Fellow South Africans, here are the top four things on Food For Mzansi’s radar today. After yesterday’s blue Monday in agriculture, today looks a lot more up-beat with no less than four interesting developments. This includes a move by the Citrus Growers’ Association of Southern Africa (CGA), an international conference on organic farming, proposed new estuaries legislation and an exclusive, sneak preview of the upcoming Fresh Connections: Southern Africa conference and trade show.
1
Citrus industry to propose new levy to Didiza
The Citrus Growers’ Association of Southern Africa (CGA) is asking the citrus industry to back a proposed new levy which could result in increased grower investment that will enable a more inclusive, competitive industry.
The CGA will make this application to Thoko Didiza, the minister of agriculture, land reform and rural development, for the approval of a substantially increased statutory citrus export levy for 2021 to 2024. The application now open for comment from all directly affected groups in the citrus industry by 31 July 2020 before a final recommendation will be made to the minister. Food For Mzansi will be bringing you the latest details at 11:00 today. Stay tuned to our website, Facebook and Twitter.
2
Get free access to BioSolutions Africa conference
The covid-19 pandemic continues to offer local agriculturalists a rare opportunity to participate in international conferences, and to learn more about global trends, also within the biological and/or organic industries.
Free conference access codes from Madumbi Sustainable Agriculture are up grabs for growers who wish to join the three-day BioSolutions Africa virtual conference starting today. The 2020 conference was initially going to be held in Gauteng last week, but has now transformed to a virtual platform. Some of the conference highlights include:
- learning how grocery retailers are responding to consumer demand and influencing production systems;
- learning how production farmers have successfully integrated biological products into their operations;
- learning more about adoption trends around the world and in key African markets with research consultancy DunhamTrimmer; and
- gaining insights on environmental influencers and other precision application considerations.
Visit www.biosultionsafrica.com for more information and a free registration code.
3
Amendments on estuarine management protocol
Barbara Creecy, the minister of environment, forestry and fisheries, has published draft amendments to the national estuarine management protocol. It is now open for public comment.
The amendments address implementation issues, and the impact of a supreme court of appeal judgement, which found that the assignment of functions to municipalities in the existing protocol presented constitutional challenges. The assignment should have been done in terms of the integrated coastal management act, and not the protocol.
Estuaries contribute an estimated R4.2 billion per year to the Mzansi economy. They provide warm, shallow and calm waters along the coast, and are highly productive, thanks to inputs of nutrients from both the land and sea. These characteristics, together with their scenic appeal, make them focal points for development, tourism and recreation, whilst supporting biodiversity, livelihoods and marine fisheries.
The fishing community and members of the public have until 26 July 2020 to submit written comments or inputs to Creecy, either by hand or post. E-mail rupillay@environment.gov.za for more information and remember to tell them that you saw the notification on Food For Mzansi.
4
Join our live chat with PMA country manager
Food For Mzansi is proud to announce that we are an official media partner for the Fresh Connections: Southern Africa virtual conference and trade show. Today at 14:30 we’ll be getting a sneak preview of the event with Lianne Jones, the new country manager for the Produce Marketing Association in South Africa.
It will be happening live on our Facebook page, and Jones will be in conversation with Food For Mzansi editor Dawn Noemdoe.
If you haven’t registered for the event yet, it’s going down from 18 to 20 August 2020. You’ll learn all about the latest trends in the fresh produce industry, and connect with the industry’s movers and shakers. While attendees will not be meeting in-person this year, organisers promise that the virtual event will echo the same great content and energy as in the past decade.
The first-ever Fresh Connections virtual conference hosted by the PMA will bring together stakeholders across the entire fresh produce supply chain, including growers, buyers, sellers, exporters, retailers and input suppliers.
