Win-win solution for land reform not out of reach 

December 2017 will be the make or break point for land reform in South Africa. After more than twenty years into democracy, the country's policies that drive transformation in various sectors of the economy has not quite lived up to its promise and nowhere is this more acutely felt than in the agricultural sector where time and patience is running out for the promise of access to land made more than 20 years ago. Theo Boshoff, Agbiz Head: Legal Intelligence provides more information in the  linked article»

Private Sector Workshop on Responsible Agricultural Investment

A one-day workshop on Responsible Agricultural Investment was recently held in Johannesburg, South Africa. It targeted the private sector and was jointly organised by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) and the World Bank. Dr John Purchase, CEO of Agbiz, together with 24 other participants from the private sector actively discussed and shared experiences and views on large scale agricultural investment on a number of selected key topics. The workshop was opened by Ms. Christiane Stepanek-Allen, Chief, Responsible Investment and Partnerships, Division on Investment and Enterprise, UNCTAD, and Mr. Christopher Brett, Lead  Agribusiness Specialist, World Bank. Ms Stepanek-Allen welcomed those in attendance, briefly introduced UNCTAD and its investment-related work, including the organization's contribution to responsible investment in agriculture. She highlighted the joint evidence based research undertaken by UNCTAD and World Bank, along with partner organizations, to develop a body of empirical knowledge on Responsible Agricultural Investment (RAI). In the wider context, this could be a potential contribution to the attainment of several UN Sustainable Development Goals. Please click on Responsible Agricultural Investment  to peruse report.

Department of Energy (DoE) reports to Parliament

This past week the DoE presented during to the Portfolio Committee on Energy regarding their 4th Quarter Performance Report for 2016/17. The meeting was attended by the Minister as well as Deputy Minister of Energy. The Minister also advised the Committee that a decision regarding bid windows 3.5 and 4 would be announced soon. Please click on DoE presentation to peruse.

SA expects a big summer crop, while winter grains show a decline

After the National Crop Estimate Committee revised its maize production forecast to 15.96 million tonnes in July, it has further lifted its forecast to 16.41 million tonnes - making this season's crop the largest on record. As indicated in our previous notes, this big crop means South Africa would, ideally, export over 4 million tonnes of maize in total for the 2017/18 season. However, weak global demand for white maize could lead to relatively lower exports of 2.2 million tonnes. This will leave a large carry-over stock to the new season, which will essentially keep maize prices under pressure for some time. Wandile Sihlobo, Agbiz economist provides more information in the  linked update»

Bagful of cost rises could counteract lower maize price

I recently tweeted a chart showing a long-term trend of South Africa's maize prices and the message behind it was that the price of a tonne of maize declined by roughly 60% year-on-year in July 2017. This came thanks to the good summer rainfall which led to a record maize harvest. The question posed by other folks on Twitter was whether the decline in maize prices had been passed to the end consumer.  Click to read Wandile Sihlobo's column which appeared in BusinessDay on 31 August 2017.

Click here to read the daily market view on commodities and the weekly wrap.  

All designated employers must submit their annual employment equity report by 1 October 2017 (S21 of Employment Equity Act).  The electronic submission of the employment equity report is open until 15 January 2018 - Read more

The economic importance of poultry is highlighted by the fact that in the 2016 production cycle, broiler and egg production was still the largest segment of South African Agriculture in Rand value at 18%. The recent outbreaks of the H5N8 strain of Avian influenza have sent shockwaves through the poultry industry of South Africa after it was first detected on 22 June 2017  -  Read more»

Corn and wheat are both at risk, according to a new study that calculates the impact on agriculture for each degree Celsius that global temperatures rise -  Read more»

Agbiz information session for agribusinesses
5 October 2017 | Western Cape
To register, please contact Jennifer Roets on e-mail: jennifer@agbiz.co.za

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