State to sieze SA’s land?
Though Government has assured farmers and other stakeholders that it doesn’t plan to nationalise farmland, its written policy implies otherwise. The consequences would be disastrous, writes Frans Cronje, deputy CEO at the South African Institute of Race Relations. This independent think-tank that has produced cutting-edge research and policy critiques on South Africa since 1929.
Which way will the 2009 elections go?
Harald Pakendorf, seasoned political analyst and journalist, predicts that the ANC will lose its two-thirds majority in the coming election. Addressing some 500 delegates at the annual VinPro information day, Pakendorf said the solid supporter base of the ANC has been eroded significantly since 1994.
Vulture massacre – mutimen attack
SA's vultures are facing extinction due to a roaring, yet unsustainable, vulture trade, with the birds being harvested quicker than they can breed. At this rate, species such as the white-backed, white-headed and lappet-faced vultures will no longer exist in 10 to 30 years. The Endangered Wildlife Trust gives its view.
Caution! GMO ahead
Director Leslie Liddel of Biowatch SA, a non-profit civil organisation, presents its case for the stricter regulation of GM crops and the labelling and separation of these from other products.
Looking into sugar’s future
The Agricultural Marketing Ministerial Review Committee's review of regulation in the sugar industry is in the final stages of completion. Rodger Stewart, chairperson of the SA Sugar Association, gives his views on what a transformed industry can expect.
Will SA cope with Zim’s spillover?
Dr Jan du Plessis of the strategic management research
organisation, Intersearch, contends that free and fair elections won't solve Zimbabwe's problems, and that Robert Mugabe has paved the way for dangerous, large-scale foreign intervention in the region. He thinks the survival of land reform could be much briefer than politicians thought.
Taking South African farming to the stratosphere
Gesie van Deventer - Female Farmer of the Year in 2002, also named top female exporter and overall Farmer of the Year in 2003 - called on farmers to make a mindshift concerning land reform at the Canning Fruit Producers Association's annual meeting that was recently held in Worcester.
Legislation driving workers away from farms?
The reduction in farm labour is due to globalisation, agricultural competition, the lack of skilled labour, rigid employment legislation and ill-timed land tenure laws, says Prof Doreen Atkinson, visiting professor at the University of the Free State and author of Going for Broke, a new book about the history and plight of farmworkers.
The ugly face of climate change
Climate change will result in water shortages, which will affect agriculture and industry, as well as raise conflict potential between riparian states. Minister of Environmental Affairs and Tourism Marthinus van S chalkwyk spoke at the recent Climate Change Summit.
Will SA’s aquaculture industry float?
Yolan Friedmann, deputy CEO and conservation manager of the Endangered Wildlife Trust, warns that SA must radically change its attitude towards overexploitation of its fishing stocks if it wants to save them.
Wake up, South Africa, to farming the French way
The French display an overwhelming support for their farmers, which is in stark contrast to the overall treatment of SA's commercial farmers. State policies are crippling the sector responsible for feeding 45 million South Africans, and TAU SA says our government could learn from the French. TAU SA general manager Bennie van Zyl explains.
Issue date 15 June 2007
Structural changes on the cards
On 21 February at Pannar's Crop Extravaganza near Delmas, Mpumalanga,
Ernst Janovsky, head of agriculture at First National Bank, gave two
sessions of about 100 farmers each, insight into agricultural market
dynamics and explained the predicted structural changes and
management actions needed to be globally competitive
