Opinion

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 medium terms.

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 our lifetime.

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 people, and there is a failure to distinguish between lawful and unlawful evictions. Annelize Crosby, policy head for land affairs at Agri SA, explains the various perspectives and the relevant laws.

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 the country, writes Dr Sifiso Ntombela, a senior agricultural economist at the National Agricultural Marketing Council.

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, was home to six of the world’s 10 fastest-growing economies, namely Rwanda, Ethiopia, Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Tanzania and Benin.

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 water crisis. As a result, no single solution can address water challenges across the country.

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 East and Africa, highlights the challenges and urgently required solutions for meeting this unprecedented demand.

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 hope.

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 of the Asian economic crisis.

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 food that can help them live longer and healthier lives.

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 in social science at the University of KwaZulu-Natal found that these laws are often not implemented in rural Zulu-speaking communities. She explains how this prejudices widows in particular.

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 been a much better option than giving up drink. (This would also have been a much better option for the local wine industry, which reportedly suffered a 23% reduction in wine exports, as well as a decline in local sales.)