Opinion

Various challenges are expected in agriculture for the year ahead. The local economy is faced with addressing unemployment while also attempting to achieve economic growth. The Agricultural Business Chamber recently released its expectations for 2012.

Because food prices are a combination of many factors, they’re a good indicator of a country’s economy. What’s more, food inflation affects different consumers very differently. For the affluent, food accounts for a small part of their salaries, while the poorest can spend over a third of their income to feed their families. An inability to put food on the table will increase social grievances, which will affect the ANC’s popularity, says Saliem Fakir, an independent columnist for the SA Civil Society Information Service.

There should be no dispute regarding the ultimate objective of agricultural development. If it's not possible to work together, and if role players have divergent motives and hidden agendas, the country is going to be in big trouble, says Agri SA president Johannes Möller.

The rejection of a merger between Pioneer Hi-Bred and SA's Pannar Seed is based on fallacious assumptions and will deprive South Africa of affordable seed technology, thus affecting food security, contends the former chief executive officer of Grain SA, Dr Kobus Laubscher

Year after year, commercial farmers prove their worth by feeding the nation. Yet they remain the target of ANC politicians determined to force through unworkable ideologies. This is a grave threat to food security and even political stability. Ben Marais, president of TAU SA, explains.

Stereotypical ideas about farmers and agriculture have resulted in many unfavourable decisions in parliament regarding the sector. Dr Pieter Mulder, deputy minister of agriculture, explains why these stereotypes must be abolished before commercial agriculture can grow.

With the planet's human population expected to reach 9 billion by 2050, agriculture must rise to the challenge of meeting the massive demand for food. Professor Aidan Connolly, vice-president of corporate accounts at multi-national animal nutrition company, Alltech Inc, shares his thoughts on the subject

Julius Malema's talk of changing the Constitution to allow for land grabs is merely a case of "opening one's mouth to change feet". A brief perusal of our Constitution shows that it protects landowners' property rights and also requires equitable distribution of property ownership.

Agri SA president Johannes Möller's New Year message to farmers is one of optimism and opportunity.

Roelof Bezuidenhout, a Farmer's Weekly correspondent who farms near Steytlerville, is experiencing drought first-hand. He believes government will have to reconsider their drought aid if they want to keep farmers on the land, ensure food security and prevent permanent damage to natural resources.

Dr Reuel Khoza is a black farmer and chairperson of Aka Capital and the Nedbank Group. His family trust owns a 200ha export avocado and macadamia farm near Hazyview and is a 50% partner in the export packhouse HL Hall & Sons.

Africa is the only continent which doesn't grow enough food to feed itself. But a revolution is underway that can change that, and it's affecting everyone from smallholer farmers to governments and corporations. So says Kofi Anan, Nobel Peace Prize laureate, former secretary general of the UN from 1977 to 2006 and chairperson of the Alliance for a Green Revolution in AFrica, which is working to improve the continent's agriculture.

In the "us vs them" game no one wins, and the divide between the government and commercial farmers has largely been created by "stone-throwing politicians", says Agri Eastern Cape president Ernest Pringle.

African countries need to implement home-grown policies to accelerate food production that are better suited to their state of economic growth and development, says Akin Adesina, former president of the African Association of Agricultural Economists. He highlights the main challenges of accelerated agricultural growth on the continent and gives some policy suggestions to overcome these obstacles.

Like any business, farming is a game. To win, you have to adapt to meet changing circumstances. You also have to help other players - at least those who show promise and a willingness to succeed - or one day there might be no game to play, says strategist, writer and public speaker, Clem Sunter.

Controversial Zimbabwean rancher Johann Zietsman has championed severe grazing and high-animal impact since 1995. He responds to our recent feature on Allan Savory’s revolutionary approach of combining high stocking rates with veld rehabilitation.

'It's time for agriculture to make a concerted effort at unity,' said Prof Mohammed Karaan, dean of the Agri-Sciences faculty at Stellenbosch University, at Kwanalu's 12th Annual Congress in Pietermaritzburg.

A new colonialism is on the rise, as governments and private companies grab land across Africa to feed and fuel demand in their own countries. They say their projects will alleviate poverty, but things aren't so simple, says the NGO coalition Friends of the Earth, which campaigns for sustainable, just societies and environmental protection.

It's a tall order, but why not take the politics out of farm labour and concentrate on what will actually work, asks journalist and farmer Roelof Bezuidenhout.

Recently there’s been a lot of buzz about the illegal practices of “off-market fresh produce agents”. But they can only function with farmers’ support, and it’s up to farmers to help the Agricultural Produce Agents Council (APAC) stamp out these activities, says the APAC’s Lizel Pretorius.