News

The avocado industry has not been spared the effects of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) global pandemic.

Private-sector attorneys and advocates who are paid by the state to assess the merits of land claims, and where necessary, pursue these cases in the Land Claims Court, have been warned to no longer institute legal proceedings where there are clearly no prospects of success.

Today we start our 21-day national lockdown in a bid to contain the spread of the novel coronavirus virus (COVID-19) in South Africa.

The Zimbabwean tobacco industry is being hard hit by the global coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, which has resulted in President Emmerson Mnangagwa closing the country’s borders and banning gatherings of more than 50 people, among other measures.

The recent major decline in international crude oil prices is likely to have a significant impact on South Africa’s sugar value chain.

Following the recent announcement of a cut in South Africa’s repo rate, the agriculture sector can look forward to some relief on loan repayments.

Amid the devastating coronavirus disease (COVID- 19) outbreak, the Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development (agriculture department) recently established an industry task team, under the auspices of agriculture minister Thoko Didiza, to manage this disaster.

The agriculture sector has weathered the storm over the past few years, coping with drought and policy uncertainty, while income and employment have remained stable.

The closing of countries’ borders in an attempt to contain the rapid spread of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic is already greatly affecting the local ecotourism sector.

Chinhoyi University of Technology, a university in Mashonaland West, Zimbabwe, recently took its national artificial insemination (AI) project for cattle countrywide.

The announcement on Thursday by the South African Reserve Bank (SARB) monetary policy committee of a 100-basis-point cut, or one percentage point, in the repo rate from 6,25% to 5,25%, was positive news for farmers.

Stakeholders in the South African fruit industry have expressed concern about whether there will be sufficient containers to ship produce to various export destinations around the world, due to the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak.

Rising demand for agricultural products in Spain, due to fears about the novel coronavirus outbreak, has seen prices soar.

Southern Africa is expected to export a record 143,3 million cartons of citrus fruit to more than 100 countries in 2020.

While the latest tariffs on imported frozen chicken published in the Government Gazette have been welcomed by key stakeholders in South Africa’s poultry value chain, they are taking a wait-and-see approach to establish just how effective these tariffs would be in achieving their intended purpose.

One of the highlights on the South African agricultural calendar, the annual Royal Agricultural Show in Pietermaritzburg, has been cancelled.

The Zimbabwean government has announced a legal framework to restore ownership rights to individuals and companies that lost farms over the past 20 years, in terms of the Bilateral Investment Protection and Promotion Agreements.

The current rolling blackouts by power utility Eskom have struck the Western Cape in the midst of a critical time for the fruit industry.

The higher crop production forecast for the coming season has resulted in a rise in combine harvester sales during February, which could mean farmers are preparing for a good harvesting season.

The past several years’ drought in Namibia has had a devastating impact on the country’s hunting industry, and in some areas hunting quotas had been cut between 70% and 80%. This was according to Tanya Dahl, CEO of the Namibia Professional Hunting Association (NAPHA).