Opinion

Dr Roelof Botha, economic advisor to the Optimum Investment Group, explains the factors that leads him to believe that 2021 may be a return to greater normality.

The past year has been tumultuous with poor economic growth and rising unemployment. However, the agriculture sector still offers huge opportunities for risk takers, says Theo Venter, an independent political and policy analyst.

The Agricultural Development Agency was launched in February 2020, but is already going full steam ahead to support the black farming sector and improve national food security.

A study commissioned by Agri SA shows that should land expropriation without compensation be pursued, South Africa’s economy will take a drastic turn for the worse.

Global warming and climate change are expected to lead to the extinction of various forms of wildlife, as well as severe water shortages and famine, threatening the lives of millions of people. The Rights of Nature movement seeks to change this by ensuring that the environment has access to legal restitution in order to ensure that it not only survives but thrives.

Food and farming are increasingly gaining prominence on national and international economic, political and research agendas.

Digital technology can make food markets more efficient and inclusive. However, according to a recent report, the digital divide places farmers in some of the world’s poorest regions at risk of being left behind.

Africa’s rapidly growing urban food markets offer significant opportunities for the continent’s farmers and agribusinesses. Yet, according to the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa’s ‘Africa Agriculture Status Report 2020’, food can often be imported at lower cost from international suppliers. African farmers will have to become globally competitive if they hope to successfully supply growing domestic markets.

Nature is essential for human existence, providing and sustaining the air, freshwater and soils on which we all depend. It also regulates the climate, and provides pollination and pest control. According to the World Wide Fund for Nature’s (WWF) ‘Living Planet Report 2020’, while more food and energy than ever before are supplied, overexploitation of plants and animals is increasingly eroding nature’s ability to provide these in the future.

The 10-year agricultural outlook by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations predicts that income growth in middle-income countries will see consumers transform their diets from staples to higher-value products, such as fats and animal-based protein. Meanwhile, environmental and health concerns in high-income countries are expected to support a transition from animal-based protein towards alternative sources.

It is a theme I remember well from the children’s tales and Bible stories my mother used to read to my sisters and me when we were girls. Aesop’s loafing grasshopper procrastinated until it was too late to gather food for the long, dry winter months and then ended up having to beg for something to eat from the hard-working ant who spent his whole summer diligently gathering food.

The latest edition of the ‘State of food security and nutrition in the world’ has found that the number of people affected by hunger globally has been slowly on the rise since 2014. The report, published by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, estimates that almost 690 million people went hungry in 2019, an increase of almost 10% over the past five years. The high costs and low affordability of healthy and nutritious diets also continue to contribute to the malnutrition of billions of people.

There isn’t much left to say about 2020 that hasn’t already been said. It was one of those years that will punctuate our generation’s brief time on this planet in the history books.

By disrupting international supply chains, the COVID-19 pandemic has triggered much debate about the need for deglobalisation. This presents an ideal opportunity for Africa to explore the regionalisation of agribusiness on the continent, writes Louis van Ravesteyn, head of Agri Business Pan Africa within the Personal and Business Banking division at Standard Bank Group.

In a recent presentation to Parliament’s Portfolio Committee for Agriculture, Rural Development and Land Reform, the Auditor-General reported that the department of agriculture and related entities had R46,3 million in fruitless and wasteful expenditure in the 2019/2020 financial year.

Demand for nuts is set to continue growing strongly worldwide, but this does not mean the industry can grow complacent about improving production efficiencies. This is the opinion of Axel Breuer, CEO of AgroPress, which publishes The Clipper, an international magazine dealing with nut and dried fruit production and processing.

While gene editing has the potential to reduce human suffering, irresponsible use could be devastating, according to Dr Jamie Metzl, futurist and author.

I was 10 or 11 years old when I saw, for the first time, a grown man cry. Back then, the only veterinarian in town had an office across the road from the library.

Pierre Cloete, CEO International Wealth & Prosperity, writes that the future of South Africa is gloomy and that investors and workers need to protect themselves by diversifying their portfolios with offshore investments.

Land reform has, for the most part, been somewhat in limbo since Cyril Ramaphosa became president in 2018. But the recent announcement by Minister Thoko Didiza of the Department of Agriculture, Rural Development and Land Reform (agriculture department) that 896 farms, measuring 700 000ha, of underutilised or vacant state land would be made available to the public has certainly got the ball rolling on land reform.