By Invitation

As irrigation schemes are found mostly in areas with high poverty levels, smallholder irrigation presents major opportunities for reducing rural poverty. However, smallholder irrigation is performing below expectations. A new study explores the reasons for this.

Research by the International Food Policy Research Institute and the International Institute for Sustainable Development analysed progress in agricultural development in 117 countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America to understand which policies have succeeded or failed. It then provided policy guidelines to help countries still at the subsidence farming stage to transform their agriculture sectors.

Dr René Uys, director of Thinking Fusion AFRICA, argues that young South African farmers need to have the emotional fortitude to face up to the often harsh realities of agriculture in this country. In short, they have to be both skilled and brave, which is why self-development is crucial.

Disruptive change is coming to supermarkets and this will have a ripple effect throughout the food industry supply chain. According to Bjorn Thumas, director of business development at TOMRA Food, technical innovations online and in-store, combined with shifting consumer demands, will reshape the supermarket of the future.

Professor Cyril Nhlanhla Mbatha of Unisa’s Graduate School of Business Leadership outlines some key production and marketing strategies to help promote the economic sustainability of smallholder farmers, and therefore more successful land reform in South Africa.

According to Ed Treacy, vice-president of supply chain efficiencies for the Produce Marketing Association (PMA), blockchain technology holds great possibilities for improving efficiency and traceability in the fresh produce sector. In particular, it optimises supply chain operations, enhancing quality management, increasing market and business intelligence, reducing costs, and fostering brand protection.

Overpopulation and managing population growth are some of the most difficult subjects to write about.

Zimbini Coka, a junior lecturer at the University of the Free State’s Department of Agricultural Economics, visited areas that became part of the Ciskei homeland through consolidation in the 1970s as part of her master’s research. In this article, she shares her views on the lessons learnt from the past process of homeland consolidation and what these mean for South Africa’s land reform process.

Rural economies in Africa have become zones of economic misery. According to Dr Akinwumi Adesina, president of the African Development Bank, stimulating economic growth in these areas through agriculture and the food industry should be at the top of the development agenda.

The expropriation without compensation debate has been making national headlines since last year, with many proponents arguing that it would economically empower the poor. However, Zamikhaya Maseti, a senior specialist for public and sector policy at the Land Bank, says that no land reform policy can be successful if new black farmers do not have adequate access to markets.

The report, ‘Business models to ride the food-to-go wave,’ released by Rabobank, explores the growing trend of precooked and ready-to-eat meals, and how retailers and foodservice providers can work together to benefit from this movement.

The Continental Free Trade Agreement, which South Africa has signed, is key to increasing trade revenues, job creation and economic integration on the continent, writes Sifiso Ntombela, head of trade and investment intelligence at Agbiz.