Cape Town - Deputy director of the Western Cape department of agriculture, Darryl Jacobs, was recently knighted with the Order of the Agricultural Merit on behalf of French President Emmanuel Macron
The Order of Agricultural Merit is a special award bestowed by the French Republic for outstanding contributions to agriculture. It was founded in 1883.
Jacobs’s knighting ceremony took place on Friday, October 21 at the Elsenburg Agricultural Training institute in Stellenbosch.
The ceremony was facilitated by the Consul-General of France in Cape Town M Laurent Alberti and attended by Western Cape agriculture MEC, Ivan Meyer.
According to the French consulate, Jacobs’s knighting comes in recognition of his extensive work towards the co-operation in the fields of agriculture and professional training between the Western Cape province and the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region in France.
The consulate said both provinces share a strong affinity for agriculture and wine production, and have started implementing academic and professional exchange programmes since 2001 to enable the sharing of best practice and knowledge.
The Elsenburg Institute of Agricultural Training based in Stellenbosch has been a central actor in this co-operation, and according to the consulate has sent more than 200 students to France, and received more than 50 from their French counterpart, the Centre de Formation Professionnelle et de Promotion Agricole (CFPPA) of Beaune over the years.
“These exchange programmes also concern the dairy industry and benefit directly the local industry, while driving job creation,” the consulate said.
In 2019, the very same award bestowed on Jacobs was also awarded to the director of the Elsenburg Agricultural Training Institute, Marius Paulse.