MASDT is led by a a CEO, Mr Chris Williams, who is accountable to the MASDT Board of Directors and leads a staff component of 10 full time professionals as well as contract staff in other Provinces.


The company operates from a main office space (±300m2) in Nelspruit, Mpumalanga Province with all the necessary office facilities, electronic communication systems, Internet and Intranet facilities, a Board room and training facilities.

Permanent staff include Head Office Staff - 2 Managers. The rest of the staff are project-dedicated Business Development Officers (BDO’s).

Mentors and BDO’s typically have agricultural qualifications and experience or gain additional skills and expertise in house.


MASDT has a training manager and training officers to undertake training and skills development with various experts assisting the organisation to develop training material and courses.

MASDT also has a wide range of mentors, agricultural specialists and other service providers that it can rely on to give expert inputs on specific technical aspects of farming as the need arises.


MASDT, with the financial assistance of Seda, acquired a 20 metre Scania truck, custom-build an agriculture laboratory with training facilities and high-tech electronic equipment to provide services to rural areas. Two high-definition television screens on the outside of the truck relay what is going on inside, and all laboratory equipment, bar air conditioners, are run with solar power. Commercial farming in South Africa, as in any other country in the world, is a precise discipline that involves the management of a wide range of variables both physical such as natural resources as well as the socio- economic such as market volatility and consumer preferences. By having a mobile facility that can assist emerging farmers understand more clearly their natural resource base, particularly soils and water, MASDT is taking a lot of the guess work and hence risk out of the equation. 


Fixed facilities that provide such services, but these are expensive, geographically distant from the rural communities, who are MASDT’s clients and have long turnaround times- particularly if samples must be posted or couriered. By having a mobile facility MASDT can bring the appropriate technology to the field where it is needed most. In essence therefore the Mobile Laboratory complements the already existing services of MASDT (Business support, agricultural planning, skills development, mentorship, mechanization support and supply of agricultural inputs).



The Mobile Lab is also fitted with a training room which will be utilised in training emerging farmer groups and even remote rural youth in introducing agriculture science to them. Training in light engineering and maintenance will also be conducted by the Truck Driver who has years’ experience as a mechanic.


MASDT has a fleet of vehicles (Bakkies) to visit projects as well as to deliver inputs such as seedlings or equipment. MASDT has various tractors and implements located at the different project sites, so that emerging farmers can gain advantage from the use of mechanization on their farms at an affordable rate- e.g. MASDT is preparing lands at R 800.00/ha (Plough, disk and ridge)  whilst commercial service providers are charging up to R 2000.00 for the same service.