Most of us have been in a situation where we experience temporary hunger. It might be that we forgot to pack our lunch, or missed a meal and had to wait for the next one to be served. But mostly we did not give it a second thought.
Imagine a scenario of regularly not having enough to eat, or living under the anxiety of wondering where the next meal was going to come from. In a world which grows enough food, around 800 million people right now are hungry, while you are reading this. The former FAO Director General Jacques Diouf rightly called it "the world's largest tragedy and scandal".
There is a good chance that your views on food security (or food sovereignty) reflect your conditioning and investment in society. If you are part of the agro-food value chain, you will most likely dismiss any responsibility for world hunger because you, to be fair, are doing your part to put food on the shelves! And if you earn your money in a different sector (and are not dependent on this one, at least not financially), you might be more critical of it.
And if you are not earning money?
South Africa is food secure on a national level, thanks mostly to our farmers. Why is it then that around 14.1 million people (26% of the
population) are "predisposed to hunger and malnutrition" (DAFF, 2016)?
Hard work and profit encourage our entrepreneur farmers to produce food
and to take the risks that accompany this. And they should be supported. Emerson praised them, saying farmers cause food to be where there was not food
before.
Increasingly, questions are being asked about how that food finds its way to the consumer. In the light of eating or not eating, it is right that attention falls on agriculture and on the
agro-food system, and that there is debate around the process which
brings food to our plates.
Follow the debates on the Centre of Excellence in Food Security website, http://www.foodsecurity.ac.za, or take a look at chapters like Food security in The Agri Handbook. There are overviews of all crops, livestock, inputs, markets etc. Find the free pdf download under "Order". The first chapters of the 2016/17 edition will be available online from 1 July 2016.
Thursday, 26 May 2016
Friday, 20 May 2016
A letter from Judy Stuart
We received the following letter from Judy Stuart who started and runs the Future Farmers Foundation. Naturally we receive feedback on the Agri Handbook gratefully, but it is the hope and positive perception on youth and on agriculture that shines from Ms Stuart that we would like to share with you.
Dear Craig,
Last year, you gave me some of your books. I have one and found good homes for the rest. The book is really good. It is a huge amount of work. The research and dedication that goes into it must be massive!
Doug Greenshields is assisting Future Farmers and I would love him to get a copy from you. Is the new one out yet?
At the moment, we have 17 interns gaining experience overseas and we are working on visa applications for a further 12. We are active in many sectors, albeit on a small scale. We expect to send the first horse intern to Australia later this year, he is from the racing industry and is well qualified.
The biggest difficulty is getting new farmers on board. Change does not come easily. We need many more farmers to work with us to create opportunities for our amazing young people. We have probably 15 new people to interview every week. Far more than we can help. The industry could absorb most of them, but we do not have the resources to do the work.
There is a misconception out there, that young people do not want to get their hands dirty. It could not be more wrong. The potential is there to produce hundreds of top commercial farmers. How to get people to believe this is the big question.
Even the Department of Agriculture invests resources in subsistence and small scale farmers. They do not seem to believe that impoverished rural communities may be the best source of top commercial farmers in the future. We need them to put food on supermarket shelves!
On Wednesday, I am due to meet with someone who may be able to teach our future farmers environmental conservation. Not sure how we are going to do this. Farmers are custodians of the land. It should be their goal to hand it on in a better state than it was when they took over. Farms are not just about crops and livestock. Every one of them has a niche for flora and fauna and it is often unnoticed. If only we could create an awareness of this amongst the landowners.
We have taken on a big challenge at Future Farmers. We are helping young people to achieve more than they ever dreamed possible. But, we are scratching the surface.
If you are in KZN sometime, please come and visit our Howick office. It would be great to see you again.
Kindest regards,
Judy
Dear Craig,
Last year, you gave me some of your books. I have one and found good homes for the rest. The book is really good. It is a huge amount of work. The research and dedication that goes into it must be massive!
Doug Greenshields is assisting Future Farmers and I would love him to get a copy from you. Is the new one out yet?
At the moment, we have 17 interns gaining experience overseas and we are working on visa applications for a further 12. We are active in many sectors, albeit on a small scale. We expect to send the first horse intern to Australia later this year, he is from the racing industry and is well qualified.
The biggest difficulty is getting new farmers on board. Change does not come easily. We need many more farmers to work with us to create opportunities for our amazing young people. We have probably 15 new people to interview every week. Far more than we can help. The industry could absorb most of them, but we do not have the resources to do the work.
There is a misconception out there, that young people do not want to get their hands dirty. It could not be more wrong. The potential is there to produce hundreds of top commercial farmers. How to get people to believe this is the big question.
Even the Department of Agriculture invests resources in subsistence and small scale farmers. They do not seem to believe that impoverished rural communities may be the best source of top commercial farmers in the future. We need them to put food on supermarket shelves!
On Wednesday, I am due to meet with someone who may be able to teach our future farmers environmental conservation. Not sure how we are going to do this. Farmers are custodians of the land. It should be their goal to hand it on in a better state than it was when they took over. Farms are not just about crops and livestock. Every one of them has a niche for flora and fauna and it is often unnoticed. If only we could create an awareness of this amongst the landowners.
We have taken on a big challenge at Future Farmers. We are helping young people to achieve more than they ever dreamed possible. But, we are scratching the surface.
If you are in KZN sometime, please come and visit our Howick office. It would be great to see you again.
Kindest regards,
Judy
Tuesday, 10 May 2016
Politics, conflicts, global warming, the world economy and the future of agriculture in South Africa
Media release
Enquiries:Dalene Coetzer: Conference Co-coordinator:
E-mail: liaison@amtrends.co.za
The 16th AMT Agri-Outlook Conference will be held on 28 September
2016 at the CSIR Convention Centre in Pretoria. The aim of the 16th AMT
Agri-Outlook Conference is to improve on what is one of the premier
platforms to communicate and interrogate pertinent issues in the South
African agricultural sector.
The theme of this year’s conference is: Politics, conflicts, global warming, the world economy and the future of agriculture in South Africa.
World renowned speakers and commentators will be assembled to make
presentations, facilitate and support the discussions. Building on the
success of the past, we are confident that delegates will be provided
the opportunity to obtain improved insights and to tackle and stimulate a
greater understanding of the current pertinent issues faced by the
agricultural sector in South Africa.
It is believed that the theme and the programme will appeal to a wide
spectrum of role players, from private sector, government to academia
and other stakeholders. The annual AMT Agri-Outlook Conference is not to be missed and
remains one of the highlights on the South African agricultural
calendar.
Registrations are now open for the 2016 AMT Agri-Outlook Conference! Registration forms can be obtained from www.agrimark.co.za (click on Conference) or alternatively please contact Ms. Dalene Coetzer.
Do not miss this unique opportunity to network and meet up with experts in the South African agricultural context.
”Our endeavour is to provide you with a thought provoking
experience that will help you to shape your business or organisation
for future challenges.”
Enquiries:Dalene Coetzer: Conference Co-coordinator:
E-mail: liaison@amtrends.co.za
Tuesday, 3 May 2016
(Water again) The thing is ...
In the same week economists told us to expect a 50% increase in meat prices as a result of the drought, the SA Government News Agency brought the news of efforts being made to limit the drought's effect. Water tanks with some 80 000 litres of water were delivered to the Umjindi and Thembisile Hani Local Municipalities in Mpumalanga. Before leaving the drought-stricken area, the Department of Water Affairs & Sanitation (DWAS) told the people: "South Africa is a water scarce country and the current drought is making the water challenge severe". The situation "calls for all of us to change our water use behaviour and embrace water conservation in everything we do".
That someone in government knows that water is scarce (and thus precious) in this country is good news. And DWAS was joined by three other government departments days later. The ministers of Environmental Affairs; Agriculture, Forestry & Fisheries; and Public Works informed the Sterkspruit community in the Eastern Cape of what accompanies water shortage -- desertification, loss of livelihoods and so on. Now we're cookin'! The thing is: will these ministers and government departments take the message to the Department of Energy (DoE) and others in government who still regard fracking as an option for future energy needs?
Environmental checks and balances, we are assured, will prevent problems and allow for fracking to happen safely. The country's track record of environmental "checks and balances" elsewhere, certainly with mining, sounds every alarm bell possible! (Take a look at the Mpumalanga crisis: why is nobody listening report, or the one done by the Bureau for Food & Agricultural Policy).
But leaving environmental incompetence aside ... Fracking by its very nature throws up unpleasant surprises. Scout the ecowatch.com website, or watch the gas in a river near a fracking site in Australia exploding.
We simply cannot afford to have vast amounts of groundwater polluted and lost.
Fracking is not only agriculture's problem. The Environmental Monitoring Group (EMG) tells us that whole towns in the Karoo would be devastated: 94% of them depend on groundwater. So, DWAS et al ... any hope that you will enlighten the others, those in government? Include the news of fracking projects cancelled/postponed elsewhere in the world over the past year. You will either speak to your colleagues, or, under a likely future scenario, you will be again addressing communities, this time apologizing for a human-caused shortage of water that could have been avoided.
That someone in government knows that water is scarce (and thus precious) in this country is good news. And DWAS was joined by three other government departments days later. The ministers of Environmental Affairs; Agriculture, Forestry & Fisheries; and Public Works informed the Sterkspruit community in the Eastern Cape of what accompanies water shortage -- desertification, loss of livelihoods and so on. Now we're cookin'! The thing is: will these ministers and government departments take the message to the Department of Energy (DoE) and others in government who still regard fracking as an option for future energy needs?
Environmental checks and balances, we are assured, will prevent problems and allow for fracking to happen safely. The country's track record of environmental "checks and balances" elsewhere, certainly with mining, sounds every alarm bell possible! (Take a look at the Mpumalanga crisis: why is nobody listening report, or the one done by the Bureau for Food & Agricultural Policy).
But leaving environmental incompetence aside ... Fracking by its very nature throws up unpleasant surprises. Scout the ecowatch.com website, or watch the gas in a river near a fracking site in Australia exploding.
We simply cannot afford to have vast amounts of groundwater polluted and lost.
Fracking is not only agriculture's problem. The Environmental Monitoring Group (EMG) tells us that whole towns in the Karoo would be devastated: 94% of them depend on groundwater. So, DWAS et al ... any hope that you will enlighten the others, those in government? Include the news of fracking projects cancelled/postponed elsewhere in the world over the past year. You will either speak to your colleagues, or, under a likely future scenario, you will be again addressing communities, this time apologizing for a human-caused shortage of water that could have been avoided.
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