Rural insight

Pigeons are in training for the final of the 6th annual SA Prestige Invitational Pigeon Race (SAPIR), says Thomas Smit.

The Eastern Cape town of Somerset East lies at the foot of the imposing and rugged Boschberg Mountain. Here, legendary stock thief and murderer, John Kepe, lived in a cave for over a decade before being apprehended and executed. Mike Burgess writes about his rise and fall.

Rangers fighting against rhino poachers in South Africa have been issued with a powerful new weapon: dogs. The breeds chosen have extreme scenting ability, and have already succeeded in tracking down numerous poachers. Jay Ferreira reports.

The Jefferies family farm on land near Kei Mouth that was settled by their ancestors in the early 1870s. Family members who first settled along the former Cape’s Eastern Frontier in 1820 endured wars and other hardships.

Much of South African agriculture is founded on the blood, sweat and tears of generations of farming families and their workers. The Scheuers are one such family, arriving on Natal soil in 1859 and remaining there today, six generations later.

Sable Farms, in central Zambia, has belonged to the same family for 42 years. Over the decades, the Gordons have grown their operation to meet changing demands. Lloyd Phillips talks to Dave Gordon about farming in Zambia.

Ernest Pringle, Eastern Cape farmer and chairperson of Agri SA’s Agricultural Development Committee, has the country’s largest private butterfly collection and is responsible for establishing South Africa’s most famous butterfly reserve. Mike Burgess visited him on his farm to find out more about his love for butterflies and insects in general.

Mpumalanga farmer Johannes Simelane is thankful for the agricultural expertise his late employer shared with him, and is now sharing it with others in his community.

Eben Dönges primary school in Bothaville in the Free State has enlisted the support of the private agriculture sector in an innovative way, says Annelie Coleman.

Research conducted by Willem Lombard and Hermias van Niekerk at the University of the Free State’s department of agricultural economics paints a dismal picture of stock theft in the province, with official statistics not reflecting the true numbers.

Some of the Western Cape’s most important agricultural production regions are threatened by the degradation of river water. As a result, irrigation water now has to be filtered at great additional expense. An update of the Berg River’s rehabilitation was presented at the recent Agri Cape Week Expo.

In the mid-1800s, Cornelius Cock settled on land north of the Fish River in the Eastern Cape. The property remained in the family’s possession until it was expropriated for inclusion in the Ciskei bantustan in 1980. Mike Burgess spoke to Malcolm Cock about his 35-year battle for adequate compensation for the land, comprising six farms, that he wanted to leave to his children.

Growing along unkempt pavements and on wasteland across South Africa is a food source perceived by most as little more than weeds. Collectively known as imifino or morogo, the plants form part of the staple diet of many urban people originally from rural areas.

Under full production, the Qamata irrigation system could improve food security in the Eastern Cape, yet it continues to languish, says Orrock Robertsen.

A rural development programme is using broiler production as a means to alleviate poverty among small-scale farmers, writes Robyn Joubert.

A media trip organised by the Southern Africa Food Lab aimed to give journalists a first-hand glimpse of the challenges of smallholder farmers in Limpopo and Gauteng.

Farm attacks are a grim, ever-present reality in South Africa. But farmers have started to work together to fight the scourge – and the results are beginning to show.

South Africa’s meat classification system is outdated and must be changed, says Professor Frikkie Neser.

Co-operatives play an important role in the Netherlands. Currently, South Africa and the Dutch are working together to develop co-ops for the beneficiaries of land reform. Jacques Claassen recently visited a dairy co-op in the province of North Holland and assesses it as a business model.

A recently launched land reform initiative in the Western Cape’s Witzenberg region has the potential to become one of South Africa’s greatest success stories in agricultural transformation.The farmer-driven project requires little support from government but substantial buy-in from commercial producers.