( CNN ) -- The sweet aroma of blossoming orange trees wafts through the air as a white-haired figure moves slowly along the green-choked path . Aided by a yard stick , 85-year-old Sam Motsuenyane walks through his citrus orchard in South Africa 's Winterveldt area , occasionally stopping to check the lush fruits hanging from the trees . The scene strikes a sharp contrast to what the veteran agriculturalist encountered when he returned to the area in early 2000 to retire following a successful career as a South African diplomat and leading banker . Weeds and bushes had reclaimed the deserted plots as much of the land laid fallow and under-utilized due to lack of resources and the local farmers ' economic hardship . `` I decided that something had to be done and with my agricultural background , I thought I could perhaps initiate something that could help the people , '' says Motsuenyane . As a result , the farming pioneer , whose first business was a plant nursery in 1963 , embarked on a mission to show small plot owners how to lift themselves out of poverty by growing orange trees on a commercial scale . See also : Agriculture 'next big thing ' in Africa , says World Bank expert . He drummed up private sector financial support to buy orange trees and in 2002 he launched the Winterveldt Citrus Project , a community initiative which enables small holders to make a living and become self-sufficient by training them how to work the land . So far , the project has helped to set up some 100 small farms . `` He helped us a lot , we did n't know anything about oranges , '' says Pauline Lueba , a smallholder who today earns a steady income by selling the oranges from her 800 trees to major retail chains across South Africa . `` There 's enough income , I can manage to pay my helpers , we even eat there and buy fertilizers with that money , '' she adds . Commercial farming is a major industry in South Africa -- it distributes produce all over the world while Johannesburg 's fruit market sells about a million tons of goods every year . But the picture is quite different in other parts of the continent -- more than two-thirds of African countries are net importers of agricultural products , with the continent importing $ 50 billion worth of food every year , according to U.N. figures . See also : Africa can feed itself in a generation . Geoffrey Livingston , regional economist for the eastern and southern Africa division at the International Fund for Agricultural Development says these mass imports represent a `` huge missed opportunity for African producers . '' `` This is related to very poor yields in a lot of African countries that make it a requirement for countries to go out of their borders and go outside of the continent to meet food requirements for their people , '' he says . They are views echoed by Microsoft chairman Bill Gates who wrote in his 2012 letter , `` Given the central role that food plays in human welfare and national stability , it is shocking - not to mention short-sighted and potentially dangerous - how little money is spent on agricultural research . '' On the whole , only 3.5 % of Africa 's arable land is irrigated and about 9 % of world fertilizer is used in the continent , according to the U.N. Livingston says the low levels of African productivity are linked to a lack of investment in agriculture by African governments and donor organizations over the last two decades . He notes , however , that a change is taking place now . `` In the last three or four years there 's been a renaissance of interest by those African governments and donors regarding the critical role agriculture plays in economic development , '' he says . `` We are seeing that African governments are now spending more for basic research , for applied research , extension services and we feel there will be a pay-off in the medium-term for this increased investment . '' Read more : 'Silent crisis ' as food prices fuel hunger in Kenya . Livingston also calls governments across the continent to focus their efforts on improving transport infrastructure in order to boost productivity . `` Thirty-four per cent of sub-Saharan Africans live more than five hours away from a market town of 5,000 people , '' he says . `` Increasing market access to particularly improve field roads and improve access to electricity for processing is absolutely fundamental to improving agricultural productivity and increasing economic growth in these countries . '' Back in the Winterveldt fields , Motsuenyane also calls on South African leaders to take a greater role in encouraging people to work on the land . `` The government has to do a great deal to rekindle the enthusiasm which once existed in agriculture , '' Motsuenyane , who ran the first black-owned bank in post-Apartheid South Africa , says . Passionate about farming , Motsuenyane believes it 's smallholdings that have the potential to revitalize communities and help curb South Africa 's soaring levels of unemployment . `` If we do not create sufficient employment opportunities in our country we will certainly end up in a very terrible situation , '' he says . `` We must skill the black people to use that land in a way that can enable them to become job creators as well as contributors to the development of the country . ''
A community initiative in South Africa helps poor people make a living by growing trees . More than two - thirds of African countries are net producers of agricultural products . Experts urge African countries to invest in agricultural research and development .