Conference puts the spotlight on a better agri trade deal for Africa

Published: 12/07/2019

The overarching theme of the 2019 Agribusiness Africa Conference hosted by Farmer's Weekly this week, was market access, and one of the key discussion topics was how to secure a better deal for African countries within the global agricultural trade environment.


The overarching theme of  the 2019 Agribusiness Africa Conference hosted by Farmer's Weekly this week, was market access, and one of the key discussion topics was how to secure a better deal for African countries within the global agricultural trade environment.

During the four sessions, speakers and a range of stakeholders from across the agriculture, agribusiness and trade platforms delved into the dynamics of trade between farm gate and domestic, regional and international markets.

Agbiz CEO Dr John Purchase was one of the panellist in the last session of the day which provided an analysis of how South Africa and other countries in sub-Saharan Africa are performing compared with their competitors in the Southern Hemisphere in terms of putting in place trade agreements for agricultural produce.

Earlier in the day, Agbiz chief economist Wandile Sihlobo moderated the panel discussion with a focus on local market access. Themes discussed during this session included accessing local informal markets, the South African produce markets and the South African retail sector. The session also explored the barriers to establishing more efficient rural and domestic markets.