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Farming Economics News

Resilience, natural resources become key as global food security deteriorates slightly

By: Schalk Burger 5th March 2021 The Global Food Security Index (GFSI) showed a deterioration for the second year in a row in 2020, with the affordability, quality and safety, and natural resources and resilience categories deteriorating, with only the availability category showing marginal improvement, says economic research... →

Poultry Master Plan benefiting industry, says Sapa

By: Donna Slater 26th February 2021 The Poultry Master Plan, as implemented by the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition (DTIC), is propelling new entrants and emerging role-players in the industry to build their businesses and expand markets, according to South African Poultry Association broiler organisation GM Isaak... →

R7bn allocated for Land Bank recapitalisation

By: Tasneem Bulbulia 24th February 2021 The Land and Agricultural Development Bank of South Africa (Land Bank), which defaulted on its debt obligations on April 1, 2020, and is renegotiating it repayment terms, will receive R7-billion in recapitalisation over the medium term to put it on a stable and sustainable development path, the... →

Solutions light up local lodge

By: Cameron Mackay 12th February 2021 Lighting products supplier BEKA Schréder has supplied exterior lighting solutions to Skukuza Safari Lodge, which was officially opened last November. Located in one of the largest game reserves in Africa, the Kruger National Park, the newly built lodge offers tourism facilities for local and... →

LIGHTING THE WAY This solution includes BEKA LEDPOST installed throughout the lodge’s facilities and BEKA SERIES 30 installed at the back-of-house area

€3m loan to support South African blueberry industry

By: Simone Liedtke 28th January 2021 A €3-million loan to United Exports will help to support growth, exports and jobs in South Africa’s blueberry industry. South Africa’s Western Cape Department of Agriculture estimates that the country’s blueberry sector employs 5 700 people. The fruit is an increasingly important product for... →

Land Bank posts a R172m interim loss for 2020

By: News24Wire 19th January 2021 The Land Bank has posted a R172-million loss from its continuing operations for the six months ended on 30 September as its interest income continued to decline while provision for bad debts grew. The state-owned lender, which finances approximately 27% of agricultural debt in SA and is the only... →

Agri SA bemoans Land Bank incompetence, as revealed by Auditor-General

By: Marleny Arnoldi 8th January 2021 Industry organisation Agri SA has expressed concern about the status of the Land Bank’s financial sustainability, following a damning report published by the Auditor-General (AG) of South Africa Tsakani Maluleke. “Whoever was responsible for the financial loss of R2.8-billion must be held... →

Sugar growers expand buy local campaign to try and save a 'million livelihoods'

By: News24Wire 7th January 2021 The SA Canegrowers' Association has expanded its campaign aimed at raising awareness of the serious threats facing the local sugar industry. Chief among these is the significant share of the local market that cheap imports hold, the association said in a statement on Thursday. →

Locust prediction tool allows for early intervention in four African countries so far

By: Marleny Arnoldi 6th January 2021 Pan-African marketplace Selina Wamucii has launched, on its platform, a free tool called Kuzi that can help farmers and pastoralists predict locust behaviour. The artificial intelligence-powered tool generates real-time heatmaps of locusts across Africa, showing all potential migration routes and... →

Implementation of Poultry Master Plan progressing, industry capacity increases

By: Simone Liedtke 8th December 2020 Progress has been made on the implementation of the Poultry Master Plan, in spite of a decline in chicken consumption during the initial lockdown period, the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition (DTIC) has said. Over the course of the past 12 months, a new tariff was introduced on... →

IBM launches support for digital agriculture in Africa initiative

By: Schalk Burger 7th December 2020 Information technology (IT) multinational IBM on December 7 announced its active support for the Digital4Agriculture Initiative (D4Ag), which aims to foster African startups in the agricultural sector and strengthen the long-term living conditions of local small-scale farmers by increasing... →

Sugar master plan signed and good to go

4th December 2020 The virtual signing of the much-anticipated Sugarcane Value Chain Master Plan 2030 has been welcomed by all stakeholders of the South African sugar industry, according to a statement issued by the South African Sugar Association (Sasa) last month. “This is a momentous occasion for the industry... →

Photo by Creamer Media
SWEET DEAL Local sugar producers will be supported and given greater preference through the newly minted sugar master plan

New female vice chairperson for sugar association

4th December 2020 The South African Farmers Development Association (Safda) said in statement issued last month that it “welcomes and congratulates” the appointment of new South African Sugar Association (Sasa) vice chairperson Joanmariae Fubbs. Fubbs was nominated by Safda and voted in at a special meeting of... →

Business restructuring anchors producer as sugar master plan gives hope

By: Darren Parker 4th December 2020 The business restructuring efforts of sugar producer Tongaat Hulett over the past few years have enabled it to enter the Covid-19 outbreak as a “leaner, fit-for-purpose organisation” better able to weather the pandemic, says Tongaat Hulett sugar operations MD Simon Harvey. “The Covid-19 pandemic... →

A NEW HORIZON The sugar master plan seeks to create a diversified and globally competitive, sustainable and transformed sugarcane-based value chain

Tough times ahead despite better yields

By: Darren Parker 4th December 2020 Data gathered by the South African Canegrowers Association (SA Canegrowers) indicate that sugar cane crop yields in the current season are expected to be an improvement on those of the past year, owing to “perfect” to weather to date. Moreover, canegrowers have also put much effort into... →

ABUNDANT HARVEST A large yield and constrained sugar milling capacity means that some sugar cane will not be processed this year

Rail link planned for small-scale cane growers

By: Darren Parker 4th December 2020 Sugar producer Tongaat Hulett is partnering with the South African Farmers Development Association, and the Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development to establish a sugar cane rail transport system, in KwaZulu-Natal, between Makhathini cane growers in northern Zululand and... →

LOWERED HAULAGE COSTS The project will result in a 50% reduction in transportation costs for growers

Digital agriculture to assist sugar growers

By: Darren Parker 4th December 2020 The South African Sugar Research Institute (Sasri), a division of the South African Sugar Association (Sasa), is focusing its research and technological development on digital agriculture to support canegrowers in decision-making, in their choice of cane varieties, to establish more accurate crop... →

PESKY PROBLEM The Eldana saccharina larvae bore into sugar cane and can ruin entire crops

Land Bank creditor urges South Africa to speed up rescue efforts

By: Bloomberg 3rd December 2020 South Africa’s National Treasury and the state-owned Land and Agricultural Development Bank are being accused of dragging their heels in negotiating a rescue package for the stricken lender, leaving creditors in the dark as debt repayments loom. Asset managers and other lenders are yet to receive... →

Agribusiness Confidence Index jumps to 61 in the fourth quarter

By: Marleny Arnoldi 1st December 2020 The Agricultural Business Chamber/Industrial Development Corporation Agribusiness Confidence Index has rallied to 61 points in the fourth quarter – its highest level since the third quarter of 2014. This followed a notable recovery to 51 points in the third quarter of the year, implying that... →

Agri SA calls for govt aid as Land Bank is too important to fail

By: Marleny Arnoldi 27th November 2020 Industry organisation Agri SA has warned that the action by Moody’s Investor Service to lower the Lank Bank and Eskom’s respective ratings pose a risk to food security and overall economic recovery in South Africa. It says Moody’s downgraded the State-owned Land Bank as a result of ongoing... →

First group of Western Cape agriculture drone pilots receive their wings

By: Yvonne Silaule 27th November 2020 The first group of Western Cape Department of Agriculture drone pilots received their wings this week. The department assisted the group to successfully sit for the South African Civil Aviation Authority (SACAA) examination to obtain their remote pilot licences. Training was provided by Drone-X,... →

Awaiting South African bailout, land bank locks out farmers

By: Bloomberg 19th November 2020 One of the biggest lenders to South African farmers can’t take on new clients or meet half the needs of existing customers until it gets another government bailout to keep operating. The state-owned Land and Agricultural Development Bank has asked the National Treasury for R7-billion to ease its... →

Govt, industry sign the sugar master plan

By: Creamer Media Reporter 17th November 2020 Trade, Industry and Competition Minister Ebrahim Patel, Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development Minister Thoko Didiza and sugar industry stakeholders have signed the Sugar Industry Master Plan. As part of the master plan, industrial users and retailers have agreed to minimum offtake of... →

A sugarcane plantation

Digital network launched to support wine sector

13th November 2020 The Western Cape government, in partnership with agency for tourism, trade and investment promotion for Cape Town and the Western Cape, Wesgro, as well as wine marketing specialists Wines of South Africa (WoSA), have announced the launch of the Cape Export Network (CEN). Launched in September,... →

TECH TALK The Cape Export Network uses technology to introduce producers and buyers on a secure platform

Didiza gives update on release of State-owned land

By: Donna Slater 10th November 2020 Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development Minister Thoko Didiza says her department, on October 1, advertised 529 000 ha of land, amounting to 894 farms across South Africa for release on October 15. “The advert was to run for a month ending November 15,” she says. This forms part of the... →

Greenpeace urges African countries to lead climate developments on the continent

By: Sane Dhlamini 9th November 2020 Not for profit environmental organisation Greenpeace has called on African countries to lead the development of new climate databases and models rather than depend on other countries as future average temperatures on the continent are projected to increase at a rate faster than the global average... →

South Africa moves to soothe investor fears over land grabs

By: Bloomberg 21st October 2020 As South Africa revises its legal framework to make it easier to take property without paying for it, the nation’s land minister has given assurances that the contentious process won’t degenerate into a free-for-all. The ruling African National Congress decided in December 2017 to change the... →

Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development Minister Thoko Didiza

Africa’s economic recovery lies in agriculture – minister

By: African News Agency 15th October 2020 South African Minister of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development Thoko Didiza said on Thursday that the agricultural sector should be at the centre of the country’s and Africa’s economic recovery post-Covid-19. Didiza was speaking during a virtual address, commemorating rural women in... →

Minister of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development Thoko Didiza

Agricultural transformation a Presidential imperative, says Ramaphosa

By: Simone Liedtke 8th October 2020 President Cyril Ramaphosa has highlighted access to agricultural land for subsistence farming and commercial production as a national priority, stating that the transformation of patterns of ownership “are fundamental in addressing not only food security, but also historical injustices”. In his... →

Agri SA welcomes availing of State land for agricultural purposes

By: Simone Liedtke 2nd October 2020 South African agricultural industry association Agri SA has welcomed the announcement by Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development Minister Thoko Didiza that over 500 000 ha of State land will be made available for agricultural purposes. Agri SA Centre of Excellence for Land chairperson... →

Govt announces new application process for available agricultural State land

By: Simone Liedtke 1st October 2020 Members of the public who want to apply for available agricultural State land as part of the government contribution to the land reform programme, will need to follow a new process set out by Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development Minister Thoko Didiza on October 1. The adjudication and... →

Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development Minister Thoko Didiza

Agribusiness Confidence Index rebounds to 51 in third quarter

By: Marleny Arnoldi 14th September 2020 The Agbiz/Industrial Development Corporation Agribusiness Confidence Index rebounded to 51 in the third quarter. This follows a deterioration to 39 in the second quarter, a period which had heightened uncertainty about whether the agriculture and agribusiness sectors would operate efficiently,... →

Astral Foods ‘cautiously satisfied’ with earnings for the year

By: Simone Liedtke 14th September 2020 Poultry producer Astral Foods has indicated that its earnings a share and headline earnings a share for the year ending September 30, are expected to be down by no more than 25% on the comparative period’s reported results. Astral CEO Chris Schutte on September 14 said Astral was “cautiously... →

Opinion: Building back better on food and agriculture

11th September 2020 In this opinion piece, United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) director-general QU Dongyu writes about a comprehensive response and recovery programme to overcome the impacts of Covid-19 through up-scaled and robust international collaboration. As the impacts of Covid-19 take their... →

Lesotho aims to ‘go big’ on agriculture amid Agoa textiles uncertainty

By: Terence Creamer 4th September 2020 Lesotho Prime Minister Dr Moeketsi Majoro reports that the country aims to overhaul its underperforming agricultural sector with the objective of improving both food security and attracting export-oriented investment into the production of high-value crops, such as fruit, vegetables and... →

Lesotho Prime Minister Dr Moeketsi Majoro

DTIC, Wesgro to host virtual wine mission to South Korea

By: Creamer Media Reporter 26th August 2020 To enhance bilateral trade and investment ties, the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition (DTIC) will, in collaboration with trade promotion agency Wesgro, host a virtual wine mission to South Korea. The event, to be held on August 27, will showcase ten wineries from the Western Cape region. →

New charcoal production facility launched in Western Cape

By: Simone Liedtke 18th August 2020 Western Cape-based Toronto Group on August 18 launched its charcoal production facility, in the Swartland municipality of the province. The combined virtual and limited attendance sod-turning ceremony was hosted by information bureau Wesgro. →

An artist's rendering of the Toronto Group's Charcoal Production Facility once completed.

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