The Afrikaans version of The Agri Handbook

Kyk na die inleiding (tussen 4 en 5 minute) wat op kykNET se Dagbreek program verskyn het.

Die boek is 'n gratis aflaai (sien onder "order" op hierdie webwerf).

• Klik op die boek waaronder staan "PDF Die Agri Handboek (Afrikaans) PDF download (free)"
• Klik op die rooi “Add to cart”. ’n Rooi kolletjie beweeg bo. Klik op “cart” regs bo.
• Klik op “Check out”
• “Your contact email”. Dit is belangrik dat jy jou epos hier korrek invul. Die ander besonderhede is nie van uiters belang maar daar moet iets in die blokkies staan. Onder, klik op “Continue to next step”
• Klik op “Complete my purchase”
• Wag vir die eposte wat jou bestelling bevestig en daarna wat vir jou ‘n skakkel gee, iets soos http://rainbowsa.fetchapp.com/get/ocijip
• Klik hierop, en daarna op Die Agri Handboek 2013-14-ver-1.5.pdf (52.2 MB)

Na ’n paar minute kyk onder “Downloads” op jou rekenaar. Die PDF behoort daar te wees. Laat ons weet asb. indien daar enige probleme is met die aflaai. Rig 'n epos na craig [by] agrihandbook [punt] co [punt] za

Not paying for toll road: farmer gets away with it

Did you know that back in 2006, South African National Roads Agency Ltd (SANRAL) was found to have badly failed in its obligation "to consult with local residents affected by the tolling concession ... for the N4 Maputo Development Corridor Toll Road"?

Judge Phineas Mojapelo handed down a judgement in favour of farmer Mr Nicolaas Smit, who had refused to pay toll and been criminally charged. Smit was found not guilty because the toll road in question had not been lawfully declared as such. There had been no "proper public consultation process."

SANRAL will soon need to start court cases against many more Nicolaas Smits in Gauteng, the country's business hub, as many "clients" are not paying astronomical monthly fees (over USD100). They can, of course, halve this by buying an e-tag. This is something like paying a bribe whereby you acknowledge the legitimacy of e-tolls in exchange for a lighter fee.

Watch the clip Gauteng eTolls Make No Sense; and read more on the Opposition to Urban Tolling Alliance website.

African Farmer game: master all the risks in a safe location

Have you tried playing the African Farmer?

The game simulates the complex decisions and uncertainties faced by small-scale farmers living in Sub-Saharan Africa.

• Your challenge is to manage a farming household in a village. You need to make decisions on what to grow, what to buy and how to feed your family – and then see the results of those decisions.
• You must take care of your farm and your family’s health – but watch out for price rises, bad weather and disease!

By simulating real-life challenges the game is a perfect learning tool – and free online.

Ringing the changes in South African agribusiness

The "joint cautionary announcement" that Senwes and NWK Holdings are negotiating a merger is significant news indeed.

In the last century, agricultural co-operatives established commercial agriculture in South Africa. The changes introduced in 1994 went beyond the political, moving the economy away from a protected environment to being one of the freest in the world (no subsidies here!) This has seen the number of commercial farmers drastically reduced over the years until, it is estimated, we now have around 30 000 left.

Agricultural co-operatives changed and in almost all cases converted to being companies. Moving away from the farmer-owned model that existed previously, the stronger ones absorbed the smaller ones leaving a handful of role players of national (and international) significance. The proposed merger of two of these changes the agribusiness landscape in the country.

The history of agribusiness is traced in the agribusiness chapter in The Agri Handbook.

Subsequent to 1994, the co-operative model is held up as a tool to establish -- this time -- black small scale farmers  and other businesses. Read about this the chapter on co-operatives.

How is South Africa (SA) affected by the crisis in the Ukraine?

Vunani Securities compiled a report looking at South African Revenue Service (SARS) data. The following are points taken from there.

• Wheat is the first and obvious area of concern. Last year, 46.3% of SA's wheat came from the Ukraine and Russia. Sourcing more expensive wheat elsewhere will cause higher food prices. Rising food prices is one the chief drivers of inflation in this country.
• About 11% of SA's total fertiliser imports come from Russia, along with some 10% of its imports of copper wire and 7.4% of its cigars and cigarettes.
• Russia imports tanned/dressed fur skins and artificial fur products, jams, fruit jellies and marmalade from SA. Manganese ore, wine and citrus fruit are other major exports to both Russia and Ukraine.

Source: Business Day

EU trade barriers

The Bi-weekly Update - Agriculture and Bi-weekly update - fisheries are published by the Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation (CTA). The most recent, announced that the European Commission (EC) had published its ‘Trade and investment barriers report 2014’, which looks at the key barriers faced in trade and investment relations with “the EU’s strategic partners, i.e. China, India, Japan, Mercosur, Russia and the United States”.

Readers in South Africa will notice their BRICS partners here: Brazil (part of Mercosur), Russia, India and China. Where is South Africa? Where is Africa, for that matter?

The continent is covered in the report under the EU Market Access Strategy. Find the editorial comment about this in the CTA article 'EC trade barriers report provides insights into agro-food sector priorities in future trade relations' which can be accessed here.

The story of your life in 18 minutes

How would you tell the story of your life in 18 minutes? Think about it for a moment. The spotlight is shining on you and an audience of several hundred are watching. Where would you begin?

Imagine telling the story of the world in 18 minutes. It's what David Christian does. It is "Big history" i.e. it takes in what existed before the so-called big-bang ... right up to the present day.

Talk of editing! To compress all the achievements and happenings of what we know (and don't know) into 18 minutes is a major achievement. Two developments that he touches on, especially, are food for thought:

• The emergence of farming, which changed everything! As we have noted before, agriculture releases everyone else to get on with other matters because a small minority of people (the farmers) are there to ensure that there is food for everyone.
• The transference of knowledge means that what we learn does not die with us, and our offspring can pick up from where we left off and take our achievements to new heights (and new lows, some would say, but that is a subject for another evening!)

Find and enjoy the talk here.