*This column first appeared in Business Day on 17 August 2017  Whilst the discussion in South Africa’s agricultural sector has been dominated by the record grain harvest, the discussion has been steadily shifting towards weather related issues and production strategies. The fast-approaching 2017/18 production season poses challenges as farmers will have to decide on best...

View PDF» On Tuesday the 8th of August, the Department of Trade and Industry released phase 1 of the draft Intellectual Property Policy for public comment. Interested and affected parties are afforded until the 9th of October to consider the document and submit comments. The draft policy seeks to facilitate the National Development Plan’s goal of migrating...

As reported in last week’s newsletter, Agbiz was invited to participate in a seminar on land reform hosted by Werksmans firm of attorneys at their office in Sandton. The session was facilitated by Werksmans’ Director Bulelwa Mabasa whilst presentations were made by Thami Mdontswa, a Chief Director from the Department of Rural Development and...

On the 27th of July, Agbiz attended a public consultation forum hosted by the Department of Environmental Affairs (DEA) on the recommended framework to combat climate change post 2020. The Department has recently published a plethora of draft policies, Bills and regulations all related to climate change, but just how the proposed carbon tax,...

*First appeared in Business Day – 3 August 2017 https://www.businesslive.co.za/bd/opinion/2017-08-03-wandile-sihlobo-women-deserve-more-credit-in-farming/ There was little mention of the fact that almost two-thirds of the 44,000 people who lost agricultural jobs in the first quarter of 2017 were women. This brought the number of women participating in the South African agricultural labour market to 278,000 in total, which...