Global Value Chains Initiative’s Farmer Support and Linkages Programme which sought to link emerging commercial horticultural farmers into commercial supply chains.
