He said at the 2015 Agri North West Congress in Lichtenburg, unity was of the essence for economic survival: "If agriculture fails, the entire economy fails. This has been proven over and over again."
SA’s agriculture sector needed to establish itself as the ‘go-to’ agricultural leader on the African continent.
According to Van Zyl, SA’s farmers are the best in the world, given the difficult climatic and policy environments they have to contend with.
"If there is a ‘world cup’ for agriculture, SA’s farmers would win,” he said.
Agri NW Congress, AgriSA CEO @Omrivz: If there was a "world cup" for #farming, SA’s commercial farmers would have won #RWC2015
— Farmer’s Weekly SA (@FarmersWeeklySA) September 1, 2015
The time had come for the sector to position itself in a manner that attracts investment. “The entire agri-value chain needs to work together to establish the sector as a national and international player," said Van Zyl.
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