BUSA is deeply concerned at the latest power emergency declared by Eskom today - the fourth one in as many months and the most serious announcement to date - as these are now cumulatively beginning to have serious economic and business consequences for SA. While if further load-shedding is inevitable, it is nonetheless better that energy saving should be spread over the whole nation than repeatedly placing an unfair burden only on a small number of intensive energy-users, the overall outlook has increasingly become a critical and uncertain one. Eskom's inability to maintain a stable power supply is inhibiting investment, growth and job creation, as well as having a negative impact on productivity.
BUSA's concern should be seen in tandem with the further delay in Parliament this week in the Independent Services and Marketing Operations Bill (ISMO), to which business was looking to create a more competitive environment for energy supply and to provide greater energy security in future. In the meantime, every effort must be made to get all sources of ancillary power mobilized and load-shedding must be planned to cause the minimum disruption to economic activity, transport and welfare. If confidence is to be restored, there needs to be more awareness at the highest level of the reality of the situation, and greater transparency in decision-making.
In view of the seriousness of the electricity situation, BUSA will be seeking urgent meetings with both the Minister of Public Enterprises Malusi Gigaba and the Minister of Energy Ben Martins as soon as possible to again discuss the challenges on the energy front.
Enquiries: Raymond Parsons - Special Policy Adviser, BUSA 083 225 6642
Eskom implements load shedding
Thursday, 06 March 2014: Eskom will start implementing rotational loadshedding from 09:00 this morning according to the published load shedding schedules available at http://loadshedding.eskom.co.za/ for Eskom customers. Municipal customers need to contact their own municipalities for the correct schedules. Eskom customers can also contact our customer call centre on 0860 037 566.
Eskom calls on consumers to urgently switch off geysers, pool pumps and all non-essential appliances throughout the day to further reduce the impact of rotational load shedding.
We anticipate that we will be load shedding until 22:00 tonight. However, should we receive the necessary savings from all our customers and the situation improves, we will terminate load shedding earlier.
Customers are cautioned to treat all electrical connections as live during this period.
Eskom will provide regular updates on the status of the power system through all media platforms.
Eskom had declared an emergency at 06:00 this morning and asked key industrial customers to reduce load by 10%.
Thursday, 6 March 2014
2014 could be biggest campaign yet for South African avocados
The South African Avocado Growers’ Association (SAAGA) says it is possible the 2014 season will be the “biggest yet”, after a successful 2013 export year of 11.6 million cartons.
In an annual report, SAAGA chairman Mark Baker said it was positive to see such a strong volume in an “off” year of the alternate bearing process.
“Looking back over historic exported volumes, South Africa has always experienced noticable on/off year scenarios which is not good for marketing initiatives and is most straining on farmers’ sustainability and cash flows,” Baker said.
“t is most encouraging to see the band between on /off has reduced. We would like to believe that improved orchard practices, new plantings and focus on orchard productivity is paying dividends.”
Despite good indications on the volume front, cost hikes above inflation for electricity, fuel and labor have affected South African growers’ competitiveness. Baker added growers experienced mid-season pressure from Peru, which doubled its shipments to the European Union against projected values.
In order to give growers more options, SAAGA spent 37% of its 2013 budget on market development work and promotions, while a further ZAR120,000 (US$11,214) was spent on addressing the technical issues required for access to new markets such as the U.S. and Japan.
He said additional work was also carried out on the host status of various avocados to the invasive fruit fly,B actrocera invadens.
“The importance of market access into countries like USA, China, Japan needs to be fast tracked therefore this sits high on the agenda of the utilization of available funds,” Baker said.
“Sufficient phytosanitary research has now been done to meet the requirements of a number of potential export markets. However, the government to government processes need to run their course before access is gained to new markets.”
While the SAAGA supports the inter-governmental process, it believes it would be prudent to invest in political lobbying to fast-track it.
“Gaining access to new markets such as the USA will have a greater impact on the profitability than low level investments in generic market development campaigns (promotion of consumer awareness and trade participation) in the EU.”
Source: www.freshfruitportal.com #IFAMAFRICA
Wednesday, 5 March 2014
Free State chicken project empowers community
Grain Field Chickens, with the help of R130-million in state backing, has boosted its production from 9 000 to 130 000 chickens a day since 2012, while creating over 1 000 new jobs for people in around Reitz in South Africa's Free State province.
During a visit to the Grain Field Chickens abattoir last week, President Jacob Zuma said this was "great news for many families in the area. Another good story ... is that workers here at Grain Field own 23% in the business."
He added that the people behind the project had been innovative and had not sat back and waited for the government, which had stepped in "only at a later stage" with funding and technical assistance.
"This is the story of how you were able to take a difficult situation, like the economic recession, and turn it around into an economic and social success," he said. "The Grain Field Chicken project proves that South Africa is a much better place to live in now. There are more opportunities that did not exist before, especially for black people."
Grain Field MD Sas Kasselman said the company's employees were also beneficiaries of a 23.1 percent stake in the abattoir. "This makes the project's success a personal success for the beneficiaries as well. It creates a social responsibility amongst employees.
"Job growth and skills development sharing is extremely crucial to the growth of any project of this magnitude," Kasselman said. "We ensure that employees on various levels are trained, and they in turn share their training and transfer skills to their fellow workers. It is a continuous learning environment at the abattoir." READ MORE
Source: www.southafrica.info #IFAMAFRICA
Source: www.southafrica.info #IFAMAFRICA
UN to assist after food crisis in Zimbabwe worsens
THE United Nations (UN) is approaching donors to raise $60m to help alleviate a rapidly worsening food crisis in Zimbabwe, as this season’s woeful harvest leaves more than 2-million people in need of food assistance.
Zimbabwe has been experiencing an extensive migration of farmers ditching the production of staple crops such as maize in favour of cash crops, such as tobacco, and this is quickly raising the import bill for food.
According to Sory Ouane, country director of the UN World Food Programme in Zimbabwe, the UN has budgeted $86m for its food assistance programme to June this year in order to feed 1.8-million of those in need, but despite some "generous contributions" from donors, the fund had a $60m shortfall.
Roelof Horne, portfolio manager at Investec Asset Management, which manages one of the biggest funds on the continent, on Monday blamed the lack of clarity over property titles after the land grabs in the 2000s as holding back investment in agriculture.
Zimbabwe was once known as the bread basket of Africa but has seen its economy shrink by half since 1980 as a result of indigenisation and the farm invasions.
However, tobacco is making a comeback again to levels near 200-million kilograms, last seen a Sadc said in its most recent Food Security Update that people at risk of food insecurity in Zimbabwe were up by 32% compared to last year.
Zimbabwe has been experiencing an extensive migration of farmers ditching the production of staple crops such as maize in favour of cash crops, such as tobacco, and this is quickly raising the import bill for food.
According to Sory Ouane, country director of the UN World Food Programme in Zimbabwe, the UN has budgeted $86m for its food assistance programme to June this year in order to feed 1.8-million of those in need, but despite some "generous contributions" from donors, the fund had a $60m shortfall.
Roelof Horne, portfolio manager at Investec Asset Management, which manages one of the biggest funds on the continent, on Monday blamed the lack of clarity over property titles after the land grabs in the 2000s as holding back investment in agriculture.
Zimbabwe was once known as the bread basket of Africa but has seen its economy shrink by half since 1980 as a result of indigenisation and the farm invasions.
However, tobacco is making a comeback again to levels near 200-million kilograms, last seen a Sadc said in its most recent Food Security Update that people at risk of food insecurity in Zimbabwe were up by 32% compared to last year.
"It’s a mess. I think Zimbabwe will be an agriculture power again, but there are complex issues to resolve first," said Mr Horne.
Mr Ouane said there was a huge deficit in the current maize harvest, at only 800,000 tonnes in the 2012-13 season, compared with the 2.1-million tonnes needed. The shortfall means 2.2-million people have needed food assistance between October and March, and more than 1-million do not even know what they will be eating from day to day.
The UN met some West African donors in Pretoria last week to try raise funds, but South Africa’s government was not approached as it is part of the Southern African Development Community (Sadc), which has its own food security programme. READ MORE
Source: BusinessDay Live. #IFAMAFRICA
Source: BusinessDay Live. #IFAMAFRICA
Sugar import tariff changes in pipeline
A CHANGE to the import tariff on sugar is imminent. A new regime has been processed and passed on to the South African Revenue Service (SARS) for implementation, Minister of Trade and Industry Rob Davies said on Tuesday.
The move signals a more favourable view towards raising tariffs to protect local production by the department and the International Trade Administration Commission of SA (Itac) — the government body that investigates trade remedies.
An Itac recommendation to Mr Davies last year led to an increase in tariffs on imported chicken.
Local sugar producers have complained for several years that the industry is at risk from dumped sugar from Brazil, Guatemala, India and others — due to overproduction and subsidies the world price is significantly below production cost. Last year the South African Sugar Association applied to Itac for a higher dollar-based reference price on imports. This would effectively put an import tariff in place.
The association’s spokeswoman, Jennifer Crawford, said on Tuesday the "dumped price" on the world market and the low dollar-based reference price applied by Itac meant no import tariff had been in place. This was unusual, she said, as most sugar-producing economies use tariff protection against imports.
Mr Davies said he could not disclose the new tariff before it was published in the government gazette for implementation by SARS. However, the fact that the application has been processed and passed onto SARS indicates that there will be a change to the tariff regime.
Also speaking at a media briefing by Cabinet ministers in the economic cluster of ministries at Parliament yesterday, Minister of Rural Development and Land Reform Gugile Nkwinti said the government wanted to cut down on food imports to keep food prices under control. READ MORE
Source: BusinessDay Live #IFAMAFRICA
The move signals a more favourable view towards raising tariffs to protect local production by the department and the International Trade Administration Commission of SA (Itac) — the government body that investigates trade remedies.
An Itac recommendation to Mr Davies last year led to an increase in tariffs on imported chicken.
Local sugar producers have complained for several years that the industry is at risk from dumped sugar from Brazil, Guatemala, India and others — due to overproduction and subsidies the world price is significantly below production cost. Last year the South African Sugar Association applied to Itac for a higher dollar-based reference price on imports. This would effectively put an import tariff in place.
The association’s spokeswoman, Jennifer Crawford, said on Tuesday the "dumped price" on the world market and the low dollar-based reference price applied by Itac meant no import tariff had been in place. This was unusual, she said, as most sugar-producing economies use tariff protection against imports.
Mr Davies said he could not disclose the new tariff before it was published in the government gazette for implementation by SARS. However, the fact that the application has been processed and passed onto SARS indicates that there will be a change to the tariff regime.
Also speaking at a media briefing by Cabinet ministers in the economic cluster of ministries at Parliament yesterday, Minister of Rural Development and Land Reform Gugile Nkwinti said the government wanted to cut down on food imports to keep food prices under control. READ MORE
Source: BusinessDay Live #IFAMAFRICA
“SA offers enough investment opportunities in agriculture”
South Africa is a country of many challenges and is also a gateway for investors in Africa and offers enough opportunities in agriculture for investment, cooperation, expansion and trade.
New foreign agricultural investments in South Africa are to the advantage of South African farmers and assist in job-creation.
This was the central theme of a speech which Deputy Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Dr. Pieter Mulder, delivered Monday morning at an international agricultural conference in Pilanesberg.
The conference was attended by the largest and most successful farmers from, amongst others, America, Russia and Portugal.
Dr. Mulder says that South Africa is still the economic giant of Africa and if the current trend continues, Africa will play an increasingly important role in the world economy.
"By the year 2040, one in every five of the planet’s young people will be living in Africa and its working population will be larger than that of China. What is of great importance for farmers is that Africa has approximately 60% of the world’s uncultivated agricultural land and a large portion of its natural resources. Yet it only delivers 10% of the world’s food, while its consumers are increasing at three times the rate of the OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) countries and food production will have to increase accordingly."
According to Mulder, the biggest reason for Africa’s low food production is a shortage of large commercial farms. In Africa 85% of all farms are smaller than 2 hectares. READ MORE
Source: www.sabc.co.za #IFAMAFRICA
New foreign agricultural investments in South Africa are to the advantage of South African farmers and assist in job-creation.
This was the central theme of a speech which Deputy Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Dr. Pieter Mulder, delivered Monday morning at an international agricultural conference in Pilanesberg.
The conference was attended by the largest and most successful farmers from, amongst others, America, Russia and Portugal.
Dr. Mulder says that South Africa is still the economic giant of Africa and if the current trend continues, Africa will play an increasingly important role in the world economy.
"By the year 2040, one in every five of the planet’s young people will be living in Africa and its working population will be larger than that of China. What is of great importance for farmers is that Africa has approximately 60% of the world’s uncultivated agricultural land and a large portion of its natural resources. Yet it only delivers 10% of the world’s food, while its consumers are increasing at three times the rate of the OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) countries and food production will have to increase accordingly."
According to Mulder, the biggest reason for Africa’s low food production is a shortage of large commercial farms. In Africa 85% of all farms are smaller than 2 hectares. READ MORE
Source: www.sabc.co.za #IFAMAFRICA
South African agriculture 'creating jobs again'
South Africa's agriculture sector created 65 000 new jobs between December 2009 and December 2013, reversing a trend of farming job losses in the country that stretched back to the 1970s, Economic Development Minister Ebrahim Patel said on Tuesday.
Speaking at a post-State of the Nation Address media briefing in Cape Town, Patel said that the government had spent about R20-billion on land restitution and redistribution between 2009 and 2013, during which period a total of 1 740 555 hectares of land had been acquired and redistributed or restituted.
To ensure sustainable production on productive land, he said, 700 000 smallholder producers had been supported through various initiatives, including access to finance and mentoring.
Regarding the Fetsa Tlala programme, which was launched by President Jacob Zuma in October last year, Patel said that planting was taking place on 230 000 hectares of land in six provinces, with half of this land set aside for smallholders.
"A total of 10 271 resource-poor, historically disadvantaged producers were supported to access water for agricultural purposes, and over 18 000 hectares were irrigated during this period. From 1 April 2009 until 31 December 2013, a total 2 400 000 hectares of land has been added to the area of land under rehabilitation and restoration."
According to the minister, a total of 3 486 000 hectares was cleared as part of follow-up treatment.
"A further 33 341 smallholder producers were assisted to access markets, and 1 284 producer cooperatives and marketing depots were established in order to increase their competitiveness and take advantage of market opportunities." READ MORE
Source: SAnews.gov.za #IFAMAFRICA
Speaking at a post-State of the Nation Address media briefing in Cape Town, Patel said that the government had spent about R20-billion on land restitution and redistribution between 2009 and 2013, during which period a total of 1 740 555 hectares of land had been acquired and redistributed or restituted.
To ensure sustainable production on productive land, he said, 700 000 smallholder producers had been supported through various initiatives, including access to finance and mentoring.
Regarding the Fetsa Tlala programme, which was launched by President Jacob Zuma in October last year, Patel said that planting was taking place on 230 000 hectares of land in six provinces, with half of this land set aside for smallholders.
"A total of 10 271 resource-poor, historically disadvantaged producers were supported to access water for agricultural purposes, and over 18 000 hectares were irrigated during this period. From 1 April 2009 until 31 December 2013, a total 2 400 000 hectares of land has been added to the area of land under rehabilitation and restoration."
According to the minister, a total of 3 486 000 hectares was cleared as part of follow-up treatment.
"A further 33 341 smallholder producers were assisted to access markets, and 1 284 producer cooperatives and marketing depots were established in order to increase their competitiveness and take advantage of market opportunities." READ MORE
Source: SAnews.gov.za #IFAMAFRICA
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