News

There is still optimism in the agriculture sector despite the subdued performance over the past couple of months. This was the overall message conveyed during the Agbiz information day held in Pretoria on Friday.

Commercial Cold Holdings (CCH) officially launched its Greenbushes facility in Gqeberha on 5 December, marking a pivotal moment for the Eastern Cape’s agricultural and logistics sectors.

Soil provides nearly all of the world’s animals and humans with food and gives life to all of the world’s plants, which supply much of the oxygen that animals and humans need.

The recent fires in Mitchell’s Pass in the Western Cape have brought attention to the unique challenges faced by firefighters in mountainous regions.

Favourable climatic conditions and new blushed pear varieties bode well for Tru-Cape Fruit Marketing. While it was still too early to estimate the size of the 2024/2025 pear harvest, early indications point to a promising season.

On World Cheetah Day, observed annually on 4 December, attention was drawn to the cheetah’s vulnerability. With fewer than 7000 remaining, cheetahs now occupy less than 10% of their historic global range, including small populations in the Middle East and Asia, according to Wild Africa, a global wildlife conservation movement.

Between 40% and 50% of South Africa’s 2024 litchi harvest had been destroyed by adverse weather conditions, which would invariably push up the local litchi price significantly.

The United Nations World Food Programme welcomed a donation of R90 million from the government of Japan to support 37 000 smallholder farmers wrestling with the effects of climate challenges in five districts in Zimbabwe.

South Africa’s citrus industry experienced an unexpected dip in export volumes this year, presenting growers with significant challenges related to climate, market demands, and logistics. The Citrus Growers Association (CGA) has stepped in to address these issues, supporting farmers as they navigate a tough season.

Crime statistics for July to September reveal that crime is generally down in comparison with 2022 and 2023, yet up from 2020 and 2021 levels. This was according to crime stats for the second quarter released by Police Minister Senzo Mchunu.

Foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) continues to pose a significant challenge in KwaZulu-Natal (KZN), affecting communal dip tanks, small farms, and game reserves.

Finance talks at the 29th Conference of Parties (COP29) offered up an increase in the funding for developing countries to adapt to climate change and put mitigation measures in place.

The recent interest rate cut will give farmers some financial breathing space, according to major banks in the agricultural sector.

Humane Society International/Africa (HSI/Africa) recently announced its Green Monday programme at two rural schools in the Genadendal Valley in the Western Cape.

The mass deportations threatened by US president-elect Donald Trump could deal a serious blow to that country’s agriculture sector, which is already struggling with severe labour shortages.

The 2024 Toyota SA/Agri SA Awards celebrated farming excellence on Thursday, with Dwayne Kaschula from Maclear, Eastern Cape, winning the Young Farmer of the Year Award.

The importance of climate adaptation to improve water and food security was highlighted during a panel discussion at the African Agri Investment Indaba recently held in Cape Town.

Investments in agrifoodtech in Africa is showing a slight recovery after crashing from a peak of over US$700 million (about R12,7 billion) in funding in 2022 to US$275 million (R5 billion) in 2023.

Agricultural role players have called for more direct interventions for municipal environmental violations after Dipaleseng Local Municipality was fined R160 million for polluting water resources.

The economic losses caused by livestock theft in the red meat industry amounts to millions of rands annually and is increasingly driven by well-organised criminal syndicates, according to Joe Scholtz, vice-chairman of the National Stock Theft Prevention Forum.