Opinion

As I write this, only one day has passed since thousands of South Africans took part in peaceful protests to say that they had had enough of crime, enough of...

One plus one normally adds up to two. Unless you look at the performance of our departments of agriculture and land affairs.

When we speak about the challenges of farming, we almost invariably talk about economic difficulties such as the cost-price squeeze and attaining economies of scale.

South Africa needs leaders from all sectors of the economy who are proactive, imaginative and understanding of the economic difficulties the country faces. This was according to former finance minister...

These past two years have been some of the toughest ever for SA agribusinesses hit by supply constraints due to drought. These businesses have also been affected by cheap imports,...

Climate expert Johan van den Berg recently addressed the Northern Cape Red Meat Producers’ Organisation congress on the outlook for climatic conditions in the future, and how to manage the...

On first impressions, it is difficult not to be envious of the Swiss and begrudge them their seemingly easy lives. It is one of the most peaceful and prosperous countries...

The “Agricultural outlook 2017-2026” report, compiled by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, as well as the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, forecasts that over the next decade,...

One of the greatest frustrations farmers face in modern agricultural value chains is that they are, to a large extent, relegated to being price-takers.

In May this year, The Economist ran a cover story that said that the world’s most valuable resource is no longer oil, but data.

Improving the efficiency of smallholder farmers in Africa is necessary not only to help grow African economies, but also to improve the livelihoods of these farmers and their families. However,...

Labour relations in the farming sector made headlines again these past few weeks after news broke of an unscrupulous labour broker operating from a farm in Wesselsbron in the Free...

Not to take anything away from the remarkable way in which large-scale commercial agriculture has managed to improve production efficiencies (for the past two decades, yield growth has far outstripped...

Speaking at the AVI Africa Poultry conference, Christo van der Rheede, deputy executive officer at Agri SA, questioned government’s commitment to land reform. In particular, he criticised its protracted and...

James Martin, an independent agricultural transformation consultant and facilitator, says that transformation is a critical goal, but expecting power imbalances and prejudice to simply disappear is unreasonable. He believes that...

You would probably not be able to guess this if you met me today, but when I was at school and during my years at university, I spent as much...

I cannot imagine a greater childhood than growing up on a farm.

Chinese consumers’ growing affinity for wine, particularly imports from international premium wine producers, presents a growth opportunity for the South African wine industry, according to research conducted by Buyambo Mantashe...

These past weeks have seen the release of two of the most prominent decision-making tools for the farming sector: the local and global 10-year outlooks for the agricultural sector, published...

There is something about the utter absurdity of watching President Jacob Zuma stand in front of an audience of honest, hard-working South Africans, saying things like, “Funds that are allocated...