South Africa

Agricultural stakeholders have welcomed President Cyril Ramaphosa’s plan to end rolling blackouts across the country, but have also raised some concerns.

With thousands of skilled South Africans emigrating and xenophobia discouraging immigration, Theo Boshoff, CEO of Agbiz, has warned that South Africa’s agriculture sector could become stagnant in the absence of enough skilled agri-tech workers.

The current steep increases in food prices would not continue indefinitely, according to Wandile Sihlobo, chief economist at Agbiz.

The murder of seven people on Lismor Farm in the Kestell district on Friday, 15 July has reaffirmed the importance of vigilance and having an up-to-date rural safety plan in place to empower farmers against farm attacks. This was according to Uys van der Westhuizen, chairperson of Agri SA’s rural safety committee.

Despite the robust performance of local agricultural machinery sales in the first half of the year, sales were expected to level off in the second half of 2022, according to Wandile Sihlobo, chief agricultural economist at Agbiz.

South African businesses and consumers should prepare themselves for an interest rate hike of between 50 and 75 basis points to be announced by the South African Reserve Bank (SARB) on Thursday, 21 July.

Dr Gerhard Verdoorn, CropLife South Africa’s stewardship manager, expressed serious concern about the exporting of donkey skins from South Africa to China.

South Africa’s Khoi and San communities are finally being recognised for their intellectual contributions to rooibos cultivation. However, according to Collin Louw, secretary general of the South African San Council, it was concerning to see the amount of infighting among the communities’ members over the funds they were due to be paid for the role they played in the sector.

South Africa’s largest passion fruit farming enterprise is moving its operations to Ghana in response to Transnet’s inability to operate South Africa’s ports smoothly, taking millions of rands of investment and hundreds of jobs with it.

Farmers have expressed relief about the announcement that Tiger Brands will extend operations at its canning business, Langeberg & Ashton Foods, for another season.

Protest action that result in disruptions to major transport routes could have a dire impact on the economy over time, according to stakeholders in the agriculture sector.

The dilapidated conditions at the Potchefstroom College of Agriculture were cause for serious concern, the Southern African Agri Initiative (SAAI) said in a recent statement.

In addition to Eskom’s schedule of rolling blackouts across South Africa, which reached Stage 6 in early July, farmers in Limpopo, North West and Mpumalanga have also been hit by severe and unscheduled power outages referred to as ‘load reduction’.

More should be done to regulate and improve the safety in and around grain silos in South Africa. This was according to Bert Oosthuizen, director of Grain Storage Projects Africa, a company offering silo services such as inspections and assessments across Africa.

South African hunters planning to undertake hunting trips to Namibia would be well advised to familiarise themselves with that country’s official regulations pertaining to the transportation of meat back to South Africa.

In recent months, food and fuel prices have increased rapidly, while people are not receiving adequate delivery of basic services.

Millions of subsistence farmers in the Mpondoland region of the former Transkei are being sidelined because of the legalisation of cannabis and hemp production.

South Africans are expected to face hefty fuel price and interest rate hikes in July, which according to Marlene Louw, senior economist at Absa AgriBusiness, will further worsen cost pressures on farmers, and leave consumers with less money to spend on food.

South Africa’s food security is dependent on the safety of farming communities, according to Uys van der Westhuijzen, chairperson of Agri SA’s Centre of Excellence on Rural Safety.

Eskom’s extensive carbon footprint could mean that South Africa’s agricultural commodities will not be welcomed on international markets in future, due to the global move away from fossil fuel usage.