Budget 2020: Agriculture sector expects action
Finance Minister Tito Mboweni has been urged to ensure the correct strategies are in place to make the implementation of any announcements made during the 2020/2021 National Budget speech feasible.
According to Annette Steyn, DA MP and member of the Portfolio Committee on Agriculture, Rural Development and Land Reform, every year many projects and plans were announced with great fanfare, but no action followed.
READ Treasury cuts land reform budget
She cited the example of the R3,9 billion allocated to Land Bank in the Medium-Term Budget Policy Statement to support black farmers.
“These announcements sound encouraging. However, we know there’s no programme in place, and that the department has no strategy to implement them,” said Steyn.
She added the minister allocated R1,8 billion last year for the implementation of 262 priority land reform projects over three years, but government had still not provided a list of where these projects would be executed.
“We have also been informed that the projects will not be implemented within the next year as [it has taken] too long to draw up business plans and planting time is over.”
Steyn also emphasised that no funds had been budgeted to address challenges such as the drought and the recent foot-and-mouth disease outbreak.
Other industry role players said that they hoped Mboweni would make a commitment to address pressing issues faced by the sector, such as climate change, land reform and electricity challenges.
Dr Vuyo Mahlati, president of the African Farmers’ Association of South Africa, said government needed to show commitment to drought management: “After such a tough year, it is expected that the minister should focus his attention on making sure that the various departments that are dealing with drought and disasters are given more [financial clout].”
She said it was important that financial support for farmers, particularly black farmers, actually reached them through the appropriate intermediaries.
For Katlego Ramantsima and Nkanyiso Gumede, researchers at the Institute for Poverty, Land and Agrarian Studies, the main interest of this year’s speech would be to see whether the budget for land reform and agriculture would continue to decrease. They pointed out that in past financial years, insufficient budget allocations had been highlighted as one of the factors behind the slow pace of land reform.
“However, important reports, [released by panels] such as the High Level Panel and Presidential Advisory Panel on Land Reform, had implored government to make more resources available to help salvage land reform. The emphasis was on increasing the budget for land acquisition and post-settlement support. It will be interesting to see if this call will be heeded,” they said.
Prepared by Jeandré van der Walt
ESAFF Annual General Summit
19 – 20 February 2020
Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
UPDATE on Foot and Mouth Disease: Molemole Outbreak Follow-up Report
In November 2019, an outbreak of Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD) was confirmed on a farm in the Capricorn district of Limpopo Province, which is in the suspended FMD free zone. Disease investigations are currently ongoing and the infection has been confirmed in 10 locations. The affected properties include commercial cattle farms, a community farm, feedlots and associated abattoirs. All the positive locations are in Limpopo province. No positive locations have been found in any other province
Affected locations
On 1 November 2019, an outbreak of FMD was first reported at a commercial farm in Molemole Local Municipality in the Capricorn District of Limpopo province. The infection was confirmed by Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) at Transboundary Animal Disease – Onderstepoort Veterinary Research of the Agricultural Research Council.
To date, the infection has been confirmed on nine (9) commercial properties that include commercial farms, feedlots and associated abattoirs, as well as one (1) community farm. Some locations were identified as a result of reports of clinical signs seen in cattle, while most were identified during trace back and trace forward exercises. All of the locations are either linked directly to auction sales, or to movement from affected farms. Varied clinical signs are seen, with some locations showing almost no clinical signs, some showing only foot lesions, while others show pronounced mouth lesions.
Control measures implemented
All the infected properties have been placed under quarantine and cloven hoofed animals are not allowed to move off the quarantined properties. Strict biosecurity measures are also in place at all quarantined properties to avoid the spread of disease through indirect contact.
Clinical examination of all cloven hoofed animals on all affected properties is being conducted to determine the prevalence of the disease. The application of emergency vaccination to the in-contact cattle is not considered necessary at this stage.
The congregation and redistribution of cloven hoofed animals from and to more than one location (i.e. auctions, shows, and similar activities) have been identified as playing an integral role in the spread of disease. Livestock owners have been advised to temporarily suspend all such activities in all provinces until the extent of the outbreak has been confirmed. Farmers are encouraged to only move cloven hoofed animals directly from one property to another with the support of a veterinary declaration to confirm the absence of clinical signs of FMD on the premises of origin and in the animals to be moved.
Epidemiological investigation
The virus responsible for the outbreak is a SAT 2 serotype and is closely related to the virus responsible for the outbreak that occurred in January 2019, as well as the outbreaks in the FMD protection zone in May and August 2018.
The exact source of this outbreak is yet to be determined and is still being investigated. However, illegal movement of cloven hoofed animals out of the FMD controlled areas could have introduced the virus into the FMD free areas, where-after spreading of the disease occurred through normal (legal) movements of cloven hoofed animals.
Epidemiological investigation is continuing, with backward and forward tracing in process to determine possible origin of the virus, as well as locations to which the disease might have spread. All properties where the infection has been confirmed thus far are well demarcated and fenced-off and have been placed under quarantine.
The movement of susceptible animals through cattle auctions has been identified as a critical factor in initial spreading the infection, with subsequent movements between farms contributing to further spread. Movements of cattle that occurred in the past 3 months on the infected properties as well as others linked to the sources or destinations of the translocated animals are being investigated. Passive surveillance in the rest of the country is being strengthened by emphasizing the importance of reporting suspect cases.
Trade implications
Following the loss of the OIE recognised FMD free status in January 2019, agreements were negotiated with trade partners on the export of safe commodities, including heat treated meat and dairy products, deboned and matured beef, scoured wool, salted hides and skins and livestock embryos. Most trade partners have thus far retained the negotiated agreements for these safe commodities, based on the guarantees provided for the processing to ensure inactivation of the virus. South Africa is also confident to certify for the safety of pork products from known FMD free pig compartments.
Regional Review and Learning of Project Influence II Workshop
23rd and 24th November 2019,
Arusha, Tanzania
Partnership helps small-scale African farmers grow wheat
JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA — As part of a partnership with Tiger Brands and development agencies, a group of small farmers in Johannesburg, South Africa, are preparing to harvest 3,000 tonnes of wheat.
Fifty-seven farmers participated in the Baphuduhucwana Production Incubator (BPI) scheme. It was supported by a partnership that includes Tiger Brands, development agency Zenzele Itereleng and Leading Edge Farming, which provided funding, training and mentorship to the farmers.
The farmers formed a cooperative by pooling their individual 7.5 and 10-hectare allocations to create the equivalent of a commercial farm.
“We were attracted to this initiative by BPI’s desire to be independent and drive to operate a viable commercial legacy enterprise to pass onto the next generation,” said Joe Matsau, chairman of Zenzele Itereleng. “Through partnerships like this one, ZI is reframing its role from purely that of a funder toward enabling community development in a broader context using more innovative and impact orientated partnerships.”
Under this initiative, funding for input costs is made available to farmers, and Tiger Brands then purchases these crops under an off-take agreement. The income generated from this agreement is used to repay the revolving funding facility, which is then made available again for the next crop cycle.
For next year’s summer and winter crops, BPI plans on raising almost R60 million ($4.1 million), increasing to R100 million by 2021.
By Susan Reidy
Agriculture performs poorly despite 3,1% GDP growth
Statistics South Africa’s gross domestic product (GDP) data for the second quarter of the year showed a growth of 3,1%, driven by mining, finance, trade and government services.
According to the report that was released on Tuesday, this was a sharp increase compared to the decline of 3,2% in the first quarter, which was the sharpest quarterly drop seen in South Africa in a decade.
However, the agriculture, forestry and fishing sector as well as the construction industry decreased 4,2% and 1,6% respectively, and each contributed -0,1 of a percentage point to GDP growth.
Dawie Maree, head of information and marketing for agriculture at FNB said the decline of 4,2% was surprising, but the fundamental principles made sense.
“The majority of summer crops are still [being harvested] due to the late harvest and also a smaller [crop].”
He added that there were also smaller table and wine grapes crops, which had an impact on growth in the sector.
“We expect a rebound in the third quarter, due the late maize season, which is usually [completed] in the second quarter, but [was] only finished in the third quarter.”
Maree said it was important to compare the effects of this growth against the previous season’s results, thus comparing second quarter growth this year with that of last year.
South Africa’s overall quarter-on-quarter growth was t 3,1%, with year-on-year growth standing at 0,9%.
Nominal GDP in the second quarter was estimated at R1,26 trillion, which was higher than the R1,20 trillion recorded in the first quarter of the year.
The report stated that mining was the strongest performer in the second quarter, expanding 14,4%.
This was the industry’s strongest showing in three years since the second quarter of 2016, when production jumped by 16,3%. Iron ore, manganese and coal were the main contributors to mining growth.
Finance, real estate and business services, the largest sector in the South African economy, grew 4,1%.
This growth came on the back of stronger performances by the banking and insurance industries. General government services increased 3,4%, mainly attributable to an increase in employment.
Author: Annelie Coleman
Read article here
Empowering small-scale women farmers in SA
The Women Farmers Programme, piloted in 2018 by the Vodacom Foundation in partnership with UN Women and South African Women in Farming (SAWIF), was formally launched in Johannesburg on Tuesday.
More than 600 smallholder female farmers in rural areas of Limpopo and KwaZulu-Natal have received training in digital literacy to enable them to take full advantage of the economic benefits offered by the digital revolution and successfully participate in the agricultural value chain, according to a statement by the Vodacom Group.
Takalani Netshitenzhe, chief officer of corporate affairs at the Vodacom Group, said the initial plan when the programme was conceptualised in 2016, was to introduce the ‘Connected Farmer App’, to provide real-time information about what farmers were producing in which regions.
The secondary aim was to ensure that small-scale female farmers participating in the programme had access to markets, a key requirement for the transformation of smallholder farmers to commercial production, and to help them meet the quality standards and other conditions set by retailers.
After realising that the women were “digitally illiterate”, the project had to be implemented in four phases. The first phase was providing them with digital literacy to prepare them for the use of the app, she said.
The second phase, which was now being embarked on, was to digitise the programme’s database and to connect farmers with retailers.
The next phase would be to minimise the role of SAWIF by giving the women direct access to markets, while the final phase would be to integrate Vodacom’s financial services offerings into the programme.
Author: Siyanda Sishuba Read original article here