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BFAP Baseline 2018 released
The Bureau for Food and Agricultural Policy (BFAP) launched its Baseline 2018 and Agricultural Outlook 2018-2027 on 15 August. The outlook covers agricultural production, consumption, prices and trade in South Africa for the period 2018 to 2027. It was also a celebration of the 15th year that BFAP has guided the policy arena, generating intelligence for the agro-food industry, partnering with private and public sector stakeholders, and to inform on relevant issues. BFAP used this opportunity to launch a brand-new corporate identity that personifies its objective of producing rigorous multi-disciplinary analyses to support strategic and operational decision-making.
Published: 16/08/2018
MoreDoes size matter in South African farming?
Seeing that fellow South Africans are talking about farm sizes today, I thought it would be useful to brush up a short essay I wrote a few months back in this subject. In May 2018, I participated in a panel discussion hosted by Nation in Conversation at NAMPO in Bothaville. The discussion focused on the importance of the economies of scale and question we had to answer was down to this: does farm size matter in South Africa? - Wandile Sihlobo, Agbiz head of Agribusiness Research *Written for and first published on Business Day
Published: 16/08/2018
MoreHow private sector can supply land in a way that makes reform work
Throughout our series of bi-weekly articles in Business Day over the last 10 weeks we have endeavoured to constructively contribute to the land reform debate. While we flagged some unintended consequences of the proposed expropriation without compensation policy, we always argued for an efficient land reform process, with minimal State involvement to quickly restore land rights to the majority of South Africans. - Wandile Sihlobo, Agbiz head of Agribusiness Research and Prof Johann Kirsten, director of the Bureau for Economic Research at Stellenbosch University *Written for and first published on Business Day, 13 August 2018
Published: 16/08/2018
MoreTrade war trumps usual focus on harvests and weather
At this time of the year in the agricultural markets, the harvest prospects for the northern hemisphere and weather forecasts for the southern hemisphere are typically discussed, as the 2018/19 planting season is fast approaching for the latter. But this time around the typical discussion has been eclipsed by the uncertainty in the global trade environment caused by the trade dispute between the US and China. - Wandile Sihlobo, Agbiz head of Agribusiness Research *Written for and first published on Business Day on 16 August 2018
Published: 16/08/2018
MoreWomen’s work on African farms
The World Bank recently released an interesting book titled Agriculture in Africa: Telling Myths from Facts. It covers a wide range of topics from smallholder land access, post-harvest losses, financing of agricultural inputs, agricultural labour productivity and women’s work in agriculture amongst others. Having recently written an article on women’s contribution to the South African agricultural sector, I was quickly drawn in on the chapter that dealt with the subject. The book puts women’s share of labour in crop production at an average 40 percent, with variations across countries. Worth noting, however, is that the data does not cover the entire continent, but selected countries, namely: Ethiopia, Malawi, Niger, Nigeria, Tanzania and Uganda. With that said, the countries cover a wide array of the continent’s farming zones. - Wandile Sihlobo, Agbiz head of Agribusiness Research.
Published: 09/08/2018
MoreThe female face of agriculture
From the classroom to the farm to the boardroom, women in agriculture not only play an important role in feeding the world, but they are affecting positive change in the agricultural space. Women fill many roles across the agricultural spectrum where they influence the agricultural agenda and decision-making. They are farmers and farmworkers, agricultural researchers, educators, journalists and agri-business people. - Karen Grobler, Agbiz marketing and communications manager
Published: 08/08/2018
MoreThe subtle art of saying everything and nothing at the same time
The title of this article may ruffle a few feathers, and perhaps it is a bit mischievous to do so, but it is exactly what is currently happening with statements related to amending the Constitution to allow for expropriation without compensation. - Theo Boshoff, Agbiz head of Legal Intelligence * Written for and first published on Media 24
Published: 08/08/2018
MoreIs expropriation a red herring for traditional leaders?
Traditional leadership and land expropriation are two very thorny issues in their own right, but once the two became conflated it was bound to ruffle some feathers. The issue came to the fore after the recent comments made by King Goodwill Zwelithini regarding the Ingonyama Trust, but are these issues really related? - Theo Boshoff, Agbiz head of Legal Intelligence * Written for and first published in Mail & Guardian
Published: 02/08/2018
MoreStable global food supply feeds bright inflation outlook
The world is in a far better place in terms of food supply and costs than in the recent past. This is evident in the Food and Agricultural Organisation food price index, which averaged 173.7 index points in June, down 1.3% from May and a percentage point from the same time in 2017. This was underpinned by a decline in global grain, vegetable oil and dairy product prices due to large supplies. - Wandile Sihlobo, Agbiz head of Agribusiness Research *Written for and first published on Business Day on 2 August 2018.
Published: 02/08/2018
MoreSA's logistics amongst the best in the world
South Africa’s logistics are comparatively more efficient than most industrialising countries, albeit showing a concerning trend in having regressed from 2016’s ranking. This is according to the World Bank’s Logistics Performance Index which ranked South Africa at number 33 out of 160 countries surveyed, down from number 20 in 2016, with Germany still leading the world. With growing expectations that South Africa could potentially have large agricultural surpluses for export markets, particularly in maize, the logistics services will play a critical role in ensuring the success of the activity. – Wandile Sihlobo, head of Agribusiness Research
Published: 31/07/2018
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