By Invitation

Glenneis Kriel spoke to Joyene Isaacs about her experiences as head of the Western Cape Department of Agriculture over the past 10 years, and the prospects for women in agriculture.

Agriculture may be highly susceptible to the effects of climate change, but it can also be used to mitigate the effects of this alarming phenomenon. Prof Richard Eckard, director of Australia’s Primary Industries Climate Challenges Centre, explains.

Because of the lack of tenure security in Africa, agricultural financing on the continent cannot be based on the traditional model. Instead, institutions should adopt the ‘ecosystem’ financing approach, says the head of FNB Agriculture Africa, Johann Kotzé. He explained to Gerhard Uys how this principle can be applied in practice.

Women in Africa are key contributors to economic growth and global food security, but they still face many challenges, according to Maureen Bandama, agricultural project consultant at IQ Logistica Investments.

In the working paper titled ‘Competition, barriers to entry and inclusive growth: agro-processing’, Tamara Paremoer and Reena das Nair of the Centre for Competition, Regulation and Economic Development (CCRED) at the University of Johannesburg assess barriers to entry and expansion into the agro-processing sector.

While Africa is rich in resources, it still lags behind much of the world in many socio-economic aspects. Kofi Annan, former secretary-general of the United Nations and founding chairperson of the Kofi Annan Foundation, was the keynote speaker at the Nestlé Creating Shared Value Forum 2016 held recently in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire. He shared his views on what needs to be done to improve Africa’s economies and communities.

Nico Strydom and Jean Struweg, researchers in the Department of Finance and Investment Management at the University of Johannesburg, recently published an article in Agrekon, titled, ‘Malthus revisited: Long-term Trends in South African Population Growth and Agricultural Output’. The paper discusses whether the agricultural sector can sustain South Africa’s rapidly increasing population.

South Africa is currently faced with a paralysed, narrow and inward-looking leadership, according to political analyst and former leader of the Democratic Alliance, Tony Leon.

With the speed at which the world is changing, it is difficult to predict the effects that advancing technology, increased access to information and consumers’ demands for personalised products will have on the agriculture sector. Ernst Janovsky, head of Absa’s AgriBusiness Centre of Excellence, discusses possible implications.

Political uncertainty, climate change, water shortages, poor economic growth, and the Fourth Industrial Revolution are reshaping the way that industries are operating. The Western Cape Minister of Economic Opportunities, Alan Winde, challenged delegates at the Red Meat Abattoir Association annual general meeting held in Stellenbosch, to ready themselves for these changes.

In the PwC Africa Agribusiness Insights Survey 2016, economic advisor, Dr Roelof Botha, looks at some of the most significant macroeconomic trends for agribusiness in Africa, and key challenges affecting sub-Saharan Africa’s economic outlook.

Professor Martin Rees, Astronomer Royal, former president of the Royal Society, and emeritus professor of cosmology and astrophysics at the University of Cambridge, looks beyond 2050.