Christo says
[{“type”:”text”,”content”:”It brought together agricultural leaders from 9 provincial affiliates, 25 commodity organisations, 55 corporate members, international dignitaries, investors, ambassadors, captains of industry, and many other stakeholders from the agricultural sector. It was also well attended by farmers, representatives from organised business, government institutions, political parties, agricultural organisations from Southern African countries, academics, and international and local media.nnThe number of physical attendees amounted to 315 on the first day, with 759 people joining online.nnThe key message of the congress was that for South Africa to prosper we need sustainable and profitable agriculture. Sustainability and profitability depend on a range of factors, such as policy certainty, a conducive business environment, efficient infrastructures such as ports, rail, and roads, productive and well-trained employees and stable and self-reliant and empowered communities.nnIn her address, minister Thoko Didiza reaffirmed the governmentu2019s unwavering support to the agriculture sector and pledged to do everything within its means to ensure its sustainability and growth. She also acknowledged Agri SAu2019s role in helping the government to create sound policies and programmes to support the sustainability of agriculture in South Africa. She applauded the agricultural and farming sector for its contribution to the country’s trade balance, addressing the unemployment crisis and, above all, ensuring the nationu2019s food security.nnThe CEO of Wesgro, Wrenelle Stander emphasised that South Africa is a global agricultural powerhouse, but asked what we need to do to gain global traction. According to her, exporting globally is a recipe for a competitive country and South Africa already has the playbook. While acknowledging the remarkable resilience of the agriculture sector, she expressed concern over deteriorating infrastructure, loadshedding and protests impacting the countryu2019s economic stability. Stander questioned whether enough was being done to shield the sector and its players. u201cHave we, and are we continuing to invest sufficiently in future resilience? Are we investing enough in export competitiveness to grow and sustain the agricultural sector?u201dnnDuring her presentation, Portia Derby, CEO of Transnet, also highlighted that they have already had meetings with the agricultural industry about the industryu2019s policing strategy for rural safety. She says there is a strong overlap between the crime areas Transnet has to deal with and the crime areas of the agricultural industry. Transnet has lost tons of copper cables to theft over the years. Derby also told delegates that Transnet is facing a huge strike and it is not sustainable to have about 66% of your operating cost being labour costs. The strike was subsequently resolved.nnEskom Chief Operations Officer, Jan Oberholzer, has warned of more rolling blackouts on the way for South Africans. Speaking at the AGRI SA Conference, Oberholzer added that Eskom needs about R1 trillion to resolve the current loadshedding crisis over the next 10 or more years. He added that Eskom will retire nine of its 13 coal-powered stations in the next decade, relying more on hybrid systems. At least 8.5 000km of transmission lines must be built at a cost of R130bn. In addition, 12 substations will have to be erected.”,”position”:0,”id”:”r13XVm2X5seiFtqi”}]