The support of provincial and local government officials will be key to the success of the Agriculture and Agro-processing Master Plan. This was according to Agbiz chief economist Wandile Sihlobo, who was speaking during the Animal Feed Manufacturers' Association's (AFMA) recent virtual annual general meeting. "Minister of Agriculture, Rural Development and Land Reform Thoko Didiza needs to ensure that all the different spheres in government (national, provincial and local) are on the same page, because the practical implementation needs to be addressed on the ground by those officials," he said. Read more in the linked article, first published in Farmer's Weekly.

Shipping rates may be rising, but they are “not super yet”, according to one analyst. Dry bulk shipping rates surged this year as the global economy bounced back and commodity demand recovered, but some market watchers say the industry may not be headed for a sustained period of robust growth just yet. “Is it a supercycle? Well, I would say not yet, but it has the potential to become one,” said Mark Williams, managing director of Shipping Strategy, a maritime consultancy. A so-called supercycle refers to a sustained period of high and increasing prices, typically driven by strong demand and low supply. Read more in the linked article first published on CNBC.com.

A virtual special Cabinet meeting was held

of Tuesday, 14 September 2021 before the commencement of the Cabinet Lekgotla. Important and relevant ssues that were discussed include, amongst others, the Hydrogen Roadmap, the Companies Amendment Bill, the National Climate Change Bill and the approval of the revised Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) climate change mitigation target range for 2030 for submission to the UNFCCC. Please click here to read a statement highlighting the discussions issued by the Ministry in the Presidency.

Pam Saxby wrote on the Constitution 18th Amendment Bill in Daily Maverick of 13 September 2021, asking if Parliament is putting the cart before the horse by trying to finalise the Expropriation Bill before finalising the Constitutional Amendment Process. The authors of the linked article, would like to engage with some of the questions raised in the opinion piece.The main point that they would like to engage with is the statement that “before the Expropriation Bill can be passed, the Constitution needs to be amended”. This is not correct. The authors argue that the statement that ‘before the Expropriation Bill can be passed, the Constitution needs to be amended’, as expressed in a recent Daily Maverick Opinionista, is not correct. The processes running concurrently are typically confusing and are frequently confused. However, it is important to look at them separately. Please click here to read the full article, first published on Daily Maverick.

An export-led strategy underpins South Africa's trade policy, which entails a deliberate effort

to get the country's agriculture and other industrial sectors to export products beyond

existing international markets. There are at least two diametrically opposing views around

how well South Africa has executed this strategy in agriculture. The first view is that South Africa has not done enough to open up new markets, which has limited the country's scope to grow agricultural exports further. This view is widely shared by private sector role players who have struggled to penetrate and expand market share in key growing countries such as China, India and Saudi Arabia. Private sector role players argue that, over the past few years, the growth in South Africa's agricultural exports in these key markets has primarily been driven by productivity gains that have established a big enough competitive advantage that overcomes high tariff and non-tariff barriers. In the linked article, Agbiz chief economist Wandile Sihlobo discusses this subject.

South Africa’s consumer food price inflation continues to surprise on the upside. We thought the start of the second half of the year would moderate the increase we observed in the past few months. But the data released by Statistics South Africa today show that consumer food price inflation accelerated to 7,4% y/y in August 2021 after registering 7,0% in the previous two months. This is the highest level since March 2017. The underpinning drivers of this uptick in consumer food price inflation was meat and, to a lesser extent, fish and vegetables. Meanwhile, most products in the food basket, including ‘bread and cereals, and ‘oils and fats’, decelerated, the latter after a sharp increase in recent months. Agbiz chief economist Wandile Sihlobo discusses this subject in the linked article.

Farms in the Western Cape are boosting production of blueberries in hopes of capitalising on the fruit's export potential. In the linked CNN interview, Agbiz chief economist Wandile Sihlobo discusses the potential of the blueberry industry in South Africa.

"Our reality is that the current state of the South African economy is unsustainable. Real GDP per capita has been declining since 2015. Productivity growth has been slow and appears to be slowing down further; and the unemployment rate has recently increased to record highs of 34.4 %;" Minister of Finance Enoch Godongwana said at the launch of the book Structural transformation in South Africa: the challenges of inclusive industrial development in a middle-income country. "Part of our policy response requires that we place emphasis on fundamentally transforming the structure of our economy – to move from low growth and low labour-absorbing sectors, to sectors of high growth, high productivity and greater labour absorption. Our focus must also be on how do we upgrade to higher value-added activities within sectors. If we can do this we stand a greater chance of catapulting our economy onto a path of inclusive growth, sustainability and global competitiveness" The minister's full address can be accessed here.

The BUSA Covid-19 Cargo Movement Update – the 56th of its kind – contains a consolidated overview of the South African supply chain and the current state of international trade. Operationally, the matter of equipment shortages in our ports and rail system remains and is not likely to go away soon unless a concerted procurement and maintenance effort is sustained. Other challenges in and around our ports remain, notably balancing the capacity of waterside and landside operations with rail or road transport. An optimal balance is essential, as stack occupancy across the board remains high, as does the number of containers moved per vessel, which is becoming a global problem during the pandemic. Fortunately, for the week, operations metrics did improve at Cape Town and Durban, albeit marginally. Container throughput numbers are up for the week and are projected to increase slightly next week as well. Please click here to peruse.

Zimbabwe has reported a bumper harvest of maize and other grains, capable of feeding the country’s 14.65 million people for the next year.

According to Zimbabwe’s Second Crop and Livestock Assessment report and the US department of agriculture, the estimated maize production for 2021 stands at 2.7 million tonnes. This maize yield is estimated to be triple the 2020 harvest. The agricultural sector is projected to grow 34% this year, more than three times the 11% projected in the budget given at the end of last year. The International Monetary Fund reports that Zimbabwe is on a path to economic recovery with a growth forecast of 6% this year, largely due to the maize harvest. Read more in the linked article, first published on The Conversation.

Sustainable aviation fuel may be the ticket for soybeans to have a big ethanol moment. As Biden sets lofty goals for the airline Industry, soybean farmers could cash in. The Biden administration is accelerating its efforts to reduce the carbon footprint of the nation’s transportation system, and as a result, soybean growers could soon cash in on a new opportunity around low carbon fuel standards (LCFS). “It's a growing trend across the country because states like California and Oregon have taken the lead in trying to mitigate some of the climate changes that are going on,” says Pete Meyer, head of Grain and Oilseed Analytics, S&P Global Platts. From renewable diesel to sustainable aviation fuel it’s a growing trend, and one on which big oil is already placing big bets. Read more in the linked article, first published on Agweb.

Limpopo has consistently been one of South Africa’s leading provinces when it comes to Covid-19 vaccinations, outshining some larger and less rural provinces such as Gauteng. Mogale Mojela visited some vaccination sites and spoke to the Limpopo health department and others about their approach to getting people jabbed. “It all comes down to understanding and knowing our areas and planning around it,” says spokesperson for the Health MEC, Thilivhali Muavha. “At the moment, the Department of Health has extended outreach programmes to 37 vaccine sites to make sure that the roll-out is high. There is a vaccination centre in each corner you will visit. We go to malls and centres to make sure people are vaccinated.” Please click here to read the full article, first published on Daily Maverick.

The Department of Trade, Industry and Competition (dtic), as the host department of the South African pavilion at the Dubai Expo 2021, invites South Africa’s private sector to showcase to the world our wide range of innovation, competencies and capabilities. Attracting over 25 million buyers, investors and consumers, the expo is hosted once every five years in different locations. This year the expo will be held in Dubai from 01 October 2021 to 31 March 2022. South African companies, including small, medium and micro enterprises (SMMEs) will be given the opprtunity to showcase their products to the world. Please click here for more information.

Get the latest news on South Africa's vaccination drive and other related news in the latest Business for South Africa newsletter. Please click here to peruse. 

De Wet Boshoff, executive director of AFMA, was re-elected to the Board of Directors of the International Feed Industry Federation (IFIF) for 2022-2023. The International Feed Industry Federation (IFIF) comprises national and regional feed associations, feed related organisations, and corporate members from around the globe, representing over 80% of the feed production worldwide. IFIF provides a unified voice and leadership to represent and promote the global feed industry as an essential participant in the food chain that provides sustainable, safe, nutritious and affordable food for a growing world population. Please click here to peruse.

How do the summer rainfall area's weather patterns of this year compare to those of last season? Dr Johan Malherbe, an agricultural meteorologist and senior researcher at the Agricultural Research Council, discussed this in a podcast for Agriseker. He also elaborated on weather forecasts for the summer planting season. Please click here to listen to the interview.

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's (SAPPO) newsletter, SAPPO Weekly Update.