By Invitation

Global agriculture has to increase its output dramatically to meet the needs of a rapidly growing human population. John Hassell, Koch Agronomic Services’ customer support manager for Europe, the Middle East and Africa, highlights the challenges and urgently required solutions for meeting this unprecedented demand.

Many South Africans will be watching President Cyril Ramaphosa deliver his State of the Nation Address (SONA) on 12 February, some hoping against hope and some with enthusiasm and renewed hope.

In theory, South Africa has strong laws to protect the property ownership and inheritance rights of all women. However, a 2018 study conducted by Bongi Owusu for her master’s dissertation in social science at the University of KwaZulu-Natal found that these laws are often not implemented in rural Zulu-speaking communities. She explains how this prejudices widows in particular.

Dr Sifiso Ntombela, a trade economist at the National Agricultural Marketing Council, writes that as technological advances are being achieved at an ever-faster rate, countries that fail to invest sufficient resources in research and development risk falling behind and becoming uncompetitive.

A new empowerment model championed by a Limpopo-based farming company, Schoonbee Landgoed, and Thebe Investment Corporation aims to establish long-term partnerships between white commercial farmers and black institutional investors while helping new-entrant farmers achieve financial viability, writes Gert Schoonbee.

The world’s drylands are becoming hotter and drier. Expanding commercial agriculture and investing in sustainable land management practices are two ways in which governmentscan mitigate this form of land degradation, according to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

There is ‘no silver bullet’ to address South Africa’s plastic conundrum, according to Lorren de Kock, project manager for the circular plastics economy at the Worldwide Fund for Nature – South Africa. However, the fruit industry can start addressing the issue by moving away from packaging that is aesthetically pleasing to recyclable and reusable packaging methods.

The Agricultural Outlook 2019-2028, published by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development and the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization, provides a 10-year prospect for agricultural markets at the national, regional and global level. Prices for most agricultural commodities are expected to remain flat over the period as consumption of staple foods remains stagnant.

Pollinators are responsible for the production of many crops grown for human consumption, but their numbers are declining. To ensure food security, world leaders and agriculture authorities must act now to save these crucial species, says the Food and Health Organization of the United Nations.

Urban agriculture has a major role to play in providing healthy, affordable and accessible food to poor urban households in South Africa, according to Prof Juaneé Cilliers, chair of the Urban and Regional Planning Unit for Environmental Sciences and Management at North-West University.

Driven by shrinking arable land, a shift to the consumption of non-meat proteins, and several other factors, ersatz meat products are set to disrupt the lucrative global meat industry. According to management consultants AT Kearney, it is not a matter of if, but when, these products will appear on shelves.

Long-term food security is set to suffer if the scourge of soil erosion is not brought under control. Dan Pennock, a professor in soil science at the University of Saskatchewan in Canada, discusses the extent of the problem and the importance of good soil management.