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Financial literacy is not only essential for any ambitious business manager to master. It’s a critical life skill for building a successful and happy family and home life, says Peter Hughes.

Profit is a concept that cannot be trusted. It’s difficult to calculate and provides an ideal way of manipulating figures, so beware of those who habitually use the word, warns Peter Hughes.

Automation and digitalisation present opportunities to enhance women’s agricultural productivity, according to Dr Elizabeth Mkandawire and Dr Selorm Dorvlo, researchers in South Africa and Ghana respectively.

Financial literacy and intelligence are crucial life skills for personal and business success. If you believe ‘talking money’ in public is bad manners, you will hinder development of these skills, says Peter Hughes.

Attention to detail has helped Welgemeen Boerdery achieve top honours for its Golden Delicious and Kanzi apples, and Abate Fetel pears. Hannes and Sakkie Hanekom explained their approach to Glenneis Kriel.

To truly excel at what we do, we need to achieve excellence over and over again. We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence is thus not an act, but a habit, and it’s one that every manager needs to cultivate, says Peter Hughes.

When they are given the appropriate support and enabling environment, young people in Africa can take advantage of new opportunities, develop innovative solutions, and contribute to building sustainable and resilient agrifood systems, according to a UN report released in 2022.

Cecili Doorewaard-Janse van Vuuren, a lecturer in Unisa’s Department of Criminology and Security Science, explains the results of her research into the motivating factors behind livestock theft in South Africa.

Despite what we might think, all of us have biases. Some are hard-wired into our brains; others are the result of our life experience. Know the difference, and do something about them, says Peter Hughes.

True sustainable development will not be achieved by corporate-wealth-accumulation agendas, but by visionary family farmers, says Prof James Blignaut, an ecological and environmental resource economist.

It is time for farmers to adopt regenerative agriculture practices in order to ensure the future of food production, says Mark du Plessis, director of agriculture at frozen food company McCain South Africa.

‘Complexity’ results from success and growth. ‘Complication’ is the way we choose to deal with it. Peter Hughes explains how managers and staff can streamline and work smarter.

Peter Setou, chief executive of the Vumelana Advisory Fund, argues that all stakeholders in the land reform programme should demonstrate their commitment to the strategy in order to drive its success.

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations’ outlook for cotton production (2022 – 2031) looks at the opportunities and challenges facing the world’s cotton producers.

The South African agriculture sector is heavily burdened with crime. Using the Free State as a case study, Annelie Coleman spoke to industry stakeholders about the true cost of crime to the local farming community, and the threat it poses to the long-term sustainability of food production in the country.

Dr Imtiaz Sooliman, founder of Gift of the Givers, does not believe that South Africa is collapsing, despite its current political, economic and infrastructural problems. One reason for hope, he argues, lies in the compassion and patience of South Africans. He has seen it first-hand for 30 years.

There’s no management problem that hasn’t been faced before. Lessons from these issues are at your fingertips on the Internet and in many publications; use them and have your best year yet, says Peter Hughes.

There are many hypotheses on why horseflies may be put off by a zebra’s stripes. In a recent study, researchers concluded that this may be a result of the temperature on darker stripes, rather than the stripes themselves.

No matter how good a situation is, pessimists are unable to escape their negative outlook on life and will only see the pitfalls ahead. They have no place in a growing business. Keep them out, says Peter Hughes.

According to a new report, smallholders and indigenous peoples can be effective forest managers, as they occupy nearly half of the world’s forest and farm landscapes and are often invested in these areas.