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Agroprocessing News

AfDB finances cross-country power initiative, youth development in Ethiopia

By: Marleny Arnoldi 23rd July 2021 The African Development Bank (AfDB) has signed two grant agreements for new projects with the Ethiopian government, which aims to boost youth employment and electricity trade between Ethiopia and Djibouti. The grants are grouped under the bank’s concessional lending window and will comprise... →

Project management firm upgrades sugar factory

23rd July 2021 Consulting engineering and project management solutions company Bosch Projects was appointed by wattle bark miller and sugar producer UCL Company to undertake three major projects for the recent expansion at its sugar factory in Dalton, KwaZulu-Natal. Bosch Projects is a member of the... →

Photo of long tube evaporator installed at sugar factory

LONG TUBE EVAPORATOR Bosch Projects team needed to be innovative and creative in its approach to detailed engineering solutions and the application of expertise

Association confirms unrest had little impact on citrus exports

By: Marleny Arnoldi 19th July 2021 Citrus growers in Mpumalanga and Limpopo have been diverting their fruit to other ports across the country in the wake of delays and disruption at the Durban port, as well as on routes in Gauteng, but the situation is normalising. While the citrus value chain has been impacted to some extent,... →

SIDS fast-tracks infrastructure- boosting projects

16th July 2021 As part of the Sustainable Infrastructure Development System (SIDS) methodology launched last year, the government announced 50 projects, along with 12 special projects, that the methodology has already been applied to. These projects were fast-tracked for implementation along with all regulatory... →

INTERCHANGE Transport sector has 15 SIDS projects across the country

Various services available to sugar mills

16th July 2021 Engineering components company BMG is working closely with KwaZulu-Natal’s sugar mill engineers in the industry’s off-crop period to refurbish and replace worn components in preparation for high productivity in the upcoming season. Original-equipment manufacturer (OEM) Dorstener brand gearboxes... →

CARRY ON BMG has designed, fabricated and installed new carriers, reducing the normal 24-week delivery period to only four weeks

IoT use in South Africa to grow by 14% a year to 2025

By: Schalk Burger 15th July 2021 The use of Internet of Things (IoT) in South Africa is expected to grow by 14% a year from 2020 to 2025, says information and communications technology market research firm IDC Middle East, Africa and Turkey associate VP for sub-Saharan Africa Mark Walker. He notes that IoT adoption is expected... →

United Nations’ agri fund zooms in on private sector SMEs in Africa

By: Marleny Arnoldi 14th July 2021 The United Nations’ International Fund for Agricultural Development (Ifad) has launched a new financing programme that will help aid rural businesses in the food systems of the world’s poorest countries. The Private Sector Financing Programme aims to spearhead an increase in much-needed private... →

South Africa unrest hits farming, threatens food supply

By: Reuters 13th July 2021 South African farmers have been hit by days of unrest and looting as trucks carrying produce are prevented from delivering to markets, threatening food supplies, industry officials said. Crowds have this week clashed with police and ransacked shopping malls, with dozens reported killed as... →

Ivorian engineer wins Royal Academy award for biowaste innovation

By: Schalk Burger 9th July 2021 Côte d'Ivoire chemical engineer Noël N’guessan has won the Royal Academy of Engineering’s 2021 Africa Prize for Engineering Innovation. He developed biowaste equipment for smallholder farmers in West Africa to efficiently manage and generate income from biowaste. →

CSIR researchers producing products from indigenous plants

By: Schalk Burger 28th June 2021 Researchers from the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) have and continue to develop commercial products using indigenous plants, and have helped the holders of indigenous plant products, communities and traditional healers to produce these products at the same scale, safety... →

Omniolytics using IBM to provide data platform for African poultry farmers

By: Schalk Burger 25th June 2021 Agriculture digital technologies startup Omniolytics is helping to transform poultry farming through digital platforms that use sensors and information technology multinational IBM Watson running in the IBM Cloud, IBM said on June 24. The poultry industry is faced with a number challenges ranging... →

Lemon export protocol to boost investment, create jobs

By: Donna Slater 22nd June 2021 The recent signing of a revised citrus protocol between South Africa and China by Agriculture, Land Affairs and Rural Development Minister Thoko Didiza will secure R325-million in new export revenue and create 800 jobs in the industry, the Citrus Growers’ Association of South Africa (CGASA)... →

John Deere showcases construction, forestry equipment for sub-Saharan Africa

By: Marleny Arnoldi 11th June 2021 Agricultural equipment giant John Deere has introduced its range of construction and forestry equipment to the sub-Saharan African market. Customers across the region can now benefit from the size and scale of the John Deere construction and forestry equipment line-up, including its motor grader... →

South African agriculture did quite well during the first quarter of this year – report

By: Rebecca Campbell 11th June 2021 The Bureau for Food and Agricultural Policy (BFAP) has reported that the country’s agricultural sector performed “relatively well” during the first quarter of this year (1Q21), in comparison to the same period last year (1Q20). According to BFAP’s calculations, the agricultural sector of the... →

Illovo, Jobs Fund project continues to reap rewards for community

By: Tasneem Bulbulia 9th June 2021 Four years in, the R127-million Small-Scale Grower Cane Development project has recorded notable successes, with over 860 sustainable jobs created and 3 000 ha of cane developed on communal land owned by small-scale growers. Moreover, the project has engendered benefits for members of the... →

South African citrus en route to Philippines after 12 years of negotiations

By: Donna Slater 8th June 2021 A delegation from the Citrus Growers’ Association of South Africa (CGA) visited the Port of Durban this week to send off the first South African shipment of citrus to the Philippines – a historic occasion that follows 12 years of negotiations between the two countries. The work plan to export... →

Port upgrade strengthens Horn of Africa trade

By: Halima Frost 4th June 2021 The Berbera port, operated and managed by multinational logistics company Dubai Ports (DP) World, is undergoing a multifaceted upgrade valued at $442-million. The upgrade will expand the port, as well as develop a logistical platform and a free zone to strengthen the port’s position as a key... →

SHIP SHAPE The upgrades to the Berbera port in Somaliland will allow for more containers and larger ships to dock

Report shows tax shrunk the sugar industry, says association

By: Schalk Burger 3rd June 2021 A report, commissioned by the National Economic Development and Labour Council (Nedlac) at the request of the Portfolio Committee of Trade and Industry, showed that, by 2019, the sugar tax had resulted in the sugar sector losing 9 154 jobs, – almost 10% of its workforce. Further, the tax resulted... →

Atlas shines light on world's vulnerable and critical rangelands

By: Donna Slater 28th May 2021 The Rangelands Atlas, published by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) on May 27, reveals that 54% of the world’s land surface consists of vast tracts of land covered by grass, shrubs or sparse, hardy vegetation – rangelands – that supports millions of pastoralists, hunter-gatherers,... →

South African food price inflation continues upward

By: Rebecca Campbell 27th May 2021 Last month, South African food and non-alcoholic beverages (NAB) price inflation rose 6.3% year-on-year (April 2020-April 2021), the Bureau for Food and Agricultural Policy (BFAP) has reported in its “Food Inflation Brief – April 2020”, published this week. In month-on-month (March 2021-April... →

Sustainable aviation fuels could be major market for South African sugar cane sector

By: Rebecca Campbell 24th May 2021 A study has found that the production of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) using ethanol derived from sugarcane is a viable major business opportunity for the South African sugarcane sector. The study was jointly undertaken by the South African Canegrowers Association (SA Canegrowers) and the... →

Firms pledge R18m to help boost manufacturing in South Africa, rest of the continent

By: Irma Venter 21st May 2021 The advancement of manufacturing in South Africa and on the rest of the continent has received a boost from four South African manufacturers. JSE-listed groups Illovo Africa, Metair and The Foschini Group (TFG), as well as local vehicle manufacturer Toyota South Africa Motors (TSAM), have pledged... →

Patel says vision for R200bn in additional localisation has top-level corporate backing

By: Terence Creamer 18th May 2021 Trade, Industry and Competition Minister Ebrahim Patel announced that an “accord” had been reached at the National Economic Development and Labour Council (Nedlac) to drive progressive localisation of up to R200-billion of additional production over a five-year period. Delivering his virtual... →

Trade, Industry and Competition Minister Ebrahim Patel

Illovo subsidiary embarks on $239m sugar expansion project in Tanzania

By: Creamer Media Reporter 18th May 2021 Tanzanian sugar producer Kilombero Sugar Company, in which Illovo Sugar Africa holds a 75% stake and the government a 25% interest, has approved a TSh571.6-billion, or about $238.5-million, expansion project. The expansion project, which is in alignment with Tanzania's policy to achieve... →

Transnet doubles capacity as it gears up for grain season

By: Marleny Arnoldi 17th May 2021 State-owned Transnet Freight Rail (TFR) has doubled the capacity available to transport grain from Bethlehem, in the Free State, by rail to the country's ports for export. The State-owned freight utility plans to move 550 000 t of export grain this season – which will be a 133% increase on the... →

VKB Agriculture loads Transnet grain wagons at its Bethlehem silo rail siding at the start of the grain export season on May 17

Photo by Creamer Media's Donna Slater
VKB Agriculture loads Transnet grain wagons at its Bethlehem silo rail siding at the start of the grain export season on May 17

The world economy is suddenly running low on everything

By: Bloomberg 17th May 2021 A year ago, as the pandemic ravaged country after country and economies shuddered, consumers were the ones panic-buying. Today, on the rebound, it’s companies furiously stocking up. Mattress producers to car manufacturers to aluminum foil makers are buying more material than they need to survive... →

Sugar Masterplan starting to uplift industry – DTIC

By: Donna Slater 12th May 2021 The South African sugarcane industry has experienced a sharp decline in revenue and production in recent years, mainly as a result of cheap sugar imports that have flooded the local sugar market, as well as the Health Promotion Levy (HPL) or so-called sugar tax, that is threatening its future... →

Stellenbosch’s LaunchLab proves invaluable to agritech startup

By: Marleny Arnoldi 11th May 2021 What started as a homemade picking harness solution has grown into an agricultural company called Adagin Technologies that offer a full suite of high-tech solutions to help farmers monitor and optimise their operations. Adagin founder and joint MD FG Adriaanse says his first solution was borne... →

No new outbreaks of highly pathogenic avian influence, says association

By: Simone Liedtke 30th April 2021 Although no new outbreaks of avian influenza have been reported since the previously confirmed cases, South Africa’s poultry and ostrich industries remain under national high alert with strict biosecurity measures in place. An appeal has also been made to hobbyist keepers of any birds, including... →

TWIMS receives R18m for the advancement of manufacturing in SA, rest of Africa

By: Irma Venter 30th April 2021 The advancement of manufacturing in South Africa and on the rest of the continent has received a boost from four South African manufacturers. JSE-listed groups Illovo Africa, Metair and The Foschini Group (TFG), as well as local vehicle manufacturer Toyota South Africa Motors (TSAM), have pledged... →

The TWIMS campus

Saai, Neasa ink partnership to improve labour relations in the agriculture sector

By: Simone Liedtke 22nd April 2021 Family farming organisation Saai and employers’ organisation the National Employers Association of South Africa (Neasa) on April 22 signed a partnership agreement to bridge labour issues in the agriculture sector and to assist farmers with labour problems, as well as influencing policy-making.... →

Saai chairperson Dr Theo de Jager and Neasa CE Gerhard Papenfus

South Africa makes progress on geographical indications to support rural, agricultural development

By: Schalk Burger 20th April 2021 South Africa is making progress on developing legal and regulatory frameworks for geographical indications (GI), which are designations for products that are linked to a region of origin and that have associated qualities. GI has been proven to enable producers to secure better prices for... →

Ngqura Container Terminal mobilises to offload reefers in anticipation of citrus season

By: Donna Slater 13th April 2021 With South Africa’s citrus season looming and a global shortage of mobile refrigerated shipping containers (otherwise known as reefers), the Ngqura Container Terminal (NCT), in Port Elizabeth, is mobilising offloading equipment to assist in the offloading of reefers that have been diverted by... →

Increase in tanks demand presents challenges

By: Darren Parker 9th April 2021 Despite a global increase in stainless steel tanks production over the past 12 months – particularly for the food and beverage sectors – some subsectors are facing challenges, says stainless steel supplier Columbus Stainless market development manager Lerato Mashigo. “The food and beverage sector... →

AGES LIKE A FINE WINE Over the recommended life span of a structure, stainless steel becomes more economical because of reduced maintenance and refurbishment required

For South African agriculture, 2020 was a very good year

By: Rebecca Campbell 2nd April 2021 South African agriculture had a “remarkable year” last year, the Bureau for Food and Agricultural Production (BFAP) has reported. This was despite the Covid-19 pandemic, which caused all other sectors of the South African economy (except government services) to contract. While the national... →

Western Cape launches e-booklets to fast-track climate change resilience in agriculture

By: Yvonne Silaule 31st March 2021 The Western Cape provincial government has launched e-booklets that will help to fast-track climate change resilience in agriculture. The e-booklet on climate change entitled The Mercury Rises is based on the popular award-winning radio series Die Kwik Styg. The e-booklets are available in the... →

Moody's withdraws all ratings of South Africa's Land Bank for 'business reasons'

By: Reuters 30th March 2021 Ratings agency Moody's said on Tuesday it was withdrawing all ratings of South Africa's cash-strapped state-owned Land and Agricultural Development Bank, citing "its own business reasons" for the move. Moody's did not elaborate on why it had taken the decision in the statement, but policy... →

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