As the nation gears up for a government of national unity, agricultural leaders are urging a rapid acceleration of service delivery and a proactive stance in addressing challenges that impact the sector such as infrastructure.
The chief executive officer of Agbiz, Theo Boshoff, said the country is at a point where it needs everyone around the table to come up with lasting solutions to the many issues impacting economic growth and job creation.
Food For Mzansi caught up with Boshoff following the recent Agbiz Congress to determine how the institutions sees the future of agriculture post-elections.
Tiisetso Manoko: How important is your congress and what are the takeaways, especially on policies?
Theo Boshoff: The congress is very important because it is a planning and strategy session for us for the next two years. The issues we touched on in this congress was to get an insight into monetary fiscal policies and challenges on trade, infrastructure, and sustainability. So these are all critical issues that will be important for the next two years.
The objective was to have an understanding on how we grapple with the risk factors because our congress is attended by chief executive officers of different commodity organisations. So, talking about all the issues affecting the sector definitely helps the attendees to go back and do their strategic planning.
Related stories
- Agbiz Congress: Agriculture needs infrastructure upgrade to thrive
- Phosa: ‘There will be no land expropriation without compensation’
What were the main issues the sector has raised as the biggest contributor to the slow growth?
Infrastructure definitely comes tops, followed by markets which are now impacted by geopolitics which has led to increasing protectionism in certain markets. That is certainly a threat to commodities in South Africa that are exporting. Domestically, our production is very efficient but more demands are coming, wanting us to showcase how our products are environmentally and socially sustainable. But we believe the industry is able to do that.
How does this congress view the importance of public-private partnerships in the wake of local sector challenges?
That is vitally important, for example, the infrastructure challenges we are speaking about, the only way to fix it is through partnerships. We know that government have huge budgets for infrastructure development and the only way it can be achieved, is if government incentivises the private sector. We believe it is the only way to achieve a remarkable infrastructure development.
What is Agbiz 2024’s outlook considering only six months remaining and the political developments?
Climate-wise it is a very important factor, we have seen long-term forecasts being more positive which is very important for the agricultural sector. From a policy point of view, a lot will depend on the formation of the new government. But to be honest, we are likely not going to see big changes, especially in the next six months because government programmes will still have to be put in place.
What is your message to the sector as the chief executive officer?
My message will be to say just keep up the good work. We have seen in the congress how agriculture always has absorbed shocks. Being the leader in the economy when it is tough, ours is to say to the sector, “Keep on being resilient, we do not have any alternative because as the sector we are the backbone of the economy”.
ALSO READ: Action needed to combat drought and land degradation
Sign up for Mzansi Today: Your daily take on the news and happenings from the agriculture value chain.
