Staff Reporter
Farmer's Weekly's Staff Reporter team provides accurate, timely, and trusted coverage of South African agriculture, delivering expert-backed reporting on farming, livestock, crops, agribusiness, technology, policy, and industry developments.
Understanding South Africa’s animal identification laws
Corine Steyn, manager liaison at the Red Meat Producers’ Organisation, spoke to Cobus du Plessis about the importance of branding animals and the regulations that govern this practice in South Africa.
Joint ventures to reactivate underutilised farms in Zimbabwe
Zimbabwean farmer Dan Burger is involved in 13 joint farming ventures with beneficiaries of that country's land reform programme, an initiative the government is championing to address the underutilisation of expropriated farms.
Agriculture needs G20 action to match commitments
South Africa’s G20 presidency concluded with an unexpected diplomatic achievement: securing near-unanimous support for a 30-page Leaders’ Declaration, despite a boycott by US President Donald Trump and reported efforts by Washington to persuade other countries not to sign.
From Kamhlushwa to cutting-edge research
Lucia Zinzi Ndlala’s path into agriculture began as a quiet childhood curiosity in her Kamhlushwa garden, watching her mother plant, tend, and harvest. That early spark grew into a career rooted in science, meaningful impact, and dedicated mentorship.
Growing a generation of agricultural changemakers
Raised in the village of Shimawusa in Giyani, Limpopo, Dr Tlangelani Baloyi’s passion for agriculture began beside his mother in the local irrigation scheme. What started as a chore became a lifelong drive to help strengthen South Africa’s food security.
How rural roots and a bursary fuelled one man’s agricultural mission
Reggie Mchunu’s roots run deep in the farming soils of Tugela Ferry, a rural community near Greytown, KwaZulu-Natal. Raised by a single mother who sold crops to support his education, Mchunu’s first lessons in agriculture were personal and profound.
Cheers fail to mask global rupture amid US diplomatic rift at G20
The G20 Leaders’ Summit in Johannesburg concluded on Sunday with cheers and ululation as President Cyril Ramaphosa delivered his closing remarks.
G20 Leaders’ Declaration: Impact on agriculture
The G20 Summit has delivered a sweeping set of commitments that place agriculture, food security, and African rural development at the heart of the global agenda.
Ramaphosa opens G20 Summit with call for Solidarity, Equality, Sustainability
President Cyril Ramaphosa opened the first-ever G20 Leaders’ Summit on African soil on Saturday with a powerful call for global co-operation, shared responsibility, and accelerated action to address the world’s most pressing challenges.
South Africa places biosecurity at the centre of G20 agricultural agenda
South Africa has used its G20 presidency to elevate biosecurity as a central pillar of the forum’s agricultural work for 2025.
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Indulge your sweet tooth this holiday season with a rich, comforting sticky toffee pudding.
‘Africa has only four harvests to change food security trajectory’
Debra Mallowah, Bayer Africa Head for Crop Science and chairperson of the B20 Task Force on Sustainable Food Systems and Agriculture, delivered a message that urgently called for action at a high-level side-event co-hosted by the African Union Commission, FNB, AGRA and Bayer: Africa has only four harvests left before 2030 to change the trajectory of its food security.
G20 Task Force Two: food security in focus
South Africa has placed food security at the centre of its G20 agenda under the overarching theme of Solidarity, Equality and Sustainability. This signals a concerted global effort to stabilise food systems, lower input and commodity price volatility, strengthen regional markets, and build resilience across the value chain.
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Poor cell phone signal translates directly into lost productivity, compromised safety, and reduced revenue. At WaveBoosters, we deliver professional-grade 2G, 3G, LTE 4G, and 5G cell phone signal boosters that resolve connectivity issues immediately and permanently.
G20 Task Force One: promoting inclusive economic growth and equality
South Africa’s G20 presidency coincides with tight budgets, rising debt, and climate risks for many developing nations. The G20 South Africa 2025 Summit, through three new task forces, seeks to refocus global economic governance on fairness, opportunity, and resilience.
From the fields of Mpumalanga to the frontiers of plant science
Nonduduzo Adelaide Simelane and her siblings grew up helping their grandmother tend maize and bean fields in Schoemansdal, Mpumalanga, and now she is studying towards a PhD in plant science at the University of Pretoria, reflecting her perseverance, passion, and purpose.
How a bursary turned a reluctant student into a plant science champion
Stacey Fisher never imagined she’d find herself in agriculture let alone completing a PhD in plant biotechnology, but everything changed when she joined the Plant Omics Laboratory at the University of the Western Cape.
Zimbabwe compensates 85 Europeans who lost farms to land reform
Zimbabwe's government has compensated the first batch of 85 farmers from European countries who lost their farms during the country’s land reform programme, with 10 of them paid in full.
From chemistry to crop science: how a bursary led to new possibilities
During her academic journey, Meryl Awkes, now a Standard Bank business centre head, pivoted from chemistry to agriculture thanks to the Maize Trust Bursary Scheme and has since built a career that feeds people and the economy.
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