Agbiz hosted a workshop on 13 March 2024 in Pretoria on the subject of campaigns that are aimed at bringing about change in the agricultural sector. The workshop was attended by members, some in person and some attending online. The aim of the workshop was to create awareness amongst members of the role and impact of campaigning by non-governmental organisations in the policy and implementation space in the sector.

By way of background, Agbiz has, as one of its core objectives, a role to try and create and maintain an enabling environment for our members to function in. Agbiz is therefore very involved in the policy space. There are however many other actors that are also active in the policy space and sometimes their views are diametrically opposed to that of Agbiz and its members. The approach of many of these ngo’s can be quite ideological, emotionally driven and even confrontational. It is important that members understand how these groupings operate and how to respond appropriately.

Dr Hardacre is global public affairs leader based in Brussels with vast experience in advocacy, public affairs and policy work. He presented on the international context of campaigning. He explained that ngo’s involved in campaigning can range from billion dollar, well known global, professional organisations such as the WWF,

Greenpeace and Oxfam to small community-based organisations and ideological style ngo’s. Large ngo’s spend lots of money on marketing. Many of the ngo’s in Europe have an international focus and footprint. Ngo’s are in essence businesses that influence political decisions. Some of these ngo’s are very good at what they do and very influential.

It is important to understand that ngo’s campaign, rather than or engage in dialogue and that they do not have regard for science and evidence. Industry, on the other hand, tends to rely heavily on science and evidence. The focus of ngo’s is more on what people feel and would like to see in society. Ngo’s exist to create and sell ideas. Campaigns are aimed both at influencing policy and attracting more funding. Ngo’s might create a sense of crisis and urgency in order to achieve their objectives. They might also use tactics to exclude industry from important policy debates. Sometimes the integrity and credibility of industry organisations are called into question.

Dr Hardacre had some advice for businesses that are targeted in campaigns. Some of the participants also shared their experiences and lessons learnt. It was stressed just how important it is to acknowledge the issues that NGOs may be raising about the industry – with an excellent example from a participant of how they embraced the criticism they were facing and engaged with the NGO in question to good effect.

Agbiz’s legal intelligence manager shared her perspective on the South African context. She said that the South African landscape is very well suited to activism because of our political history and the very serious problems that we are faced with as a country such as poverty, inequality and unemployment. Climate change, poor service delivery and infrastructure collapse also contribute to creating a fertile ground for frustration, which in turn opens up possibilities for groupings to launch various campaigns. Whilst our Constitution is very progressive and provides for the protection and achievement of human rights, many people still lack access to basic rights and services such as healthcare, housing, and education. Our political history is one of activism and many of our politicians are still proudly activist. There are also quite a few activist academics in our society.

Activism is not always a bad thing - it can be quite effective in bringing positive change in a society where such change is sorely needed. The Treatment Action Campaign around Aids treatment is one such example. In the agricultural space, the popular themes for campaigns are seed, pesticides, gmo’s, farmworker rights, land and water. Groupings that typically are targeted in campaigns, include big corporate companies in the value chain, commercial farmers, the seed industry ,the pesticide industry, the tobacco industry and specific commodities such as wine and fruit.

Elriza Theron is the advocacy and communications manager at Croplife. She has extensive experience in advocacy and communication. Elriza explained how the approach to communication has changed over time and she shared the challenges regarding the public understanding of science. Increasing the public’s understanding of science, does not necessarily translate into support for science as the public can still make moral judgements about science even if it doesn’t understand it. There is a lot more public participation in science nowadays and this brings its own challenges. The public is increasingly engaged in science debates even before certain science projects are initiated. The relationship between science and society will continue to change. The internet also brought about a whole new dynamic in what information is publicly available. It is a well-known fact that falsehoods spread faster and wider than accurate information. There is a lot of mis- and disinformation out there, which is very difficult to correct. Good science communication requires more than language. Communication is not one-size-fits-all. Personal relationships with journalists and other stakeholders is important. Communication needs to be pitched at the right level.

It was decided that this report will be circulated to members together with the presentations. A working group will be established to take the debate forward and also to make recommendations regarding how this can be dealt with as a discussion point at the Agbiz congress.

Members will be invited to nominate persons to serve on the working group.