Food shortages unlikely during coronavirus outbreak
Fears about potential disruptions to global supply chains due to the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak have raised questions about whether South Africa could experience food shortages in the short to...
A world without farmers
For many of my generation, the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, which is bringing everyday life to a grinding halt, will be one of the most enduring and disruptive experiences of...
Legal evictions: landowners need to know their rights
Media reports and public debate often simplify and blur the sensitive issue of evictions. Typically, evictions are seen solely from the perspective of the landowner or from that of landless...
The case for a national agri insurance plan
South African farmers are finding their businesses increasingly at risk due to the effects of climate change. Broad-based access to a state-supported agricultural insurance scheme would enhance food security in...
SA is holding the rest of Africa back
While still considered by many foreign investors as the ‘gateway into Africa’, South Africa’s dismal economic performance has been a drag on the rest of the continent, which, in 2019,...
SA water crisis: Climate change not the only culprit
According to Mike Muller, a visiting adjunct professor at the University of the Witwatersrand’s Graduate School of Governance, low and unpredictable rainfall is not the only cause for South Africa’s...
Challenges to feeding a growing population
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...
The reality ahead of SONA 2020
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...
How much will you give to save SA?
For the last year or so, I have often thought about what occurred in South Korea in 1997 and 1998 when the country faced economic ruin due to the impact...
The real cost of progress
Over the past couple of decades, we have enjoyed plenty of benefits because of the progress made in farming. More people than ever before are now able to access sufficient...
How traditional leaders undermine women’s land rights
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...
The writing’s on the (Twitter) wall
If you had hoped to start the year off on a positive note by doing something good for your health and well-being, giving up social media for January might have...
Low investment in research hampers agri growth
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...
Land reform: speak up now!
Two important pieces of draft legislation that will shape the way that land reform in South Africa will be implemented were published recently, and are currently open for public comment.
The ‘profit-for-purpose’ empowerment model
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...
The secret to successful farming
We have come to the end of a year, as well as the end of a decade, that seems to have tested South African farmers unlike any other.
Agriculture a vital part of the solution to land degradation
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,...
Time for government to do as it says
One of the things I find most frustrating about politics is that what politicians say and promise can differ almost completely from what they do and deliver, yet there are...
Plastic packaging should focus on recycling
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 –...
Agri commodity prices: what to expect over the next 10 years
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,...
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