The global agrifood sector faces fundamental challenges over the coming decade, particularly the need to feed an ever-increasing population in a sustainable manner, the impacts of the climate crisis and the economic consequences and disruptions to food supply linked to the war in Ukraine, according to a report released by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). The OECD-FAO Agricultural Outlook 2022-2031 focuses on assessing the medium-term prospects for agricultural commodity markets. The findings of the report underscore the crucial role of additional public spending and private investment in production, information technology and infrastructure as well as human capital to raise agricultural productivity. The publication consists of 11 Chapters; Chapter 1 covers agricultural and food markets; Chapter 2 provides regional outlooks and the remaining chapters are dedicated to individual commodities. Please click here to peruse.

The Western Cape government hosted a summit in Goudini on 4 and 5 August focusing on the role and impact of local government and municipal service delivery on the agricultural sector. Representatives from the Western Cape Department of Agriculture, as well as officials from other line departments like water municipal managers, officials and mayors, were in attendance. Dr Ivan Meyer, the Western Cape minister of agriculture touched on strategic priorities for agriculture in the Western Cape. There were presentations on rural safety, disaster management, water resource management, land reform and declining rural municipal infrastructure and services. Agbiz head of Legal Intelligence Annelize Crosby made a presentation on the impact of declining municipal services on the agricultural sector and highlighted issues related to electricity, roads, poor service delivery and service delivery protests. Reference was made in the presentation about the role of public-private partnerships, private electricity generation, and road repairs by the private sector and the prerequisites for private sector to get involved in such projects.

As the harvest for the 2021/22 summer crop season draws to a close, the focus is shifting towards the 2022/23 production season, which commences in October. The preliminary insights suggest that South Africa could have another good season. However, we fear the extreme rains and heat observed in the northern hemisphere summer season could be a reality here at home too. Still, the three critical indicators we have thus far, i.e., (1) the tractor sales, (2) the weather outlook for the next five months, and (3) grains and oilseed prices, paint a positive outlook for the 2022/23 season. Agbiz chief economist Wandile Sihlobo discusses the latest data in the linked article.

There are two significant maize-producing countries in the Southern Africa region: South Africa and Zambia. South Africa's 2021/22 maize harvest is down by 10% from the previous season, estimated at 14,7 million tonnes. The decline in harvest is mainly caused by the reduced area planted and poor yields in some regions following excessive rains at the start of the season. Still, this harvest will be sufficient to meet the domestic maize consumption of 11,8 million tonnes and keep the country a net exporter of maize. In the case of Zambia, the 2021/22 season maize harvest is down sharply by 25% from the prior season to 2,7 million tonnes. These estimates are from the country's Ministry of Agriculture. Unlike South Africa, which struggled with excessive rains, Zambia faced the opposite. Wandile Sihlobo discusses this subject in the linked article.

Inputs to improve the methodology according to which South African companies are measured in terms of food and agricultural production against other agricultural companies globally, were sought at a meeting of the World Benchmarking Alliance (WBA) in Cape Town on 7 July. The WBA is an international non-profit organisation which assesses and ranks the most influential companies worldwide according to the United Nations' objectives for sustainable development. Agbiz Grain general manager Wessel Lemmer discusses the outcomes of the meeting in the linked article, written for and first published in Landbouweekblad.

The Southern African Customs Union (SACU) member states, secured a landmark victory for the SACU poultry industry following the arbitration panel’s ruling on the dispute with the European Union (EU) on 3 August, a statement released last week said. The dispute was initiated by the EU under the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) between the EU and the SADC EPA States (EU-SADC EPA ) and relates to a bilateral safeguard measure imposed by SACU on frozen bone-in chicken cuts imports from the EU, in 2018. The EU had challenged the legal basis and compliance of the measure with the EU-SADC EPA on a number of grounds. Dismissing the majority of the EU’s claims, in particular, those pertaining to the geographical scope of the measure, the requirement for an investigation, the adequacy of the information provided to the EU as well as the request for a refund of the duties already paid, the arbitration panel confirmed that the EU-SADC EPA provides for a safeguarding regime that departs from that under WTO rules, emphasising the developmental character of the EU-SADC-EPA. Read more in the linked SACU media statement.

Sub-Saharan Africa’s agricultural sector is widely recognised to have vast, under-utilised potential. Land and labour productivity are low compared to other regions and have barely increased over the last 20 years. Low productivity has created widespread rural poverty and food insecurity, so the potential for productivity increases represents an opportunity to boost inclusive growth. Scholars, development organisations, and some entrepreneurs have identified digital technologies associated with the Fourth Industrial Revolution—the broad shift toward greater machine autonomy, improved analytics, greater connectedness, and advanced robotics—as one potential path toward overcoming these productivity challenges. Anecdotal evidence from well-publicised start-ups—such as Hello Tractor, a tractor-sharing platform started in Kenya, and Zenvus, a Nigerian soil mapping company—have fueled a narrative that digital agriculture represents the key to delivering productivity gains to African start-ups. Yet as a recent FAO report admitted, hard evidence that digital agriculture is delivering on this promise is difficult to come by, as long-standing challenges persist in preventing to unlock fully the potential of these technologies. Read more in the linked article first published on brookings.edu.

On August 1, 2022, the Minister of Trade, Industry and Competition announced a decision to suspend the imposition of anti-dumping duties (ADDs) on poultry from Brazil, Denmark, Ireland, Poland, and Spain for a period of 12 months “considering the rapid rise in food process… as well as the impact that the imposition of the anti-dumping duties may have on the price of chicken.” Although the Commission investigating dumping found that poultry originating in these countries was dumped into the Southern African Customs Union (SACU) market and recommended the application of ADDs, the minister determined that the imposition of these duties would have a negative impact on the poor. Please click here to access the full USDA report.

Sorghum is regarded as the second most important cereal grain crop in Africa after maize, and globally it is the fifth most important cereal grain crop, after maize, rice, wheat and barley. As a crop, it is ideally suited to marginal environments due to its low water requirement, drought tolerance, tolerance to high temperatures, the multitude of uses (food, animal feed, beverages and ethanol) and ability to produce harvestable grain under diverse farming systems. In South Africa, sorghum is currently only the sixth largest grain crop, after maize, wheat, soybeans, sunflower, wheat and barley. This is in contrast to a decade ago when sorghum was the third largest grain crop after maize and wheat. A five-year average shows that sorghum production in South Africa has been declining, with South Africa moving from being a net exporter of sorghum to a net importer. The purpose of the study was to assess the current sorghum industry in South Africa, with the objective of identifying viable market opportunities to rejuvenate the sorghum industry, expand the production of sorghum and stimulate demand for sorghum. Please click here to access the final report of the study.

According to the Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development's latest report on foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) outbreaks in the country, seven new active cases of FMD have been confirmed in the Free State, bringing the active cases in the Free State to 14. A vaccination drive in the Free State was launched in July and 25 759 cattle already have been vaccinated. The farm where the first case was reported, is still quarantined. One new case was confirmed in the Tshwane municipality in Gauteng and one in the Victor Khanye municipality in Mpumalanga. Both premises are fenced and quarantined. No new cases were reported in KwaZulu-Natal and Limpopo. Currently there are 73 active cases in KwaZulu-Natal and seven in Limpopo.

Port operations this past week were typified by equipment breakdowns, congestion, network-related issues, and a lengthy power outage in Richards Bay. TFR still hasn't provided an estimated return time on the second line of the container corridor after the derailment, and they were also subject to cable theft this week. The helicopter in Richards Bay executed night shift operations this week, while the Department of Health issued a memorandum stating that Port Health Services intend to relax Covid-19 screening protocols from this week onwards. On the international shipping side, global container throughput (albeit slightly) and scheduling reliability continue to improve as spot rates continue to fall. These developments further suggest that demand has peaked, and the financial boom of the carriers is set to end. Against the backdrop of softer demand and container spot rates declining, contract re-negotiations have accelerated. Read more in the latest edition of the BUSA Covid-19 Cargo Movement Update linked here.

Farmers in the Gamtoos River Valley are closing shop amid crippling water restrictions and the prolonged drought. Several years of stringent water restrictions on growers’ drawings from the Kouga Dam are taking their toll in the citrus-rich Gamtoos River Valley, with several commercial farmers having relocated or closing shop over the past 12 months. Last month, the Department of Water and Sanitation announced that the 128 citrus, cash crop and dairy farmers in the valley relying on the Kouga Dam would be permitted to draw just 20% of their usual water allocations from the dam for 2022/3. The dam is currently at 16.6% capacity. “A 20% allocation for agricultural users has a devastating effect on the economy of our valley,” said Rienette Colesky, chief executive of the Kouga Dam custodians, Gamtoos Irrigation Board (GIB). “Our emerging farmers have really been struggling and some of them have discontinued farming,” she said, adding: “At least five commercial farmers have left the agricultural industry or relocated to other areas during this past year.” For farmers, it is the sixth successive year of these restrictions.

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