Happy Arbor Week South Africa! This week in agriculture, you can look forward to webinars, auctions and even an agricultural training opportunity. We give you a rundown of the agriculture events and opportunities happening in the next seven days. Email info@foodformzansi.co.za to have yours added to our weekly calendar.
Welcome to another Monday, Mzansi. September is almost upon us and as always, we have listed a variety of agriculture opportunities and events in which you can take part.
Kicking off the week is Food for Mzansi’s #FarmSpaces, held in partnership with Gugulethu Mahlangu. Experienced farmers give us the inside scoop on their trade and aspiring farmers, and anyone else interested in joining the conversation, get the opportunity to ask the panellists their most burning farming questions.
Speaking of aspiring farmers: The Sernick Group is offering agriculture graduates farm placements with one of their development farmers. Make sure to send your application by 17:00 on Tuesday.
Join a United Nations webinar to take part in the discussion around food inequality, and tune in to the webinar from Nourishing Africa, which focuses on developing agriculture through the lens of climate change.
For your weekly update, check out the calendar on Food for Mzansi’s homepage any time, as well as this article which is published every Monday. It’s the best way to get the lowdown on informative, useful and even lucrative opportunities in the agriculture sector. Email info@foodformzansi.co.za to add your event to the calendar.
Monday, 30 August
Join us for this week’s Food For Mzansi #FarmSpaces, with Gugulethu Mahlangu
Are you an aspirant farmer looking for more information on how to get into the agricultural sector? Do you have a smartphone and a Twitter account? Join us then, every Monday at 18:00 for Food for Mzansi #FarmSpaces, held in partnership with one of agriculture’s favourite daughters, Gugulethu Mahlangu.
Follow us @FoodforMzansi to join the conversation!
Tuesday, 31 August
Apply to register for the Agri4D conference
Organised by the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU) and the Swedish International Agriculture Network Initiative (SIANI), the Agri4D conference is now open for registration. The online conference, taking place between 28 and 30 September, is free but participants are required to register.
Sustainable and just food systems is the main topic of the conference, which aims to bring together various stakeholders in the food system to share knowledge, spark collaboration and inform policy.
Click here for information on how to register.
Last chance to apply for a Sernick Group internship
The Sernick Group has opened up applications for agricultural graduate interns. Successful applicants will get placed with the group’s developing cattle farmers so they can obtain a year’s work experience. To apply, send the following documents to Isabel Boshoff at freestate@futurefarmers.org.za:
– A certified copy of your ID.
– A certified copy of your completed degree or completed national diploma in agriculture, agricultural management or agricultural economics.
– A CV with address, telephone number, email address and disability status.
– It is preferable that you live within 200 km of Sernick.
– A formal letter signed by you, to state that you have not yet benefitted from an AgriSETA graduate placement before, and why you think you should be considered to be placed on a farm for work experience.
Make sure to submit by the application deadline, which is 31 August at 17:00.
Take a sheep management short course
The International Agricultural Academy for Africa is offering a two-day course in Trompsburg in the Free State on how to manage sheep. Topics to be covered in the course include tattooing, veld management and castration, among others. Accommodation is available at Rietkuil Farm Guesthouse.
For more information, contact Theda Shawe on 072 365 0479, or email i3a@i3a.co.za.
Wednesday, 1 September
A discussion on integrating agricultural development and climate responsiveness
Nourishing Africa is hosting a webinar to unpack agricultural development in the time of climate change. Some of the topics under discussion are the role of science in tackling the effects of climate change on food security, farmer resilience in the face of climate change, and climate-smart investment.
For more information on the webinar, click here.
Thursday, 2 September
A discussion on access to nutritious food
As part of the Global Food Systems Summit, the United Nations is hosting a webinar to encourage interfaith discussion around food inequality. The aim of the webinar is to build connections between faith and secular groups in order to aid the transformation of food systems across the globe.
To register for the webinar, click here.
Bayesian methods in biogeography
The Southern African Society for Systematic Biology is hosting an online workshop series between June and November, aimed at sharing systematic research and discussion about systematic biology research. This Friday, the workshop is presented by Dr Isabel Sanmartin, from the Spanish National Research Council. She is discussing Bayesian methods in biogeography.
For more information on the series, click here.
Tempevale Bonsmaras production sale
With fifty animals on offer, the Tempevale Bonsmaras production auction is taking place in Lady Grey in the Eastern Cape. Buyers get free transportation for the animals after payment, subject to terms and conditions, and bidders can view the animals the afternoon before the sale event. Tempevale is also offering supper on 1 September. Accommodation is available.
For more information, phone David on 082 345 7667, Ingemar on 082 659 2634 or Brandon on 082 570 5863.
Friday, 3 September
Learn more about regenerative agriculture
RegenAg SA’s regenerative agriculture events series continues this Friday. The workshops will be presented by Joel Salatin, with the second workshop held on Oaklands Farm in Van Reenen in KwaZulu-Natal.
For more information, email info@permacultureinstituteforsouthernafrica.org.
ALSO READ: Regenerative agriculture ‘turns soils into sponges’.
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