Africa ripe for agrochemicals growth

Africa’s underdeveloped agrochemicals market has presented AECI’s agrochemical solution business, Nulandis, with a double-digit growth opportunity to cement its place in the agriculture sector, particularly within the smallholder farmer industry.

This emerged at AECI’s investor day, held in Woodmead, on Tuesday, where executive Edwin Ludick outlined the attractiveness of Nulandis’ expansion in the market.

The group, which supplied propriety and third-party products to farmers, believed the prospects for expansion in Africa were “very good” on the back of the increasing need for food security within a ballooning population and greater demand from a rising middle class for food variety.

The current agrochemicals market in Africa was valued at between R15-billion and R20-billion, with South Africa accounting for 33%.  READ MORE

Source: www.engineeringnews.co.za/

Mining and biofuels ‘drive the need for more efficient farms’

Mining and biofuels are competing with agriculture for land in SA, putting pressure on farmers to become more efficient, particularly through the use of technology.

As a result, SA’s commercial farmers are consolidating into fewer and larger operations to achieve economies of scale and remain profitable, says Nico Groenewald, head of agribusiness at Standard Bank.

Of the 35,000 commercial farmers in SA about 3,000 are responsible for 80% of total agricultural production.

At the same time, arable land is a scarce resource. Only 12% of the land in SA is arable, and only 3% of that is truly fertile. Just 1.5% of the land is under irrigation, Mr Groenewald says, and this land produces more than 30% of SA’s agricultural output. He was speaking at a media briefing in Johannesburg on Wednesday.   READ MORE

Source: www.bdlive.co.za

Agriculture research suffers as little funding cuts resources

A new report paints a picture of a severely underfunded Agricultural Research Council trying to do the best with the resources available to it.

The Agricultural Research Council (ARC) – which received a grant of R866-million in 2013/14, 16% more than the previous year – was established in 1990 to be the country’s primary agricultural scientific research institution, but has suffered from years of neglect and underfunding.

Its annual report, published on Wednesday, paints a picture of an organisation suffering from chronic underfunding and trying to do the best with the resources available.

“The reasonable number [with] which the ARC could be expected to fulfil its mandate [would be] a parliamentary grant of R1.5-billion. That’s my conservative estimate,” the ARC’s Shadrack Moepuli told the Mail & Guardian on Wednesday. READ MORE

Source: www.mg.co.za

Rights of foreign farm workers are hurt by weak policy co-ordination

A NEW study by Wits University’s African Centre for Migration and Society says the mismatch in bilateral agreements between SA and its neighbours undermines the rights of migrant workers.

The report, released on Friday, examined the importance of foreign labour in SA’s commercial agricultural sector, with a focus on policy, labour conditions and mobilisation. It says business interests, along with SA’s own interests, are taking precedence over the rights of foreign labourers in the agricultural sector.

The researchers urged the Department of Home Affairs and Department of Labour to work more closely in aligning various international agreement with domestic labour laws. READ MORE

Source: www.bdlive.co.za

Department confident it can reverse small business failure

The Department of Small Business Development is working towards reversing the high failure rate of new small businesses.

“We are determined to create a conducive environment for the development and growth of small businesses and cooperatives through the provision of enhanced financial and non-financial support services, competitiveness, market access, promotion of entrepreneurship, advancing localisation and leveraging on public and private procurement,” Minister of Small Business Development Lindiwe Zulu said.

Speaking at the 2014 Consumer Goods Council Summit in Midrand on Tuesday, she said her department was concerned that small businesses had a high failure rate.

“Researchers tell us that the failure rate for new businesses is almost 80 percent in the first year, and only about half of those who survive remain in business for the next five years.

“We are confident that together, we will be able to help reverse this trend,” Minister Zulu said. READ MORE

Centres will nurture entrepreneurs

THE government plans to establish more than 20 centres for entrepreneurship, aimed at fostering a sustainable entrepreneurial ecosystem in SA, Small Business Minister Lindiwe Zulu says.

Small and medium-size enterprises (SMEs) are expected to create 90% of the 11-million jobs envisaged by the National Development Plan (NDP) by 2030.

Ms Zulu said the government remained concerned that small businesses had an exceedingly high failure rate, and that most of the casualties were of women-owned businesses. The centres would act as nurturing ground for the sector.

"Researchers tell us that the failure rate for new businesses is almost 80% in the first year, and only about half of those that survive remain in business for the next five years," she told the Consumer Goods Council of SA summit this week.  READ MORE

Source: www.bdlive.co.za

Consumer education essential to understanding food labels

Nutritional information on food labels is often complex and difficult to understand, consumer education is therefore essential.

This is according to panellists at the Consumer Goods Council of South Africa (CGCSA) Summit 2014, who believe that South Africa’s Department of Health need to not only enforce legislation but also develop initiatives in consumer education.

“The impact of a food label’s ability to allow consumers to make informed decisions depends on how well the consumer understands the label,” said Jane Badham, a registered dietician and nutritionist at JB Consultancy.

She explained that a food label is the most direct means for a food producer to communicate with its buyer in terms of basic product information, nutritional facts, health and safety.

“Labelling must be absolutely truthful, definitely not misleading, evidence based and easily understood by consumers but it requires huge amounts of consumer education and enforcement of regulations.”  READ MORE

Source: www.cnbcafrica.com

Social media: Giving the public a louder voice

Individuals’ views are becoming increasingly louder online through social media platforms, impinging on business reputations.

“In the 1990’s, if people wanted to complain about brands, they would have to develop an entire website from scratch, find an audience and submit their URL’s to different search engines,” said Chris Botha, managing director of the online complaints management service Getclosure, speaking at the Consumer Goods Council of South Africa (CGCSA) Summit 2014.

He said that once social media was introduced to the internet, it completely altered user generated content.

“Things that used to make it hard for people to communicate on the internet were broken down by social media. Most of your (brand) consumers are participating in some form of social media,” he said.

Botha explained that there were a number of factors that brands should consider when setting up their profiles, such as the objectives they want achieved, the kind of customer issues they’re ready to engage with, what news will be shared and how active are they’re willing to be. READ MORE

Source: www.cnbcafrica.com

Informal traders play a big role in South Africa's economy

With the informal sector contributing around 29 per cent to the country’s gross domestic product (GDP), it is a force to be reckoned with. This is according to panellists speaking at the Consumer Goods Council of South Africa (CGCSA) Summit 2014, on the importance of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) including informal businesses.

Dr Mlenga Jere, a senior lecturer at the Graduate School of Business, pointed out that research conducted in 2010 by non-profit organisation Finmark Trust indicated that there are around six million small businesses in South Africa, with the majority of them being informal.

Seventy-nine per cent of small businesses are in the retail sector while 21 per cent are in services-related sectors.

“SMEs offer over 11.6 million employment opportunities. They are a significant player that we need to pay attention to,” said Jere.  READ MORE

Source: www.cnbcafrica.com

Consumer education essential to understanding food labels

Nutritional information on food labels is often complex and difficult to understand, consumer education is therefore essential.  This is according to panellists at the Consumer Goods Council of South Africa (CGCSA) Summit 2014, who believe that South Africa’s Department of Health need to not only enforce legislation but also develop initiatives in consumer education.

“The impact of a food label’s ability to allow consumers to make informed decisions depends on how well the consumer understands the label,” said Jane Badham, a registered dietician and nutritionist at JB Consultancy.

She explained that a food label is the most direct means for a food producer to communicate with its buyer in terms of basic product information, nutritional facts, health and safety.

“Labelling must be absolutely truthful, definitely not misleading, evidence based and easily understood by consumers but it requires huge amounts of consumer education and enforcement of regulations.”
“The Department of Health needs to develop consumer education initiatives.”

Badham added that while most research conducted indicates that consumers want to make healthy choices when food shopping, many of them tend to buy what their families like and what they can afford. READ MORE

Farmers' body rejects land proposal

The African Farmers' Association of South Africa (Afasa) has weighed into the land redistribution debate saying that the government's 50/50 share proposal made no sense.
The government recently proposed that farms be split 50/50, with farmworkers owning half of the land they worked on.

"We reject 50/50. It makes no sense to us and I don't think it makes sense to workers too. We have just said to the minister, we are going to re-look at the issues of land ceilings and see how to make those ceilings stronger or how to make the debate around land ceilings stronger to the effect that it becomes a policy," Afasa president Mike Mlengana said in an SABC report.

The ANC's Gwede Mantashe meanwhile said that farmers should not panic on the proposal. He said that the debate on the proposal would continue until April next year. He also called for more ideas on the topic to be put forward.

"I'm not worried about people who are complaining, I get excited when people throw ideas. So we say this cannot work, but we think this idea can work, that is what is important," the ruling party's secretary general said.

Source: www.business.iafrica.com

Farmers: Prioritise food during land redistribution

Government must ensure that national priorities including food security and economic stability are not jeopardised when land redistribution is rolled out, the Agri-Sector Unity Forum (Asuf) said on Tuesday.

“Land will be redistributed in this country. We all accept that. It is just a matter of how. It should be done in such a way that it would be affordable. It should be done in such a way that most of the people in this country buy into it,” Asuf chairman Japie Grobler said in Pretoria.

“We should at least have food for our people in this country. While doing the redistribution and after it, we should be exporting food to earn foreign currency. We should have peace and quiet in the country.”

Grobler made the remarks at the third annual conference of the African Farmers’ Association of South Africa, which began on Sunday.

He said proper pre-planning and management were critical for the reallocation programme. READ MORE

Source: www.news24.co.za

Give land to able people – farmers

Government must ensure land is allocated to individuals who have the capacity to use it, the African Farmers’ Association of SA (Afasa) said on Tuesday.

“We are saying to the minister (of Rural Development and Land Reform Gugile Nkwinti), we need to have criteria for the farmers’ selection,” Afasa president Mzamo Mlengana said in Pretoria at the end of the association’s summit.

“When you select a farmer who is not a farmer, it works to the negative of what we are doing. It opens us and government to criticism. Once again, perception will be ‘look at the black farmers who have been given land, it’s not working’.”

He said a well thought-out land redistribution process would not threaten national food security and should benefit the country. READ MORE

Source: www.citizen.co.za

6Rand: When food is the issue

SA's unemployment rate and the high cost of food mean many people go hungry. We look at how the R6 food challenge can raise awareness around this.
#6Rand is a symbolic campaign that Mail & Guardian launched this week after years of all our reporters touching on aspects of poverty and food security. Also, today is the UN’s World Food Day, and nearly a billion people worldwide and 14-million in South Africa go to bed hungry.
We took the inspiration for this number from a family of four – twin sisters, each with a child – who live outside Port Elizabeth in the Eastern Cape. They do odd jobs. And when they have work, they buy four potatoes and a cup of rice with the R6 that they have. This covers their day’s food. 
When the twins do not have R6, they share a white bread loaf and sugary water. This meal is quite common and is called the “poppie water diet” in the area. A large number of South Africans do not have access to enough food because of their economic circumstances. And when they do have food, it is not nutritious. This is the case for 14-million South Africans and the 2012 General Household Survey states that many do not know where their next meal is coming from. 
Our official unemployment rate of 25% and the high cost of healthy food mean that people in this country are starving. Various branches of government are dealing with this. The department of agriculture, forestry and fisheries has a Food Security Policy. But even this admits that it would be good to have an Act to unify efforts.  READ MORE

Source: www.mg.co.za

South Africa should urgently address land policy

Speaking at the just ended World Bank and IMF annual meeting that took place in Washington, DC last week, Patrick Dlamini the chief executive of Development Bank of Southern Africa said the country offered huge opportunities.

“South Africa offers huge opportunities when it comes to agriculture. We are still a long way to go in South Africa on our land policy, it is something we have to address as a matter of urgency,” added Dlamini.

Dlamini bemoaned inadequate funding in the country’s critical sector saying current trends did not reflect the level of need in the agricultural sector.
“Agriculture creates jobs especially for the country’s rural population and the rest of the continent. We should pay attention to agriculture sector so as to ensure food security for our countries and people in the continent,” he said.

“Currently we are importing additional agricultural products from outside the continent.”  
Dlamini called on various stakeholders to work on collaborative efforts as to improve activities and productivity in the sector.

“We need the government, the private sector and the farming community to make collaborative initiatives,” he noted.  READ MORE

Source: www.cnbcafrice.com

SA’s move from proven market-friendly policies is the path to disaster

South Africa, for once, is in step with the world’s leading countries — those with the world’s highest living standards, least corruption, best healthcare, lowest inflation, strongest property rights, most liberty and greatest rule-of-law score.

None of that actually describes SA, so what might the similarity be? The move away from proven market-friendly policies towards failed interventionism.

Many of the world’s poorest countries are rising like genies from a bottle. As if we’re in neighbouring lifts: theirs going up, ours going down. For a century, countries called the "West", "First World" or "North", have been top dog. No one knows what the implications are of formerly "backward" people of colour and followers of other faiths taking over. The cacophony of twaddle about "rising inequality" conceals the fact that, thanks to economic freedom in poor countries, global poverty is declining precipitously. READ MORE

Source: www.bdlive.co.za

Unions warn of farm invasions

Zimbabwe-style land invasions could become "inevitable" if farm evictions persisted and farmers resisted change in land ownership, labour organisations have warned.

The slow pace of land redistribution has led to sporadic land occupations around the country.

The Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) in the Western Cape and the Bawsi Agricultural Workers’ Union of SA (Bawusa) on Tuesday threatened to bring farming to its knees if evictions continued.

Cosatu claimed there had recently been "mass evictions" on farms throughout the country and especially in the Western Cape.

The union federation said the evictions were the unintended consequence of land reform proposals announced recently by Rural Development and Land Reform Minister Gugile Nkwinti.

He proposed long-term farm workers be given a 50% equity share of the farms on which they worked, to speed up land reform.  READ MORE

Source: www.bdlive.co.za

SA farmers make a success of move into continent

MOZAMBIQUE is not much smaller than South Africa but it has more arable land and a dependable rainfall so it is attractive to the 1 000 South Africans, with their families, who are now farming there commercially.

They have not trekked far, but others have. South Africans are today farming in 42 African states. AgriSA has helped and advised 2 800 individual farmers and believes there may be 1 500 more.

A few farmers now farm in Croatia. There is even a South African farmer in the former soviet republic of Georgia (where Stalin was born and raised).

These figures suggest there is something in the DNA of Afrikaners that compels them to move ever deeper into the continent, but in fact, the prime driver is that governments are begging them to come. They welcome the injection of their skills in producing food in African conditions. READ MORE

Source: www.iol.co.za

Our planet is changing — so must our global food system

With the world’s population predicted to reach 9-billion by 2050, we collectively face a dual challenge: ensuring that everyone will have access to affordable, nutritious food without decimating the earth’s natural resources in the process.

This is easier said than done. Our current food system is dysfunctional in its effect on people and the planet. Unless we change course, we will fail to meet the challenge of feeding the world without destroying the planet.  

Today, millions do not have enough to eat and billions lack the right nutrients to be healthy. The United Nations’ (UN’s) food organisations — the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), the World Food Programme (WFP) and the World Health Organisation (WHO) — have just published their annual 2014 report on global food insecurity. Their report highlights that despite some evidence of progress, 805-million people, or one in nine people, still suffer from hunger. READ MORE

Source: www.bdlive.co.za

#agbizsa

COSATU THREATENS TO BRING 'FARMING TO ITS KNEES'

The Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) in the Western Cape has threatened to bring farming to its knees if evictions aren't immediately stopped. Cosatu, the African National Congress (ANC) and farmworker organisations are calling on government to end illegal evictions by introducing a moratorium. Cosatu's Tony Ehrenreich says there has been a marked escalation in farm evictions, not just in Cape Town but across the country. Ehrenreich called on farmworkers to unite but admitted tensions are running high in the country and that renewed strikes could exacerbate the situation.  READ MORE

Source:  www.ewn.co.za

Unlocking the potential of Africa

The potential of new technologies to transform financial services in Africa has long been heralded.  From the sands of the Sahara in the north to the Limpopo river which marks the border with South Africa to the south, economic, political and technological changes are emerging that favour new opportunities for banks.
Giant US corporation Cargill is a good example of the new wave of African corporate investors. The company is active across Africa purchasing and distributing grain and other agricultural products, trading in energy, steel and transport, and raising livestock and producing feed, producing food ingredients, for processed foods and industrial use. It also has a large financial services arm which manages financial risks in the commodity markets. Cargill is working with Barclays to disburse payments such as salaries and grants to its employees, clients and customers through mobile networks in several African countries.
Cargill says it has invested in businesses including cocoa, grain and oilseeds, cotton, food ingredients and animal nutrition that “support African farmers and local agriculture and enable us to provide products and services to customers across the continent and around the world”. In addition, the US corporation says it has partnered with international and local organisations to help improve the education, health and livelihoods of African communities through better access to schools, basic healthcare, clean water and nutrition.  READ MORE

Source: www.bankingtech.com

Sun energy rises over Karoo

A new 75MW solar farm near De Aar in the Karoo has been officially opened.

The Solar Capital De Aar Project, the largest thin film solar farm in Africa covers 270ha in the Northern Cape.

The plant is made up of 203 948 thin film solar panels, which has an installation capacity of 85,26 MWp and has been fully operational since 15 August 2014.

The project is part of the Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme and has a 20-year Power Purchase Agreement to feed 75MW in Eskom’s grid. 

It supplies the Eskom 132kV grid line and generates around 150 000 MWh per year - enough clean renewable energy to power more than 35 000 households.  READ MORE

Source:  www.news24.com

South Africa: Drive to Improve Food Security

Government will launch a massive food security drive in Vanderbijlpark, south of Gauteng, on Friday to reduce poverty and hunger in the country.

The Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries has adopted October as Food Security Month, where they will drive a massive awareness campaign about food production.

During the month, South Africans will be mobilised to take action against food insecurity and to help one another with donations of food and planting of food gardens.

Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Deputy Minister Bheki Cele will launch the food security drive themed 'Through Food Security, Job Creation and Economic Growth - We move South Africa Forward'.  READ MORE

Source: www.allafrica.com

Poultry makes concessions for US

South African poultry producers are considering granting concessions on the access of US chickens into the local market in order to help secure the renewal of the Africa Growth and Opportunity Act (Agoa). US poultry producers have threatened to block the renewal of the act in the US Congress if SA does not allow some of their products to enter the domestic market. 
SA applies anti-dumping duties on the import of US bone-in chicken portions and while these will remain in place in future, there was scope to allow a specified quantity of chicken leg quarters from the US to enter the country, CEO of the South African Poultry Association Kevin Lovell said on Friday. Agoa provides SA with duty-free access into the US and it is due to expire on September 30 next year.  READ MORE

Source: www.bdlive.co.za

Commercial agriculture faces up to climate change

Ever wondered about the rapid proliferation in recent years of fine wines from areas such as Hermanus or Walker Bay — rather than more traditional areas such as Stellenbosch?

The industry has exploded in the past 20 years. But while Stellenbosch now boasts 190 wine producers — three times the number it had in 1994 — there has been a more than tenfold increase in the number of producers in the cooler coastal areas around Somerset West, Elgin, Walker Bay and the southern Cape. Read more

Source: www.bdlive.co.za

New Report Available: South Africa Agribusiness Report Q3 2014

Business Monitor International holds a positive view on the South African agricultural sector and see particular growth potential in the grain and livestock sectors. Both sectors' growth will be boosted by regional export demand. The sugar sector also presents interesting growth opportunities, mainly thanks to renewed investment and improved technologies. Overall, the country's grain and livestock producers have been hit by recent hikes in grain prices and subdued corn supply on the domestic market. Margins have plummeted, and foreign competition for exports has made it even more difficult for producers to stay afloat. However, the recovery is under way. We believe the country's main companies, AFGRI, Rainbow Chicken and Astral Foods, can only see profitability bounce from current subdued levels.  READ MORE

Source:  www.digitaljournal.com

Technology can solve South Africa’s water problems

In addition to a possible water shortage predicted by 2020, South Africa’s water problems are being exacerbated by other challenges, such as leaking pipes, ageing infrastructure and poor municipal administration, resulting in billions in public funds being wasted every year, says consulting engineer WRP.

In 2013, South African Water and Environ- mental Affairs Minister Edna Molewa said that a quarter of the country’s water was being lost as a result of leaking water systems and if billing and metering losses are included, the figure rises to almost 40%.

According to a survey conducted by the Department of Water Affairs (DWA) on the long-term water requirements for all the municipalities, 30% of towns in South Africa are functioning with a water deficit. Molewa warned that South Africans needed to work together to conserve this precious commodity.  READ MORE

Source:  www.engineeringnews.co.za

Investors confident in SA – report

Investor confidence in South Africa has improved in 2014, reveals a report from a global management consulting firm released on Monday.

South Africa climbed two spots to become the thirteenth most attractive destination for foreign direct investment globally, said the report by AT Kearney.

The firm surveyed the senior executives of 300 of the world's leading corporations.
Last year, South Africa dropped three spots from number 12 to 15 on the list.

According to the latest Foreign Direct Investment Confidence Index (FDICI), the US remained the most attractive investment destination.

"The findings bode well not only for the US, but for the global economy: nearly four out of five respondents are more optimistic about the global economy than they were a year ago," AT Kearney said.

China ranked number two and Canada number three on the list. READ MORE

Source: www.engineeringnews.co.za

Going the Whole Hog campaign is misleading the public

For several months now the South African Pork Producers’ Organisation (SAPPO) has been monitoring communications issued by the Going the Whole Hog (GTWH) campaign, an animal rights organisation based in Cape Town.

This group has communicated with several media outlets and, to our knowledge, two media houses have published their point of view regarding the pig industry in South Africa. In both instances SAPPO was not approached for comment.

Our concern that this may happen again has prompted us to issue this release. We would like to set the record straight in terms of what the Going the Whole Hog campaign is saying and to also encourage any media outlet who receives communication from the campaign to also obtain comment from us in line with sound, ethical journalistic practice.

We have resisted for some time responding to the GTWH campaign; we did not want to lend credence to a campaign that is quite clearly out of touch by making public our views on the matter. However, in light of the continued dissemination of their vitriol against a legitimate and highly-regarded industry, we feel compelled to take our displeasure public.

Of grave concern is the assertion by the GTWH campaign that “very few consumers know that pigs in South Africa are, for the most part, the worst treated of all commercially farmed animals.”

We are further troubled by the campaign’s aim of pushing the agenda for ‘free range pork products’ and their call to “increase the supply of genuinely free-range and ethical pork in South Africa by empowering emerging farmers.”

Apart from being defamatory in the extreme, it appears that the GTWH campaign lacks even the most basic insight into an industry that is innovative, compliant with legislation and, above all, humane. It does not take into account the fact that treating pigs well is the cornerstone of any successful pig farmer’s operation and, in our opinion, ignores the massive changes (at great cost) the industry is undertaking.

By linking so-called free-range pig farming to ethical farming it is also making the assumption that pork products not farmed from free-range pigs are unethical, a point of view that is both scurrilous and uninformed.

By linking all of this to empowering emerging farmers furthermore exemplifies their lack of knowledge of the real situation of the pig industry in South Africa. This leads us to conclude that this campaign is nothing more than a front to ensure the total decimation of the reputation of the pig industry in South Africa and by extension the livelihoods of pig farmers across the country.

The real facts

Since 2010 SAPPO, in conjunction with pig farmers, has been making great strides in converting sow stalls to open pens. While the deadline for these conversions is 2020, close to 50 percent of all sows have been moved to open pens. In addition all new pig farms being built since this date are being created, from the outset, with open pens.
It must be pointed out that converting sow stalls to open pens is expensive. Despite this, close to 50 percent of the country’s farmers have done so.

We believe this heavy financial outlay is one example that points to the huge care with which pig farmers treat their animals.

Furthermore there are extremely clear regulations that govern how pigs are kept and fed in South Africa.

For example, Regulation 24 of the Animal Diseases Act 35 of 1984 states that “no person shall feed any infectious or contaminated thing to pigs.” It further states that “no person shall feed any protein of ruminant origin (except milk and milk products) to any animals except predators and carnivores…”

According to SAPPO veterinarian Dr Peter Evans, “this would mean that anyone feeding animals that have died from any diseases would be in trouble and secondly there are a few diseases of pigs that can be transmitted to other via meat so a farmer would be crazy to feed carcasses of other animals to healthy pigs.”

“Additionally farmers who make a business out of farming will want to have a low-risk outcome to their method of farming, in other words, the result must be assured.

Farmers are therefore more likely to use tried and tested high-quality plant based raw materials in their feeds. Low-quality grains have high risk of mycotoxins and this potentially lead to disease and poor performance in pigs,” Dr Evans adds.

Lastly, we believe that linking free-range farming to ethical farming – thereby inferring farming not done in this manner is unethical – is dangerous, libelous and ill-informed.

Across the length and breadth of South Africa are farmers who have been farming with pigs for many years, in some cases for generations. These farmers employ the best (in many cases most expensive) methods and technologies to ensure the quality of their products is of the highest standard. All of this is done within a framework of good farming practice that espouses sound ethics in the treatment of animals.

It must be noted that there are a number of small scale ‘backyard’ pig farmers who do not fall into this category. These farmers are not members of SAPPO. Because of this, SAPPO has consistently worked with local farmers and farming associations, in conjunction with local and national government structures to assist these emerging farmers.

A lot of time and money has been given to educating these farmers and ensuring the improvement of their operations. However, it is unfortunate that many of these farmers view pig farming as an easy endeavor and one where quick money can be made. This is most certainly not the case.

Through our efforts we have improved many farms in this category but new entrants continue to emerge that simply do not follow the regulations. These farmers – and their products – cannot be compared to those who run major farms and who are members of SAPPO.

Quite clearly, though, the vast majority of pig farmers in South Africa are professional and skilled farmers who run clean, humane and legitimate farms with the aim of providing the best possible product to market.

In light of the above we encourage any media outlet who has received any communication from the GTWH campaign to seek comment from us before publishing any article on the pork industry as we remain the best source of information on the matter.

Source: Agricultural Writers Association SA

New look Cabinet for Zuma

President Jacob Zuma has announced his new Cabinet, appointing the country's first black finance minister.

Nhlanhla Nene replaces Pravin Gordhan, who has been moved to cooperative governance.
As expected, Cyril Ramaphosa will be the deputy president.

Zuma, in making the announcement, created several new ministries.

"We have established a ministry of telecommunications and postal services," Zuma said while making his Cabinet announcement.

"Our country has a fast growing telecommunications sector which in 2012 was estimated at being worth R180bn."

The aim of the new ministry was to get more value out of the telecommunications sector, he said.  READ MORE
Source: www.news24.com

Click here for an interactive list of Ministers

EU imposes emergency control measures on South African citrus

The European Commission has decided to introduce stricter rules for imports of South African citrus in order to protect local crops from citrus black spot (CBS).

In a release today, the Commission said new measures would include recording pre and post-harvest chemical treatments and mandatory registration of packing houses, as well as on-site official inspections at citrus orchards.

South African authorities will also need to take a sample of at least 600 of each type of citrus fruit per 30 metric tons (MT).

“All fruit showing symptoms will be tested. Moreover, a sample per 30 tonnes of ‘Valencia’ oranges will also be tested. No distinction between citrus fruits for fresh consumption and citrus fruits for processing is made,” the release said.

The new rules were endorsed by member state experts and are expected to be adopted in the coming days.

“Plant protection on EU territory is of the utmost importance and the EU had no choice but to impose a stricter inspection regime for South African citrus fruit. Systematic sampling and testing of consignments should prevent this harmful plant disease from taking hold in Europe’s citrus orchards to the detriment of our farming sector,” Commissioner for Health, Tonio Borg said.  READ MORE

Source: Freshfruitportal.com

Eskom braces for tough winter

State-owned power utility Eskom will scale down its plans to repair power plants during winter to ensure the country has sufficient electricity supply during this period, Energy Minister Dikobe Ben Martins said during a New Age breakfast briefing, held in Midrand, Johannesburg, last month.

He added that power station maintenance would be reduced “as much as possible over winter”.

Additionally, Department of Energy (DoE) deputy director-general Dr Wolsey Barnard, while addressing the 2014 Power & Electricity World Africa conference, in Johannesburg, in March, stressed that the utility had undertaken the bulk of its maintenance from December 2013 to January 2014 to ensure that minimal maintenance would be required during winter.

“We are all well aware that there is a tight balance between supply and demand. . . to date, we have only had one day of load-shedding in March. The grid is going to be under tremendous pressure during winter; however, the DoE does not foresee that there will be any load-shedding during this period,” stated Barnard.

Further, he warned that the grid would remain strained over the next 18 to 24 months, but emphasised that no load-shedding was expected to take place over this period unless “extraordinary situations occur, such as the reoccurrence of wet coal supplies entering the power generation system”. READ MORE

Building a bridge — From agriculture to African prosperity

Africa’s recent economic growth has been impressive; as demonstrated in the Africa Progress Report 2014, entitled Grain, Fish Money — Financing Africa’s Green and Blue Revolutions, which was launched in Abuja, Nigeria, on May 8 2014. But as the report also shows, agriculture needs a boost so that the related economic growth can reach and improve the lives of many Africans.

Just as a bridge at Kazungula is needed, a bridge needs to be built between agriculture and African economic growth. The stakes are high. African agriculture could not only lift rural communities out of poverty, it could feed the whole continent, and help feed the rest of the world, too.

Governments are well aware of this as they signed the Maputo Declaration in 2003, pledging to commit 10% of public spending to agriculture. But more than 10 years later, only seven countries have met that pledge and, in 18 countries, spending on agriculture is actually falling. As a result, agricultural research (a vital element of “green revolutions” in other parts of the world) has been starved of funds.

As well as keeping their agriculture spending promises, governments need to implement policies that help to build (or fix) the networks upon which agriculture depends.

One huge gap is in access to financial services. Two-thirds of African adults don’t even have a bank account. Governments need to make it easier for farmers to borrow and to buy insurance. Indeed, insurance, which helps farmers cope better with risks, and hence enables crucial investments in seeds and fertiliser, is more important than ever as climate change leads to more extreme weather.

As a result of the barriers to agricultural growth, African countries import $35 billion worth of food a year. But only 5% of their cereal imports come from countries elsewhere in Africa, which is a clear indication that there is urgent need to improve intra-regional trade in agricultural products, notably by removing all tariffs and non-tariff barriers.

There is also urgent need to help farmers get their produce to markets, by improving infrastructure such as ports, energy networks, roads and bridges.

Kazungula, after all, is more than a symbol; a bridge would connect as many as seven African countries to ports, such as Durban in South Africa and Dar es Salaam in Tanzania. Instead, this crossing point has become a bottleneck. READ MORE

Have an agribusiness idea? Write it down in 500 words for chance to win.

Enactus Kenya and  Syngenta have announced the launch of an Africa  Agribusiness Competition and have invited youth across the continent to generate creative business ideas that would improve the agricultural productivity of crop value chains.

Through the online platform www.agribiz4africa.com, youth aged between 18 and 30 from sub-Saharan Africa are invited to submit 500-word business ideas that will be judged by leading agribusiness academics from East and West Africa.

The best 25 contestants will each receive a $1,000 grant to test the viability of their idea.

The best three among them will then be selected by a recognised panel of agribusiness leaders and invited to attend the AGRF Forum on African agriculture to be held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia in early September, where they will have a chance to mingle with some of Africa’s most influential thought leaders and receive due recognition for their ideas.

In recognition of the need to position agriculture as an attractive occupation for young people, youth with talent in the creative arts have a special category in which to compete, dubbed the Agriculture Video Messaging Competition.  Read more

Ratings agencies will look at SA’s new cabinet

While politicians and political analysts will focus on the results of Wednesday’s polls, a more important issue for other South Africans and for offshore investors will be the composition of the next ANC cabinet.

While an unexpected electoral result could be an early sign of future power shifts in the country, it will be the newly appointed key ministers who determine government policy over the next few years.
A line-up of incompetents will condemn South Africans to another five years of going nowhere in slow motion – at best. And a collection of cronies, clowns and well-known crooks won’t go down well with the international investment community. Contrary to the perceptions of the party’s left wing, foreigners provide a vital input to the economy – money.

There isn’t enough domestic capital to fund a strong expansion of the economy, and without foreign capital the economy can’t thrive.

There are consequences to putting political considerations ahead of economic priorities or relying on short-term measures to boost growth. Over the past two months, two of South Africa’s Brics partners – Russia and Brazil – have had their credit rating cut from BBB to BBB- by Standard & Poor’s (S&P), leaving them one notch above junk bond status. The other two partners – China and India – have not come under attack recently, though India is one step above sub-investment grade. China is safely in investment territory. READ MORE
Source:  Business Report (www.iol.co.za)

Trade and Industry Minister Rob Davies on SA's 20 years of democracy

South Africa today is almost unrecognisable from the South Africa of 1994. In economic development terms, South Africa’s gross domestic product (GDP) has almost tripled from $136-billion in 1994 to a GDP of $384-billion in 2012. Many leading global brands have located manufacturing plants in South Africa and trade between South Africa and the rest of the world has grown massively.
However, this good economic growth performance masks a range of long-standing, structural shortcomings in the economy. The productive parts of the economy, such as agriculture, mining and manufacturing, have not grown fast enough to create sufficient new jobs, the economy remains relatively dependent on a few key sectors for both exports and growth impetus, and ‘inclusive growth’ has been elusive. Yet rapid growth in the productive sectors of the economy remains the main path to sustainable economic growth and large-scale job creation as centuries of economic history clearly demonstrates.

It is, therefore, encouraging that a growing global consensus is emerging around the role that industrial policy plays in signalling economic opportunities, addressing constraints faced by productive enterprises and developing purposeful collaborative actions of the state, business and labour to catalyse job-creating economic growth. In the UK, this approach has been termed ‘re-balancing’, while in the US, it is called ‘re-shoring’. The terminology may be different but the objectives of the re-balancing and re-shoring initiatives are the same to deepen industrial capabilities, grow the manufacturing sector and create jobs.  READ MORE

Small-scale farmers ‘central’ to African development – IFAD

In the run up to a regional International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) workshop for East and Southern Africa, IFAD director Périn Saint Ange has described the role of small-scale African farmers as central to the development of the continent, saying that these agriculturalists produced the bulk of the continent’s food.

“Despite this, small-scale farmers face daunting challenges of low productivity, poor access to markets, insufficient capital and the disruptive impact of climate change.

“We need to seize this moment of high economic growth in the region to provide small-scale farmers with the support they need to provide food and decent incomes for themselves and for the region as a whole,” he said, noting that the continent’s leaders were increasingly prioritising the agriculture industry in their development strategies.

Saint Ange’s comments came a day before the start of a six-day workshop in Livingstone, Zambia, to review lessons learned from IFAD-funded projects and identify strategies to address challenges faced during their implementation.

The workshop, which would be attended by Zambian Finance Minister Alexander Chikwanda and Zambian Agriculture and Livestock Minister Wilbur Simuusa had attracted over 200 participants, including government officials, representatives of other United Nations (UN) agencies, bilateral development institutions, members of the private sector, civil society groups and partners from IFAD-funded projects in the region.  READ MORE

WEF, partners double investment plans for African agriculture to $7.2bn

Investment commitments by partner companies of Grow Africa – a programme established by the World Economic Forum, NEPAD, and the African Union to accelerate the transformation of African agriculture – doubled to $7.2 billion in 2013.

The increase in committed funding is captured in the Grow Africa Annual report released Friday.
Of the $7.2 billion in new commitments, Grow Africa partners have already invested $970 million. This has directly led to the creation of 33,000 new jobs and the assistance of 2.6 million smallholder farmers throughout the continent.

Grow Africa measures both these metrics in order to ensure that investment contributes to both economic growth and food security. The assistance it provides to smallholders includes provision of new services, sourcing, contracts or training.

According to the report, most investment to date has been made by companies from within Africa. Half of all invested funds to date have been directed to Nigeria. This reflects the size of the country’s economy, but also renewed political commitment in the country to agriculture that has made it attractive for domestic and international investors.  READ MORE

Source: www.businessdayonline.com

Too sexy for my chicken

“Going where angels fear to tread,” is how Astral CEO Chris Schutte explains the company’s recent acquisition spree.

The company has taken advantage of the decimation in the industry to acquire cheap assets and add capacity to its operations, specifically in South Africa’s only three provinces showing positive growth – Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal and the Western Cape.

Earlier this year it acquired a chicken producer, Thornhill Farm, as well as a chick hatchery from Argyle Farms in KwaZulu Natal which was in provisional liquidation.

Then it bought the abattoir assets of Darling Fresh Chicken, a Western Cape company at a liquidation auction.

Astral will use these assets to expand its Mountain Valley operation which is near Camperdown and increase its supply of fresh and value-added poultry segments in the KwaZulu-Natal market.

The rest of the Darling equipment will be used to expand capacity at Astral’s County Fair operation in the Western Cape.

In this regard the company recently concluded an agreement with Pioneer’s Quantum Foods that will see Quantum supply the County Fair abattoir with 1.15 million broilers a week. This will bring the number of birds processed at the abattoir to 1.6 million/week. READ MORE

Source: www.moneyweb.co.za

Road barrier to African chemical trade

AFRICA’s shaky transport infrastructure is a major obstacle to the development of a continental chemicals industry, says Patrick Earlam of the Deloitte business consultancy.

Although established multinationals and a growing number of Asian companies, particularly Chinese, believed there were significant opportunities in Africa, Mr Earlam said they were put off by the perils of moving toxic products across the continent’s often badly-maintained roads network.

"Transport of chemicals across Africa is a major barrier," he said. "If infrastructure does not improve, it will be difficult to grow the chemicals sector significantly."

Mr Earlam, the Johannesburg-based head of Deloitte’s Southern African chemicals division, was speaking after the release of an international Deloitte report on the chemicals industry. It found the tentative economic recovery in mature markets is likely to encourage more mergers and acquisitions in an industry that has seen plenty in recent times.

"In highly fragmented markets, (further) consolidation will be important as companies seek to rationalise capacity and gain economies of scale, while demonstrating top-line growth," the report said, and "there will be a strong cadre of targets for mergers and acquisitions activity".

Agrochemicals (a generic term for pesticides, synthetic fertilisers and other chemical products used in agriculture) are forecast to be particularly busy, as accelerating population growth and an expanding middle class in emerging countries increase the need for food production. READ MORE

Source: www.bdlive.co.za

Sanctions on Moscow threaten SA trade flows

THE crisis in Russia and Ukraine has prompted the US and Europe to ratchet up sanctions against Moscow, threatening trade flows with South Africa which last year imported 50% of its wheat from Ukraine.

Though trade with Ukraine and Russia accounts for an insignificant share of South Africa’s total, in some individual product markets it could become a problem should the situation in Eastern Europe worsen.

Last year 46.3% of South Africa’s total wheat imports came from the Ukraine and Russia. "This could pose a risk should South Africa be forced to look to other more expensive providers of wheat," said Vunani Securities economist Ilke van Zyl.

Rising food prices are among the key upside risks to South African consumer inflation.

Fortunately, South Africa does not rely on Russia for oil, says the report. Though Russia’s largest export item to South Africa is mineral fuels, oils and distillation products (accounting for 30.8% of Russia’s exports to South Africa last year), Russia supplies only 0.7% of South Africa’s crude petroleum oil imports.

But South Africa does get about 11% of its total fertiliser imports from Russia. In addition, almost 10% of South Africa’s total imports of copper wire come from Russia as does 7.4% of South Africa’s imports of cigars and cigarettes. READ MORE

Source: www.bdlive.co.za

African farmer game: Exciting way of learning agribusiness

The African farmer, a new innovative game that aims to make it very exciting for people interested in learning about farming principles to acquire some of the basic skills, is now available free online.

According to a statement released by the Future Agricultures Consortium, the free game, which is online at www.africanfarmer.org was created by a team from the University of Sussex and Future Agricultures, UK.

 

“The ‘African Farmer’ puts you in charge of a farming household in a village, as you make decisions and face challenges – from food prices, diets and work, to more unpredictable chance events like weather and disease. It builds on a long history of educational games, including the Green Revolution Game and Africulture,” says the release by Future Agricultures. READ MORE

 

Source: www.businessdayonline.com

 

Monsanto makes environmental commitments, working in partnership to advance sustainable agriculture

It’s an unavoidable dilemma: Fresh water and productive soil are vital to sustain life and to grow the food we need. As the global population skyrockets during the next three decades, so will the demand for food, fresh water and healthy soil. This reality creates an urgent challenge for everyone involved in growing food: produce more while using resources more efficiently.

“Agriculture is at the intersection of many major challenges today – whether it’s growing population and food demand, water availability, soil health or climate change,” said Hugh Grant, chairman and chief executive officer at Monsanto. “Addressing these challenges directly is what all of us at Monsanto are focused on every day – working together with farmers and partners around the world to deliver a safe, affordable and nutritious food supply that sustains our planet.”

As part of its broad commitment to sustainability, today Monsanto announced two important companywide commitments to help address critical challenges in the areas of water and nutrient efficiency.  READ MORE

Source: Monsanto

Copa-Cogeca calls for immediate action on South African citrus

European agricultural cooperative Copa-Cogeca has submitted a letter to EU commissioner Tonio Borg requesting immediate blockage of South African citrus imports that may pose a risk of black spot.

The European Standing Committee on Plant Health will discuss a draft proposal on restricting South African citrus shipments at its meeting on April 29-30 in Brussels.

A similar proposal was submitted for committee discussion at its meetings in March and November. The topic of black spot risk from South African citrus has been on the committee’s agenda repeatedly since September.

Copa-Cogeca’s most recent request cites the European Food Safety Authority report from February that found existing measures for preventing black spot entrance as appropriate.

The EU had established a limit of five black spot detections in South African citrus imports before implementing a ban on the fruit. Detections had reached 36 by season’s end, however. READ MORE

Source:  www.freshfruitportal.co.za

SA could see biggest maize harvest in 30 years

South Africa is likely to raise its maize output forecast for 2014 after late season rains boosted yields, a Reuters survey showed on Wednesday, putting the country on track for its biggest harvest in more than three decades.

The government's Crop Estimates Committee (CEC) is likely to raise the forecast for the year to 13.1 million tonnes from a previous estimate of 12.955 million tonnes, according to an average estimate of four trading houses polled by Reuters.

The estimates ranged between 13.0 million tonnes and 13.333 million tonnes.

The CEC said last month a harvest of about 13 million tonnes or above will be the largest since 1981, when the maize crop was 14.4 million tonnes.

The committee will release its third production forecast for summer crops and intentions to plant for winter crops on Thursday.

Maize is the staple crop in South Africa and a bigger crop will be a relief for the country after stocks from last year were depleted by large export commitments. READ MORE

Source: Moneyweb.co.za

Poultry producers poised for a rebound

THE poultry sector could slowly start to emerge from an extended downturn in the second half of this year, making it one to watch for analysts and fund managers.

The industry has been through a difficult few years, weighed down by cheap imports, soaring feed costs, weak consumer demand and impending regulations to cap the levels of brining allowed in frozen chicken products.

Nine smaller producers have either gone under, filed for business rescue or been absorbed by larger companies in recent months. Astral Foods has recently snapped up the assets of two producers at liquidation auctions.

The sector had something of a reprieve last year when tariffs were imposed on imports from most regions — though Europe was exempt due to free-trade agreements. However, the sector has since lobbied for duties on "below-cost" imports from Europe.

The International Trade Administration Commission of South Africa (Itac) sent an investigative team to Germany and the Netherlands between March 26 and April 10 as part of its verification process. READ MORE

Source: BusinessDay

SA falls behind China, as Zimbabwean trade fair opens

The Zimbabwe International Trade Fair (ZITF) opened in Bulawayo, the country’s second largest city, on Tuesday with Zimbabwe’s largest trade partner, South Africa trailing behind China which is this year’s largest foreign exhibitor at the trade fair.

China occupies 1,061m² of space, nearly a 40% increase from the 600m² it had last year. South Africa exhibitors, led by Deputy Minister of Trade and Industry Elizabeth Thabethe, have taken up 800m² of exhibition space — the same as last year.

Figures released by the Department of Trade and Industry indicate that despite Zimbabwe’s uncertain economic environment, South African firms over the past three years have been able to lap up lucrative deals from the five-day trade fair, which is due to end on Saturday. Deals sealed from the fair by South African companies amounted to R6.6m in 2011, R7.1m in 2012 and R55.6m in 2013.

Zimbabwe Industry, Trade and Commerce Minister Michael Bimha said on Tuesday that this year’s fair would provide a platform for potential investors interested in Zimbabwe to network, explore new markets and sources of investment and technology transfers. READ MORE

Source: BusinessDay

Food security eludes almost 1-billion

BY OLIVIER DE SCHUTTER

For the past six years, it has been my responsibility to report to the United Nations (UN) on how well people’s right to food is being upheld. The picture that has emerged is a troubling one: the ability of millions to produce or access adequate food has been imperilled by dysfunctional global food systems.

These systems are efficient only from the point of view of maximising agribusiness profits and producing huge volumes of exportable cereal commodities.

They are highly inefficient on every other count: almost 1-billion people are still hungry and undernourished, while 1.4-billion are overweight and obese; millions of small-scale farmers are unable to live from food production; and the natural resource base on which food production depends is being rapidly degraded.

This catalogue of poor outcomes raises questions about why we would freely choose a system whose benefits accrue to so few at the expense of so many. The answer is: we haven’t. Our food systems have emerged by default, by diktat and by virtue of the effective veto power of agribusiness to any reform running against its interests. The greatest deficit in the food economy is the democratic one.

Food democracy must start in cities and municipalities. By 2050, when the world population will have reached 9.3-billion, about 6.3-billion of these inhabitants will live in cities. It is vital that these cities identify logistical challenges and pressure points in their food supply chains and develop a variety of channels to procure their food.  READ MORE

Source: BusinessDay Live

African agribusiness sector can grow to $1 trillion by 2030

African agribusiness sector worth about $313 billion currently and providing for more than 70 percent of the jobs on the continent could triple in value by 2030 to become a $1 trillion market that will lift millions out of poverty, a World Bank report, Growing Africa: Unlocking the Potential of Agribusiness, says.

With such growth means Africa’s agricultural exports will dominate global markets; and the continent’s farmers will get a new lease of life as they become competitive in the global marketplace.

But this will not be easy. The world bank says every single player in the sector will have to play their part well for this feat to be achieved. The government, private sector and farmers will have to tap into available resources such the widely untapped water sources, arable land (over 450 million hectares) and rising agribusiness investors on the continent.

“Water scarcity has become a major constraint because of competition from rapidly growing industrial sectors and urban populations,” AfricaRenewal quoted the World Bank report says. “Yet Africa has both water and land in abundance.”

But the report also rigorously highlights many stubborn and recurring obstacles in the path of this agribusiness progress in Africa. It says structural reforms are needed to encourage investment in the sectors and a proper infrastructure plan needs to reduce wastage between the farm and the market place.

“Infrastructure is a high priority for jump-starting agribusiness throughout Africa. Best bets for infrastructure are irrigation, roads, and markets,” the report says.  READ MORE

Scaling up agribusiness should be Africa’s next growth frontier

Africa’s economic performance over the past decade has been remarkable, having reached an average growth of 5 percent. If this growth is maintained, projections indicate Africa’s gross domestic product should increase approximately threefold by 2030 and sevenfold by 2050, outstripping Asia’s. Yet this growth has not translated to creating jobs or tackling inequalities.

Beyond growth, the continent needs transformation. The internal, external and historical reasons that its industrial potential has not been reached can be attributed mainly to the failure of policies, often imposed. Colonialism has left behind institutions and an infrastructure base designed to enhance extraction of Africa’s resources, as opposed to value addition.

Economic structural adjustment programmes have also had negative effects on technological accumulation, human capital development and the performance of manufactured exports.

Agricultural production is one of the most important economic sectors in the majority of African countries. About 75 percent of Africans rely on it for their livelihoods. History illustrates that agriculture, particularly the developed agribusiness and agro-industry sectors, has been the driver of economic growth in countries around the globe, from Brazil and China.

In Africa, agribusiness and agro-industries account for more than 30 percent of national incomes as well as the bulk of export revenues and employment. Scaling up agribusiness could be the next growth frontier. It could offer immediate value addition through commodity-based industrialisation that exploits forward and backward linkages with the rest of the economy. Such industrialisation could lift many rural dwellers out of poverty while creating jobs across the economy. READ MORE

Source: Business Report.  #IFAMAFRICA

Green economy could aid in global unemployment challenge

Transitioning to a green economy can help the world mitigate rising unemployment levels, particularly at a time when youth unemployment is peaking.

Globally, in 2013, 202-million people were unemployed, up five-million on the previous year, said International Labour Organization (ILO) Green Jobs Programme policy specialist Moustapha Kamal Gueye at the Department of Environmental Affair’s (DEA’s) ‘Green jobs dialogue’, in Midrand, on Wednesday.

An ILO report on global employment trends for 2014 indicated that the bulk of the increase in global unemployment emerged from East Asia and South Asia, representing more than 45% of the additional jobseekers, followed by sub-Saharan Africa and Europe.

And, if current trends continued, global unemployment was set to worsen, with more than 215-million expected to be unemployed by 2018.

“We are not in a very [optimistic] employment situation,” Gueye noted, pointing out that globally, youth – those aged between 15 and 24 – accounted for about 74.5-million of those unemployed, with youth in the Middle East and North Africa hardest hit.

Sub-Saharan Africa collectively was “better off”, with its youth unemployment percentage at 7.8%; however, while Africa was “not so bad off”, a critical concern was the high rate of “vulnerable employment”, which, at 77.4%, was much higher than the global average of 48%.
The ILO defined vulnerable employment as work with low pay, limited job security, poor working conditions and little or no social protection.

For many people in the developing world, vulnerable and informal jobs remained the only work available, the ILO pointed out in its report. READ MORE

Source: engineeringnews.co.za
Click to download the Global Employment Tends 2040 report

Fake seeds force Ugandan farmers to resort to 'bronze age' agriculture

Of the many factors that keep small-scale Ugandan farmers poor, seed counterfeiting may be the least understood. Passing under the radar of the international development sector, a whole illegal industry has developed in Uganda, cheating farmers by selling them seeds that promise high yields but fail to germinate at all – with results that can be disastrous.

Counterfeiting gangs have learned to dye regular maize with the characteristic pinkish orange colour of industrially processed maize seed, duping farmers into paying good money for seed that just won't grow. The result is a crisis of confidence in commercially available high-yield seed.

According to a paper published by World Bank researcher James Joughin, just 13% of farmers buy improved seed from formal markets in Uganda. The rest rely on seeds saved from the previous season or traded informally between neighbours, but such seeds generally produce far lower yields than genuine high yield hybrids.  READ MORE

Export strategy given greater weight in SA’s new industrial plan as trade deficit persists

The South African government’s latest Industrial Policy Action Plan (IPAP) places greater emphasis than was the case in the previous five versions on raising the country’s export competitiveness as part of what the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) is now calling a ‘Smart Reindustrialisation’ strategy.

Speaking at the release of the sixth IPAP in Johannesburg on Monday, Trade and Industry Minister Dr Rob Davies said government would increasingly demand that those benefitting from industrial incentives become active exporters, particularly into growing African markets.

The export strategy, which was conceived against a backdrop of South Africa’s persistent trade-account deficit, would seek to reward export-oriented firms with conditional incentives, increased industrial financing and export-promotion assistance.

In its recently published ‘Economic Trends’ publication, the Industrial Development Corporation (IDC) noted that the current account of the balance of payments deteriorated substantially, as the deficit-to-gross-domestic-product (GDP) ratio widened to 5.8% in 2013, from 5.2% in 2012. A key contributor was the country’s largest trade deficit in relation to GDP in four decades, which stood at 2.2%.  READ MORE

Source:  www.engineeringnews.co.za

New farm expropriation proposal could 'threaten food security'

According to a new proposal being considered by government, farm workers on commercial farms could own half of South Africa's farms, Rapport reported on Sunday.

The proposal meant expropriating half of every commercial farm in South Africa and handing it over to farm workers, according to the report.

The newspaper was in possession of a document named "Final Policy Proposals for Strengthening the Relative Rights of People Working the Land", which was discussed with agricultural organisations on Monday.

The historic owners would retain half of their farms and the state would pay for the 50% taken for the workers,Rapport said.

The money would not be paid to the farm owners but into a trust aimed at investing and developing the farm for all shareholders of the farm.

Farm workers shares
Farm workers get shares in the farm based on the number of years of service and the basis of their contribution in the development of the farm, according to the report.  READ MORE

Source: Mail &Guardian 

Zimbabwe bans fresh fruit, vegetable imports

Zimbabwe has banned imports of fresh fruit and vegetables with immediate effect, the agriculture ministry said on Wednesday, arguing that increased local production will meet domestic demand.

The ban will mostly impact supplies of tomatoes, potatoes, mangoes, grapes and apples from neighbouring South Africa, the ministry said in a statement, without giving figures on how much the fruit and vegetable import market is worth.

Zimbabwe's farming output, including from its staple maize crop, has slumped by over 60% since 2000, following seizures of white-owned farms by President Robert Mugabe's controversial government.

Mugabe said seizing the farms for redistribution to local blacks was to correct colonial injustices.
Critics say Mugabe – in power since independence from Britain in 1980 – turned one of Africa's most promising economies and a regional bread basket to a net importer of food.

But Mugabe's ZANU-PF says the economy, which shrank by over 40% in the decade to 2009, had been sabotaged by Western powers opposed to his nationalist policies.  READ MORE»

Source: engineeringnews.co.za