Agriculture business chamber (ABC) CEO Dr John Purchase called on government to develop and implement solutions to address the core cause of the food-cost crisis, currently playing out locally and internationally.
Speaking at a recent ABC congress, he said that if the crude oil price is not effectively addressed on a multilateral level, the crisis will deepen due to the impact the petrochemical industry has on fertilisers, herbicides and pesticides.
Dr Purchase warned that a sudden increase in food production would not be a solution. “Keep in mind that input costs for staple-food production are going to rise between 50% and 100% for the next season,” he said. The additional risk in SA of new, draconian expropriation legislation weighs heavily on the sentiment of the commercial agriculture sector.
If government doesn’t drastically revise its poverty alleviation policy, a lack of confidence will deter farmers and entrepreneurs from investing in this critical sector, putting food security at further risk. – Staff reporter
Agribusiness pitches in with land reform
Agribusinesses are well-positioned to help land reform beneficiaries with the three critical elements of successful post-settlement support, said Corwyn Botha, Agricultural Business Chamber (ABC) chairperson at the opening of the recent ABC congress.
Botha said that the three critical elements for successful post-settlement support are access to capital, production loans, access to information technology and extension services, and access to dependable and transparent markets. “A draft memorandum of understanding has already been established between the ABC and Land Affairs,” said “The Maize Trust has engaged with several ABC members to supply financing for developing maize farmers on a contractual and pre-conditional basis. Constraints to successful land redistribution were also highlighted, such as a lack of selection criteria for new farmer entrants, flawed business plans and lack of post-settlement support.”
Botha also mentioned the role of the ABC in formulating the draft AgriBEE Charter, which has already been signed off by the minister of Trade and Industry. “While there have been major delays and constraints in terms of scorecard accreditation, the majority of agribusinesses have already developed and started implementing BBBEE strategies,” said Botha. “This not only ensures compliance with the act, but also an embracing approach to the proactive transformation of our sector and society.”
Botha highlighted the ABC’s recent inclusion in Business Unity SA (Busa). Over the past few months Busa’s Götteeconomic policy committee has focused on the electricity crisis, on which it has engaged with government and Eskom on technical and strategic issues. At the same time Busa’s trade policy committee focused on a proposed customs union for the Southern African Development Community, an economic partnership agreement negotiation with the EU, removal of tariff barriers and meetings between India, Brazil and SA. – David Steynberg
State investment needed for rural growth
Economic growth of 6% per year is needed to achieve the Accelerated Shared Growth Initiative target of halving poverty by 2014. To contribute to this, agriculture needs government to implement support structures that would make local farmers globally competitive, said Corwyn Botha, chairperson of the Agricultural Business Chamber (ABC) at a recent ABC congress.
He added that government would have to provide the necessary infrastructure and sort out the electricity crisis, which is constraining growth. Botha called on agribusinesses to be technologically innovative, invest in skills development, explore new opportunities locally and abroad, and study how produce is marketed to an “increasingly critical consumer”. “Within this global environment, agribusinesses must constantly, creatively and actively seek new ways to enhance their competitiveness through higher-quality products and services, as well as more efficient production,” said Botha. “From an economic perspective, we will need to be better integrated into the value chain and more market-oriented.” – David Steynberg
New minimum wages in Zim A new schedule of minimum wages
For some categories of employment has been released in Zimbabwe. L owest on the schedule is a gardener, whose minimum wage has been set at Z$3,2 billion a month. This may sound like a fortune, but in the same week a 1kg packet of plain hard biscuits cost Z$9,2 billion, a 2kg packet of potatoes Z$3,6 billion, and a 400g tin of baked beans Z$1,8 billion. y the time you read this all of these prices are likely to have increased. It’s likely they will have doubled within the week as inflation has reached a staggering 1 700 000% per annum. On a full month’s pay gardeners can’t even feed themselves for a day. They can’t provide food for their families, buy clothes or shoes, or pay their children’s school fees. Perhaps the most telling fact is that the government-stipulated minimum wage is currently worth just R0,70 a day. – Sharon Götteeconomic
