Biofuel production in sub-Saharan Africa should be prioritised for aviation
By Craig Macaskill Posted 2019-01-24 In Blog Press release A WWF-SA report has found that while there is a small but not insignificant potential for the production of sustainable biofuels in sub-Saharan Africa, this should be prioritised for the aviation industry which has limited other options when it comes to reducing carbon emissions. It’s estimated that by 2050, […]
Digitally transforming agriculture across distances
By Craig Macaskill Posted 2019-01-24 In Blog Cloud based solutions enable 50% savings Sensors can transmit vital information over 50 kilometres Digital data speeds up compliance reports The implementation of the cloud, the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) and Industry 4.0 can offer benefits to the agriculture industry by enabling farmers to optimise their operations through digital transformation, […]
Fresh Produce Markets
Introduction Markets selling agricultural products have been with humankind for many thousands of years. They have adapted and changed over time but the fundamental reason for their existence has never changed i.e. where supply and demand meet to establish a value for a product so that a sale can be made. There are different types […]
Craft Brewing
Introduction Bosheuvel Estate, Hillcrest Estate, De Vry Distillery are some of several farming operations that include craft brewing on the sidelines. Alongside Pinzgauer stud cattle, sorghum fields, vineyards and dairy, craft brewing is an additional revenue stream and attraction. We provide the reader with a short overview of this sector. As usual, we list sources and role […]
The Urban Question
Urbanisation, Urban Agriculture, Cities, Inequality
Animal improvement and breeders
Introduction The registration of animals maintains the interest in specific breeds, and also leads to a pursuit of excellence – i.e. to get top performance from the animal. There is a vast difference between performances of the two groups within most breeds where registered animals outperform non-registered animals. There is also a vast price difference […]
Field trip to the Overberg
By Craig Macaskill Posted 2019-01-17 In Blog At the close of 2018, a delegation of journalists and writers travelled to the Western Cape to view the work the WWF-SA Nedbank Green Trust is supporting with landowners and communities in the Overberg. Our eight articles reporting on the trip are: 1) Setting the stage – putting the trip and role players […]
Overberg media trip: Flower Valley Farm (part 8)
The rationale behind the Flower Valley Conservation Trust (FVCT) is straight-forward: “… if we pick all the fynbos this year, there will be no fynbos to pick in the future” (Van Deventer et al, 2015).
Overberg media trip: fynbos packhouse (part 7)
The world is divided into six floral kingdoms, according to the plant types occurring in each given region. The smallest and richest of these is the Cape Floral Kingdom, found only in the southern tip of Africa – in the Western Cape through to Makhanda (Grahamstown) in the Eastern Cape – and nowhere else in the world.