This week, the International Bar Association hosted its 72nd annual conference in Seoul, South Korea where 6 000 leading lawyers from across the globe gathered to debate the most important issues currently facing the industry. This year the Agricultural Law Committee convened a session on Combating climate change: contributions of the legal profession, farming and the uptake of biotechnology. Agbiz head of Legal Intelligence Theo Boshoff was invited to do a presentation focusing on legal reform to combat climate change, with a specific emphasis of the African perspective; his presentation is linked. Other presenters included Prof. Chris van Winden from the Netherlands, Valarie Johnston from the FAO and Jaisingh Dhumal from ICICI Bank in India. 

The Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development invites members of the public, industry stakeholders, farmers, academics and all other relevant stakeholders to participate in the Public Consultation Workshops on the Feeds and Pet Food Bill as well as the Fertilizer Bill. Animal feeds and fertilisers in South Africa are regulated in terms of the Fertilizers, Farm Feeds, Agricultural Remedies and Stock Remedies Act (Act 36 of 1947). Since 1947, there have been significant changes in animal feeds, fertilisers and the manner in which they are processed. These changes have resulted into consideration for review of the regulatory framework in order to put more emphasis on food and environmental safety as well as reducing regulatory burden. The department has drafted legislation that is intended to replace parts of the Fertilizers, Farm Feeds, Agricultural Remedies and Stock Remedies Act (Act 36 of 1947) as it relates to the regulation of animal feeds and fertilisers and would like to consult with stakeholders on the draft Bills. Please click media release for the proposed dates and venues.

In a Business Day column on 4 September 2019, Agbiz chief economist Wandile Sihlobo noted that South African farmers have had one of the toughest years because of the combined effects of the drought and animal disease that affected production and trade. But this is only one side of the story. Another side of the story relates to agricultural input costs, which, positively, have been relatively contained compared to this time a year ago. To recap, in September 2018, South African farmers faced an average 20% year-on-year increase in fertiliser prices and a more than R1/litre increase in the diesel price. In 2019, however, the local fertiliser prices were down by 9% year-on-year on average in August, according to data from Grain SA. Admittedly, this does not put absolute fertiliser prices at levels prior to August 2018, but it is much welcome relief given that farmers are financially constrained after a drought season. Wandile Sihlobo discusses this subject in the linked article, written for and first published in the Business Day.

The dry and warm weather conditions experienced in the Western Cape since the end of August 2019 have taken a toll on winter crops and the impact is evident at a national level given the significance of the province. Figures released yesterday containing the latest projections from South Africa's Crop Estimates Committee (CEC) show that the country's 2019/20 wheat, barley and canola production forecasts were lowered by 6%, 3% and 14% from last month to 1.81 million tonnes, 389 260 tonnes and 88 800 tonnes, respectively. Aside from the Western Cape, most other winter crop producing provinces harvest expectations are somewhat stable compared to levels seen in August. Wandile Sihlobo discusses the latest data in the linked article.

At the IFAMA 2020 conference in Rotterdam, home of the biggest port in Europe, today's pressing food and agricultural challenges will be addressed drawing upon the triple helix expertise of academics, business and government. Societal, human development challenges and goals mean that companies in agri-food need to transform, impacting their daily operations but also their future strategic outlooks. The conference will host multiple stakeholders of the global food system and include academia, business as well as combined (discussion) sessions and panels. Moreover, we expect around 30 international student teams to compete in the renown IFAMA student case competition. The IFAMA 2020 organisers invite you to submit a paper abstract. Deadline for submission of abstracts is 15 October. Click on paper abstract submission for specifications papers should meet in order to be considered and on IFAMA 2020 for more information on the conference.