South Africa to get fracking

The State President, Mr Jacob Zuma, gave his state of the nation address (SONA) this evening. In the next few days there will be many responses but for now let us mention that the state seems hellbent on fracking in the Western and Eastern Cape.

We have blogged on fracking (hydraulic fracturing) before. See this December 2013 post.

Now, despite being hugely unpopular, the e-toll system was implemented in the business hub of South Africa (Johannesburg and Pretoria) late last year. Government gave the middle finger to business, NGOs, religious groups, consumers, the press, taxpayers, its own labour alliance partner COSATU, most people who drive cars, most people who don't drive cars ...

Perhaps it knows what it's doing? The point is that the state seems impervious to public opinion. If it could implement the e-tolls despite this being massively controversial and unpopular, the odds are that we'll be fracking sometime soon.

Fracking will be a "game changer" alright - let's hope for all the right reasons.


Read a related story from the Northern Hemisphere (France 24) this week.

Shale gas is one of the sources of energy on which you will find notes in the Energy chapter of The Agri Handbook. Solar and other renewable energy sources are looked at in a dedicated Renewable energy chapter.

GM crops don't make for good neighbours?

Have you read the story about a farmer suing his neighbour for causing him to lose his organic farming status? Genetically modified (GM) canola (rapeseed) blew over from Michael Baxter's property onto Steve Marsh's and has divided former friends and the neighbourhood.

Both GM supporters and detractors are raising funds for the court case, reports the BBC. Read the story here.

Find out about the pros and cons of GM, international and South African role players - and more - in the Biotechnology & plant breeding chapter of  The Agri Handbook.

Food wastage footprint

Isn't it a crazy world and economic system where food is wasted while human beings starve in other areas?

The UN's Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has compiled a study Food Wastage Footprint: Impacts on Natural Resources which shows that the waste of some 1.3 billion tonnes of food every year harms the very natural resources we rely on to feed ourselves. The direct economic costs are some $750 billion annually!

Do we have the courage to drop our causes and our concepts to address this scandal?

Food security is one of the chapters in The Agri Handbook, while there is a whole section covering natural resources. The opening chapter is Biodiversity and ecosystems services.

Create jobs for the youth in sub-Saharan Africa: an opportunity

As many as 11-million young Africans are expected to join the labour market every year for the next decade. One can see why creating jobs is a high priority in these countries.

The World Bank released a report this week entitled Youth Employment in sub-Saharan Africa.

Governments are urged to (1) improve the business environment to spark more private investment, and (2) to invest more in young people’s education and other skills to create brighter life prospects for them.

Interestingly enough, as working populations get older in other parts of the world, Africa could find an international demand for her labour and skills if her governments improve the education and job training of their youth.

In The Agri Handbook for South Africa, Youth and Job creation are chapters in the "National Issues" section. Another whole section is devoted to agricultural education and possible careers.

Ready for round six?

The new year has started and by this time you are all back at work, earning your livelihoods from perhaps the noblest profession – the production of food for the country, which enables life to go on.

Agriculture is the economic backbone of the rural areas, bringing stability here. But it does this for cities too (people there don’t have to grow their own food!)

The Agri Handbook provides an orientation to every part of the agro-food value chain. We invite you to take out your copy and look at the index pages again, or view these online here.

We are set to begin work on the 6^th edition and invite you to have a profile in this book. Available as hard copy, CD-ROM and free online, it is an investment in the future of your company and indeed, in your own. Refer to the "Advertise" option on this website.

Global agribusiness Forum to meet in Cape Town

The 2014 forum of the International Food and Agribusiness Management Association (IFAMA) will take place in Cape Town in June. This will be the first time that this global event will happen on the African continent, reports South Africa's Agricultural Business Chamber (Agbiz). The Forum hosts speakers and participants from more than thirty countries.

To read about agribusinesses in South Africa, find the chapter in The Agri Handbook here.

The rand, rain, tractors

The South African Agricultural Machinery Association (SAAMA) represents companies supplying ... well ... agricultural machinery. Find the chapter "Tractors, combines and balers" in The Agri Handbook here.

SAAMA puts out a monthly statement on tractor and combine harvester sales, along with a short commentary.

Late rains [and no rain] in the west of the country has affected the planting of maize there. The South African rand (ZAR) has been weak of late (which will push up prices of machinery). This leads to an early forecast that tractor sales in 2014 will be lower than in 2013. Positive factors remain commodity prices (which are solid) and the "relatively low grain stocks in the country".

Find the report for December 2013 at http://www.saama.co.za/saama/saamstat.htm