News

Namibia has been battling severe drought conditions since 2012, with the past few years proving especially dire. Although there have been occasional years of good rainfall, most have seen extreme dryness and minimal precipitation.

Extreme weather is resulting in degraded land in some parts of the world being pushed beyond use. In some of the most deprived regions around the globe, this is reaching a tipping point, which could mean that this land will no longer be able to sustain crops, according to Martin Frick, director of the World Food Programme’s global office.

The elephant in the Competition Commission’s Fresh Produce Market Inquiry (FPMI) has yet to be addressed despite the provisional report being released on Wednesday.

An untenable environment in which farmers have to operate has been cited as the reason transformation has mostly failed within the fresh produce sector in South Africa, and why participation from small-scale and historically disadvantaged persons (HDPs) is low in the market.

Former agriculture minister Thoko Didiza was elected National Assembly Speaker at the first sitting of the National Assembly on Friday. In her place, Senzo Mchunu, the minister of Water Affairs and Sanitation, was appointed acting minister of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development.

Namibia is experiencing a serious drought, with the lowest run-off recorded in the past 100 years. This is an indication that groundwater resources would become less reliable in future.

With domestic consumption of pork in the US declining sharply, experts are hoping that increased demand from Mexico and other trading partners could strengthen prices.

Proposed methodology to measure the environmental footprint of apparel and footwear are threatening the feature sustainability of natural fibres.

Botswana is seeking to import grains from international suppliers to supplement its supplies after this year’s devastating drought. According to a Bloomberg report, the country is experiencing its worst drought in 40 years.

Eskom’s latest plan to drastically elevate charges on fixed costs in the agriculture sector would only worsen the power utility company’s challenges and made no economic sense, Francois Wilken, Free State Agriculture (FSA) president, told Farmer’s Weekly.

Viatina-19 FIV Mara Movéis, a three-year-old Nelore cow from Brazil, valued at US$4 million (around R75 million), has been named by Guinness World Records as the most expensive cow ever sold at auction.

While the pork industry is showing optimism in terms of production and market growth, producers have been warned to pay more attention to animal welfare issues to maintain the positive growth.

The Namibian Directorate of Veterinary Services lifted its ban on poultry meat imports from South Africa on 20 May 2024.

In a unified effort to address environmental challenges, the Department of Forestry, Fisheries, and the Environment is calling on all South Africans to commemorate World Environment Day.

Heavy rains and gale-force winds caused destruction in some parts of the country, but brought welcome relief in other parts.

The African Development Bank (AfDB) revised Zimbabwe’s economic growth forecast for 2024 downward to 2%, a significant reduction of 1,6 percentage points from its previous projection.

A group of European farmers staged a protest in Brussels, Belgium, to demand the introduction of legislation to ban the sale of dairy products at prices below production costs.

Foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) has been confirmed in two districts in KwaZulu-Natal (KZN). The KZN Department of Agriculture and Rural Development confirmed that there were currently two outbreaks in the Zululand and King Cetshwayo districts in the north of the province.

John Barker and Felicity Carter reflected on some of the major trends reshaping the wine industry at the recent South Africa Wine Summit held in Cape Town.

As South Africa heads to the polls on Wednesday, the dire state of the country is more in focus than ever as we mark 30 years of democracy. Front-of-mind for the agriculture community is whether the mounting pressure on creating a more enabling environment for the sector will be realised after the election.