Chris Gillitt

University of KwaZulu-Natal

2002 - 2003

MSC Agric (Agricultural Economics) cum laude I completed a Masters degree which included post graduate coursework and field research culminating in the publication of a thesis entitled: “Water markets in irrigation areas of the Lower Orange and Crocodile Rivers of South Africa.“ UKZN (Pietermaritzburg)

University of KwaZulu-Natal

1998 - 2001

BSC Agric (Agricultural Economics) 4 year Bachelor's Degree in Agricultural Economics, with one of the best faculty departments in South Africa. I passed all of my courses comfortably and particularly excelled in analytical and applied courses. I achieved my best results for Applied Linear Programming, Agricultural Policy Analysis, Applied Microeconomics and Econometrics. I am an analytical thinker, with a clear writing style balanced with excellent interpretation skills. UKZN (Pietermaritzburg)

Van Zyl & Pritchard

1997 - 1997

Computer Programming Certification (COBOL programming language) After excelling in Computer Studies in high school, I decided to pursue a certificate course in programming in order to decide on whether to pursue a professional career in computer sciences. Westville, South Africa

Maritzburg College

1992 - 1996

High school Matric (Senior Certificate): 8 HG subjects (4 A, 2 B, 2C) - with exemption. Pietermaritzburg, South Africa

Palladium

May 2013 - Present

Project Manager, International Development This role supports Palladium projects through providing business development support, technical and operational project management inputs and technical expertise. For assigned portfolio projects, my role is to interface with clients and other project stakeholders to plan, implement, review and report on projects as needed and requested. As a project manager, I manage all aspects of project work planning, budgeting, progress and financial reporting, and ensure compliant deliver against the project contract. My core project is the Market Development Facility (MDF)

• MDF is a multi-country private sector development program funded by the Australian Government, currently operating in Fiji, Timor-Leste, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Papua New Guinea.
• It is DFAT's flagship private sector development programme which uses a market systems (MSD) approach to achieve long-term, lasting growth and create sustainable jobs for poor women and men.
• MDF supports businesses with innovative ideas, investment and regulatory reform that will increase business performance, stimulate economic growth and ultimately provide benefits for the poor - as workers, producers, and consumers.

Brisbane, Australia

Manager, Middle East Consulting Primary responsibilities involve business development, project management, and providing technical input/sector expertise on agricultural opportunities and projects in the Middle East. My role currently involves active engagement within the GCC private sector and with a focus on agribusiness consulting for potential large projects, agricultural project design and implementation. This has included proposal writing and project budget design and reporting.
Abu Dhabi Farmers Services Centre Project (Full time secondment up to September 2014). The role has included:

• In-depth economic assessments of various elements along the value chain. Crop gross margins, packaging review with returnable crate feasibility study, commercial operations financial performance analysis, feasibility studies for major projects such as local production and supply of fresh herbs to supermarket chain.
• Developed a crop planning system which matches crop supply from farm contracts with the market demand. Designed an automated optimizing system (using excel VBA programming), to balance weekly supply against estimated demand for more than 40 crops.
• Created comprehensive Gross Margin template (linking directly to internal database of agricultural inputs sold by the organization) to provide real-time benchmarks of production costs for 40 crops grown in the region.
• Gathered survey information from Abu Dhabi Farms and consolidated the data in the gross margin template in order to compare actual farm cost of production with expected benchmarks.

Dubai, UAE | thepalladiumgroup.com

South African Cane Growers Association

2009 - 2013

Regional Economics Manager Developed, implemented and managed business objectives directed at sustainable development of the local grower organizational structures. Provided business and economic support on all aspects related to Sugar Industry Agreements. Services to farmers include:

• Economic assessments of existing farm businesses with long-term budget as well as monthly cash flow projections.
• Research of the impact of new developments in the sugarcane value chain, such as the implementation of a transport joint-venture between the grower organization, the milling company and the selected haulier.
• Business development and proposals for investment in new revenue streams from alternative products from sugarcane, such as ethanol production and electricity co-generation.
• Authored more than 30 business plans for grant funding of land reform farms which required planning of intervention strategies and resulting financial improvements.

Represented grower interests at local, regional and national level, interacting with millers, government, financial service providers, and industry to maximize grower profitability and long-term sustainability. Durban, South Africa | www.sacanegrowers.co.za

South African Cane Growers Association

Sep 2004 - Mar 2009

Agricultural Research Manager On completion of my Masters degree, I took up a position at SACGA where I managed the data collection and analysis of the organization's economic database including development of surveys, techniques and reporting methods to enable timeous dissemination of results to internal and external stakeholders.
I undertook various specific and focused studies of the sugar industry value chain including:

• Cost of production survey and studies. An annual survey of almost 400 farms is conducted and regional average costs of production are calculated. The resulting database is analyzed in order to provide support to numerous aspects in the industry such as impacts of price changes, alternative fertilizers, changes in transport and mechanization, impact of changes along the supply chain.
• Labour productivity studies, which monitor the trend in labour productivity and wages in various regions of the sugar industry.
• Transport and logistics surveys and research. The cost of sugarcane transport makes up a large component of variable cost and is also sensitive to change in legislation which evolves rapidly in South Africa.

The position includes the management of various technical staff as well as management of the database systems of the organization (Oracle based). Regular liaison with various stakeholders - internal and external (e.g. annual "state of the industry" presentation tour for major commercial banks) - and custom data analysis and reporting are also key to the role. Durban, South Africa | www.sacanegrowers.co.za

University of Natal

2002 - 2003

Agricultural Economics Tutor I was employed during my post-graduate studies as a tutor and assistant for various courses including third year courses such as Production Economics and Price Analysis as well as honour's year courses such as Applied Linear Programming. My research work included field studies working with farmers and gathering data during visits to various regions of South Africa including Northern Cape and Mpumalanga. Pietermaritzburg, South Africa | agriceco.ukzn.ac.za

Inglebrook Farm Services

Oct 1998 - Jun 2001

Part-time - Agricultural Consultant I undertook this role on a part-time basis during my University studies. Work included farm management positions, including cane transport manager, during vacation time. I also designed and implemented spreadsheet based payroll applications for which I had a number of regular clients. The application provided customized monthly timesheet input, and included an automated envelope printing macro. Eston, South Africa

City Computer Bureau

1997 - 1997

Business Application Programmer I began my career as a computer programmer after completing a diploma course in COBOL programming with VZAP. The Bureau used DBL (Dynamic Business Language) but it was relatively easy to learn due to a similar construct to COBOL. I was required to troubleshoot programs which maintain clients' company data. This was often stock data or company payrolls, which the bureau would manage on the clients' behalf. Pietermaritzburg, South Africa | CCB