The BUSA board convened a special meeting on Monday, 10 January 2022 to consider BUSA’s response to Part 1 of the Zondo Commission Report. "We convened a special meeting at short notice because we believe the release of Part 1 of the report reflects an inflection point in our country and all sectors of society must seriously consider the recommendations made by Judge Zondo and also interrogate the report. The BUSA board indicated its intention to urgently engage with BUSA members to ensure we have a comprehensive response, and position, on the report." The board was clear that business must utilise the report for very serious introspection and develop a position that reflects serious consideration of the involvement of businesses in the state capture saga. Please click here for the full BUSA response.

The NWU Business School PUI for 4Q 2021 declined to 53.2 from 58.2 in 3Q 2021 (baseline 50), but is still well in negative territory. The negative factors that caused the big spike in the 3Q 2021 PUI diminished in 4Q 2021. Structural impediments to a strong economic recovery remain unless economic reforms are prioritised. Towards the end of 4Q 2021 overall global economic growth rate forecasts, although still positive at about 5%, were being trimmed as a result of the impact of Omicron restrictions in several countries. Lower growth and higher inflation, together with costly supply chain disruptions, were increasingly features of the global economy in the fourth quarter of 2021. Emerging markets (EM) like South Africa became vulnerable to the gradual tightening of US monetary policy and a sharp slowdown in the Chinese economy. In 4Q 2021 interest rates rose in several countries to deal with inflation. The PUI is linked here.

South Africa has not lacked policies, it has lacked dynamic capabilities inside the public sector to implement those policies. This paper tackles this question head-on, beginning with a different notion of the state  – not just a market fixer but also a market co-creator and shaper. The report focuses on three inter-related areas: the dynamic capabilities needed to improve implementation of chosen strategic missions and related programmes, including digital capabilities; innovation in public service, especially with respect to coordinating activities that yield outcomes in a defined locality but very much driven by a set of missions; and the idea of a developmental state whose aim is to achieve both greater efficiencies and equity outcomes. We conclude with a set of recommendations for South Africa to turn its weak state into a dynamic and capable innovative state. This paper, by Mariana Mazzucato, Mzukisi Qobo and Rainer Kattel, presents a strategy for South Africa to achieve greater efficiencies and equity in order to become a dynamic and innovative state. Please click here to peruse.

"Land remains central to the imagination of citizenship of today’s ANC. Yet the evidence since 1994 shows hesitation, timidity and indifference to the resolution of land. The disaster with the abortive constitutional amendment has been illustrative of a larger malaise. While the ANC negotiated a radically transformative Constitution in 1996, it seems to have been reluctant to enforce it. Let me focus only on expropriation to make my point. Section 25(2) of the Constitution explicitly states that property (including land) 'may be expropriated only in terms of law of general application' (a) for a public purpose or in the public interest; and (b) subject to compensation, the amount of which and the time and manner of payment of which have either been agreed to by those affected or decided or approved by a court.' Quite clearly, land can be expropriated by the state." This is an extract from an article by Adv. Tembeka Ngcukaitobi, first published in Mail & Guardian. Please click here for the full article.

In October 2021, the National Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development (DALRRD) announced that a diverse and evolving group of products derived from new breeding technologies (NBTs) will be evaluated under the risk assessment framework that exists for genetically modified organisms (GMOs) under the Genetically Modified Organisms Act 15 of 1997. South Africa’s decision to regulate all products derived from NBTs as GMOs will have widespread implications not only in South Africa and on South African innovators, but also with regard to international trade of commodities that may contain products derived from NBTs. Asymmetric regulation may cause food insecurity and create significant barriers between South Africa and its trading partners. The current regulatory approach for NBTs will also discourage the development and uptake of the technology by all actors in the South African innovation and research space, including South African-owned seed companies, public and academic sector research organisations and small to medium-sized innovation enterprises. At the end of November, the agricultural industry lodged an appeal under section 19 of the GMO Act particularly in support of the South African bio-economy and local innovation and is looking forward to furthering communication regarding the next steps in this process. Please click here for the joint media statement issued by Agbiz, SANSOR and Croplife SA.

The year 2021 was one of critical conversations about global agrifood systems – the processes and methods through which farming produces food. Following on the heels of the Covid-19 pandemic and a rise in global poverty, 2021 was a year for recovery and an urgent call to transform food systems if the world is to achieve the sustainable development goals targets by 2030. The United Nations Food System Summit in September was a call to action and a challenge to nations to build “transformed” food systems. It was followed by the development of the African Common Position. This outlines how countries on the continent plan to heed that call and challenge. Then came COP26: sustainable, resilient agrifood solutions are, after all, key to mitigating the effects of climate change. Please click here to access the article by Wandile Sihlobo, Lulama Ndibongo Traub and Edward Mabaya, first published on The Conversation.

The year 2021 has ended positively for South Africa's agricultural sector. Farmers experienced a unique season characterised by bumper yields, and higher agricultural commodity prices, particularly in the grains and oilseeds industries. Improved farmers' incomes have boosted spending on agricultural equipment. On the downside, the unrest and looting in July were disruptive, but the cooperation amongst agricultural and logistics role players ensured a continuous flow of agricultural exports. The primary agriculture sector could show positive growth in 2021, building from an excellent year of 13,4% year-on-year growth in 2020. Going into 2022, the early indicators about the agricultural growth prospects are positive. Wandile Sihlobo discusses the sector's performance in the linked article, first published on Econ3x3.com.

Food prices often dominated the headlines in South Africa last year. On several occasions, some people questioned the rise in South Africa’s consumer food price inflation in a year of abundant agricultural harvest. But to fully appreciate these the causes of the increase in prices, one has to recognize that this is not unique to South Africa but a global occurrence. The large crop harvests in South Africa contributed less towards price determination here at home than events in South America and Asia. The drivers of pieces were production constraints in South America, combined with rising demand for oilseeds and grains in China and India. South America had a poor crop harvest in 2021, primarily for maize, because of the La Niña weather phenomenon that typically leads to below-average rainfall in the Northern Hemisphere. (For clarity, in Southern Africa, La Niña weather event leads to above-average rain and is generally favourable for agriculture). These poor crop harvests in South America, combined with the rising demand in China and India, provided upward pressure on global grain and oilseed prices. The lingering shipping container shortage and the associated rise in shipping costs also added upward pressure on food prices for much of the year. Wandile Sihlobo discusses this subject in the linked blog post.

A notice on inspection tariffs for the grain and oilseed industry announced by Leaf Services in the Government Gazette last year has been set aside by an appeal council of the Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development. Leaf Services is a mandated institution appointed by the department in 2016 to provide inspection services in terms of the Agricultural Product Standards Act 119 of 1990. The inspection services have been controversial from the outset, and numerous stakeholders have already challenged Leaf Services' appointment and the determination of its rates in court. Agbiz Grain general manager Wessel Lemmer discusses this subject in the linked article, first published in Landbouweekblad.

On the occasion of the release of the Freshfel Europe Consumption Monitor on 16 December 2021, experts from across Europe and the supply chain reviewed the latest consumption trends in 12 EU member states plus the UK. The Consumption Monitor, which is based on figures up to 2019, was complemented by an analysis of the consumption trends in 2020 and 2021, which are characterised by the Covid-19 pandemic. As the Consumption Monitor figures indicate that fruit and vegetable consumption decreased to 349,19 gr/capita/day, Freshfel Europe urges the sector to build on the environmental, climate, and health benefits of a plant-based diet throughout 2022, with the goal of 400 gr/capita/day or half of the plate each meal. Please click here to peruse.

Livestock farming is one of the main emitters of greenhouse gases in the Netherlands, where climate change threatens to swallow up the low-lying fields. “It’s my passion and my life,” the reserved 53-year-old says in a small voice in his stable in the southern Netherlands, where he raises calves and chickens. “If we have to stop raising them, it will hurt.” Dutch farmers have found themselves pushed to the wall by the government, which is offering them a final choice to make their farms more climate-friendly, or change jobs. The new coalition government wants to release 25 billion euros ($28 billion) by 2035 to help reduce herd sizes and reduce emissions of nitrogen, a greenhouse gas emitted particularly by fertilisers and manure. Read more in the linked article, first published on msn.com.

Shipping costs soared over the past year as consumers unleashed pent-up savings to buy new merchandise while the pandemic continued to snarl the world’s supply chains. Container rates have more than quadrupled since the start of the pandemic, with some of the biggest gains concentrated in the first three quarters of last year. Lockdowns, labour shortages, and strains on logistics networks led to shipping-cost increases and significantly lengthened delivery times , though those pressures are easing. Our Chart of the Week shows how global container rates began to pull back from their record in September and have since declined by 16 per cent, mostly due to falling rates for trans-Pacific eastbound routes, the main sea link from China to the United States. Read more in the linked IMF blog post.

Theo Boshoff has officially started as the new Agbiz CEO. His to-do list is long, but he is prioritising his role in developing a plan to assist black farmers. Speaking to Food for Mzansi, Boshoff says that he has no doubt that we have the necessary goodwill and intellectual capital in South Africa to meaningfully address transformation in agriculture, but we sorely need the necessary levers to be put in place. The private sector and government have jointly developed a blended finance model to provide subsidised capital for black farmers. This can be a real game-changer, but we didn't quite get to implement it in 2021 as we had hoped we could. Blended finance simply must be available by the winter planting season in 2022. To read the full article, please click here.

Home Affairs Minister Aaron Motsoaledi said that while the Border Management Authority was yet to operate as a stand-alone authority, they’d already begun to coordinate the work of the various role players involved in managing the country’s borders. Motsoaledi said that this year, the authority would list as a stand-alone entity and begin hiring border guards who would work together with police and the army. He said that preparations to get the guards on the ground were already under way. Minister Motsoaledi said that the Border Management Authority had ensured the coordinated operations of the various sectors at the country’s borders over the festive period. Read more in the linked article, first published on msn.com.

The BUSA Covid-19: Cargo Movement Update – the 68th of its kind and final version for 2021 – contains a consolidated overview of the South African supply chain and the current state of international trade. Operationally, this week saw Durban having its fair share of equipment challenges, worsened by weather interruptions. At Durban Pier 2, various port users raised concerns during the past weekend due to the unavailability of tugs. Since the last Sunday at Durban MPT, only one crane has been operational. CTCT experienced various interruptions this week due to the port being declared windbound sporadically. Since the weekend, Cape Town TNPA recorded an additional 10 positive Covid-19 cases. TFR experienced some difficulties due to a sudden surge in cable theft incidents during the week, leaving Durban with limited rail resources and affecting loading plans. Transnet Port Terminals published its tariff increases, and the Port Regulator's decision on TNPA's tariff increase application was also published during the week. Please click here to peruse.

From time to time the reduction in the number of producers of unprocessed milk in South Africa is the subject of articles in the news media. The purpose of this report, published by the South African Milk Processors' Organisation (Sampro), is to present the reduction of the number of producers of unprocessed milk in South Africa in the context of the reduction of the number of producers of unprocessed milk in major dairy countries. The decrease in the number of producers of unprocessed milk, while the production of unprocessed milk increases, occurs in major dairy countries in the world, The complete report is available here.

The Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development (DALRRD) wishes to inform subsistence farmers who are beneficiaries of the Presidential Employment Stimulus (PES) vouchers of the decision to suspend all PES implementation with immediate effect until further notice. The department is reviewing, reengineering and redesigning PES implementation, to address all challenges experienced. It is unfortunate that the department has received endless complaints from the PES beneficiaries and the South African community at large, regarding various challenges on the PES implementation. These implementation challenges cannot be left unattended, hence the decision by the department to temporarily halt the current implementation. Read more in the linked DALRRD media statement.

The Agri X Group and Kleinskuur Boerdery invite you to take part in a special charity golf day on 17 February 2022 at the Waterkloof Golf Club, Pretoria.  The funds are in aid of the installation of an aquaponic system at the President Kruger Children`s Home. Please click here for online registration with Agri X Group. For more information, contact Koos Nel, Agri X Group founder and CEO at knel@agrixgroup.com.

Berries ZA, the industry association for South African blueberries, raspberries and blackberries are running a B2B promotional campaign on blueberries, targeting key industry players in Germany ahead of Fruit Logistica. The integrated PR and marketing campaign aims to communicate the South African blueberry USPs, which include high quality, excellent flavour profiles, well-established infrastructure and logistics, and being closer to market than other major blueberry-producing countries. “We believe that we have excellent berry varieties with superior taste. We learn from our competition and try not to make the same mistakes,” explains Berries ZA operations manager, Elzette Schutte. “We keep trying to ensure that every batch of South African fruit delivered to our international markets is better than the rest. We also ensure that we have good relationships with our buyers and other retail clients. South Africa is known for its beautiful fruit, and therefore we believe that our blueberries should, just like the rest of our produce, be regarded as the best in the world.” Read more in the linked article, first published on FreshPlaza.

Peritum Agri Institute is offering a skills development facilitator course. The purpose of the course is to capacitate skills development facilitators to manage the training cycle by facilitating the process of planning, executing, evaluating and quality control of the skills development process in an organisation. Please click here for more information on the course. A registration form is linked here.

.In 2006, SRCC realised the need to embark on a project which would encourage emerging farmers, both established and developing, to invest in the Sundays River Valley. This resulted in a BEE strategy that focused on land reform. The purpose of the BEE project is to oversee the establishment of successful emerging farmers that can take up shareholding in the company. This establishment of successful emerging farmers, who can take up shareholding in SRCC, will result in SRCC becoming a company that has transformed and will also facilitate effective land reform in the Sundays River Valley. For more information, please click on the latest issue of SRCC Transformation Times publication.

Keeping it Fresh, the newsletter of the Fresh Produce Exporters Forum (FPEF), contains all the recent relevant news and developments. Please click here for the latest edition.

The Citrus Growers' Association of Southern African, shares the latest news in the citrus industry in its weekly update - From the desk of the CEO. Please click here to peruse.

Read more about the latest developments and news in the pork industry in the South African Pork Producers' Organisation (SAPPO) newsletter, SAPPO Weekly Update.