The Jobs Summit commenced yesterday after three months of intensive work in Nedlac together with government, labour and community. In a media briefing, BUSA stated that while the agreements reached were substantial, business asserts that they still need to do the difficult work to unlock the structural challenges facing the country in order to turn the tide against unemployment. The work of the Jobs Summit is aligned to a number of other enabling processes - the Economic Stimulus Package and the Investment Conference scheduled to take place later in October. Click here for t
he business constituency speech delivered by BUSA president, Sipho Pityana. Agbiz has been deeply involved in the process, with Theo Boshoff contributing considerably to the final script, and Dr John Purchase representing business on the Sectoral Interventions Creating Employment theme panel, which includes Minister Rob Davies from government. The full Jobs Summit Framework Agreement is available from Agbiz.
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On 3 October 2018, Wandile Sihlobo, Agbiz head of Agribusiness Research, presented at the City Press/Rapport Land Indaba. He reflected on South Africa's agricultural labour market in the context of changing farm structure and closed by identifying subsectors and regions that have a potential to boost growth and employment in the South African agricultural sector. Click here to watch the presentation.
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The North-West University's Policy Uncertainty Index (PUI) for 3Q 2018 rose to 52.2 (baseline 50) compared to 51.0 in 2Q 2018, thus moving further into negative territory.
An increase beyond 50 reflects heightened policy uncertainty; a decline in the PUI means reduced uncertainty. The outcome of this research will now be made regularly available to hopefully fill a gap in monitoring the economic environment. The PUI is published in January, April, July and October of each year. Please
click here to peruse.
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An area that has seemingly fallen below the radar, despite transformation of the South African agricultural sector being top of the agenda for policy discussion, is how to include women and the youth in this journey. So far, the debate around women and the youth has not been well developed; not least due to a general lack of information to allow for policy planning. However, there are some broad anecdotal references we can use to describe the gender disparities that exist.
Click here to read an article by Wandile Sihlobo and Dr Tinashe Kapuya, an agritrade specialist.
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The South African Cheese Festival, presented in April this year for the 17th time, was honoured on World Tourism Day as the Festival of the Year. World Tourism Day is commemorated annually on 27 September and, according to the United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO), creates awareness of tourism's real and potential contribution to sustainable development.
Pictured from the left: Henry Prins (CWDM municipal manager); Alderman (Dr) Helena von Schlicht (CWDM executive mayor); Johan Ehlers (Agri-Expo chief executive officer), Isabeau Botha (Agri-Expo corporate communication manager), Councillor Kobus du Plessis (CWDM Portfolio: Local Economic Development); Rhian van Wyk (CWDM deputy director: Local Economic Development). Press release
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Agbiz Grain will host a Road to Rail Workshop focused on the grain industry value chain on 8 October 2018. All grain value chain role players are invited to participate in this workshop. This event falls squarely within the directive given by the Jobs Summit where Agbiz is playing a major role. For more information, see
Upcoming Events in this newsletter.
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The multi-stakeholder Bokamoso Ba Rona Initiative is aimed at promoting sustainable economic activity through the development of a large-scale agri-industrial and bio-energy hub, in areas on the greater West Rand District, where local economies are currently predominantly dependent on mining.
Sibanye-Stillwater, the Merafong Municipality and the FWRDWA will make available approximately 30 000 hectares of land in the programme area to facilitate the development of this agri-industrial hub in Gauteng. One of the critical tasks of the steering committee is the appointment of a programme manager (through a consortium or otherwise) to develop, implement and manage the programme as a strategic partner to the steering committee.
Click here for more information.
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Click here to read more about monthly livestock disease trends as informally reported by veterinarians belonging to the Ruminant Veterinary Association of South Africa (RuVASA), a group of the South African Veterinary Association. For the maps of disease reports for August, please
click here.
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Click here
for another edition of Keeping it Fresh - one of the Fresh Produce Exporters' Forum (FPEF) communication tools to keep their members updated about matters which affect their members and the industry.
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Click here
for the September/October newsletter of Fruit South Africa with the latest news from the industry.
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Following the success of the previous Agbiz Information Sessions, two half-day information sessions for members and other role players are planned for 1 November in Pretoria and 15 November in Paarl. The sessions will focus on current challenges in the policy and legislation environment, as well as developments and opportunities in the agribusiness sector.
1 November 2018: Leriba Lodge, Centurion @ 08:30
15 November 2018: d'Olyfboom Family Estate, Paarl @ 08:30
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YES Programme Workshop
To provide guidance on questions like "What now?", "How does this affect B-BBEE scoring?" and "What does it mean for business?", Signa Advisors are presenting a series of workshops on the following dates:
11 October
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Durban
Agbiz Grain Road to Rail Workshop
8 October 2018 @13:00 | Auditorium, Grain Building | The Willows
RSVP: Before 4 October 2018 Register by contacting Annelien Collins at Agbiz Grain: 012 807 3002 or [email protected]
Second African Congress on Conservation Agriculture
9-12 October 2018 | Johannesburg
Science Forum 2018
Theme: Win more, lose less: Capturing synergies between SDGs through agricultural research
10-12 October 2018 | Stellenbosch
Second International Conference for Food Safety and Security
St George's Hotel, Pretoria
15-17 October 2018 | St George Hotel | Pretoria
Government Supply Chain Management Challenges, Latest Trends and Effective Strategies to Improve Operational Success
24-26 October 2018
| Holiday Inn Hotel | Pretoria
AFMA Symposium
Theme: Local is 'lekker'
30 October 2018 | CSIR International Convention Centre | Pretoria
More information
Energy Food Water Nexus for South Africa
31 October-1 November 2018 | Johannesburg
African Agri Investment Indaba and Agri Trade Congress Africa
27-28 November 2018 | CTICC | Cape Town
First Bi-annual International Soy for Human Health Conference 2019
11-13 March 2019 | St George Hotel | Pretoria
CGA Citrus Summit
1
2-14 March 2019 | Boardwalk Hotel | Port Elizabeth
Skills Development Summit
12-13 March 2019
| CSIR International Convention Centre | Pretoria
Contact: Gordon Campbell
Tel: 021 680 7155 / 073 540 9854
Global Cherry Summit 2019
25 April 2019
| Monticello Conference Center | San Francisco de Mostazal, Chile
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Why join Agbiz?
- Agbiz is the only organisation that serves the broader and common over-arching business interests of agribusinesses in South Africa.
- Agbiz addresses the legislative and policy environment on the many fronts that it impacts on the agribusiness environment.
- Agbiz facilitates considerable top-level networking opportunities so that South African agribusinesses can play an active and creative role within the local and international organised business environment.
- Agbiz research provides sector-specific information for informed decision-making.
- Agbiz newsletter publishes members' press releases and member product announcements.
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THIRD-PARTY WEBSITE LINKS TO THIS NEWSLETTER
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The Agbiz Newsletter may contain a few links to websites that belong to third parties unrelated to us. By making these links available, we are not endorsing third-party websites, their content, products, services or their events. Agbiz seeks to protect the integrity of its newsletter and links used in it, and therefore welcomes any feedback.
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