47 Farm murders a tragic loss

Agri SA is concerned about the number of farm murders that was announced by the South African Police Service (SAPS) today. Although this figure is a decrease from the 62 farm murders in the previous financial year […]
Three vital factors for a new farming operation

Establishing new farmers, particularly black ones, is of crucial importance to the success of this country. For this reason, our page on emerging farmer support is under “Issues here and beyond our border” along with energy, climate change and water, rather than in another category, say, with consultants or agribusiness.
It goes without saying that motivation would be on the list of requirements to make a success of farming. It is no use placing people on the land who only consider farming to be “a nice idea”. There must be the resolve to make it work. We are also assuming the existence of things like infrastructure (roads) and natural resources (water).
Food industry health risks and how to avoid them

Every organisation operating in the food industry faces a great amount of responsibility. If errors occur within the manufacturing processes, food cultivation or production, the negative effects can be far reaching and devastating.
Local Fruit Export Company Goes Global

Five steps that led to Uzair Essack being a finalist in the 2019 Entrepreneur of the Year® competition sponsored by Sanlam and Business Partners.
Climate crisis cannot be tackled without shift away from damaging land use, major report warns

The way we currently use land is both a major contributor to climate change and placing unsustainable demands on the land systems on which humans and nature depend, according to an authoritative new report […]
On the Expert Advisory Panel on Land Reform and Agriculture

Over the past week, readers will have seen the reports and articles about the findings of the Expert Advisory Panel on Land Reform and Agriculture. Four of the more useful ones (which includes the press statement below) we found were […]
Turning livestock owners into livestock farmers

My ears pricked up. The words were spoken by Nicky McLeod at the WWF SA Living Planet Conference in Menlyn, Pretoria. […]
Matatiele duo wins Living Planet Award 2019

Two women who are the powerhouse behind a non-profit, social enterprise organisation, Environmental and Rural Solutions, based in Matatiele in the Eastern Cape have been named the winners of WWF South Africa’s Living Planet Award for 2019.
An account of a morning with the Masisizane Fund

We received (and accepted) the invitation from Nontobeko Vilakati for the 2019 Masisizane Fund Annual Client Market Day.
More readers write (a sample of recent requests)

Following on from the previous reader’s letter we focused on, here are some more samples of what readers are asking.