Issues with the 900 state farms bonanza
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...
SA must take a ‘bold step’ towards fiscal sustainability
The re-evaluation of government spending, although much needed, will not be enough to address South Africa’s immense economic challenges. There also needs to be stronger political will and leadership to...
Cutting the waste from the agriculture department’s budget
Tshepo Moloi and Prof Johann Kirsten of the Bureau for Economic Research at Stellenbosch University suggest that a zero-based budgeting approach could offer an opportunity to reassess the role of...
Why SA needs commercial and smallholder farmers
While growth and development initiatives have tended to focus on growing the commercial farming sector, a new school of thought argues for the coexistence of smallholder and commercial farmers to...
COVID-19 erases hard-won job gains
The positive growth trend in agricultural GDP so far this year has failed to translate into an increase in employment in the agriculture sector.
Living as we do is killing our world
Scientists have recently observed signs of possible life in the thick cloud cover that envelopes our neighbouring planet, Venus.
Agri GDP better, but not at its best
There weren’t many surprises, nor much good news, among the second-quarter (Q2) GDP results that were released by Statistics South Africa (Stats SA) during the second week of September.
A reflection on ‘women’s month’
August has passed and with it we bid goodbye to the month which, every year, is marked by numerous overtures to women, some earnest and some opportunistic, as companies, organisations...
Struggle to access water behind many land reform failures
There are a few common threads that run through most stories of those people who have, over the past 25 years, benefitted from one of South Africa’s land reform and...
Agriculture: shining light or fading star?
For most industries, 2020 will probably be a particularly bad year with an abrupt fall in performance, but this should be followed by some degree of recovery in the near...
South Africa: Top of the economic misery list
One of the great things about being an agricultural journalist during this time of crisis is that we often still get to report good news, thanks to the victories being...
What COVID-19 has taught us about food security
The COVID-19 pandemic has emphasised the importance of agriculture in South Africa and across the continent because of the sector’s capacity to support economic growth, create and sustain jobs, and...
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