Farming and agribusiness play a crucial role in sustaining the economies of small towns and rural areas. There is a lot of evidence of this in the economic literature and in the popular media. This dependency has its inherent risks.
As the reader will be aware, traceability is an important consideration in our export markets, and increasingly so here at home. If something is questionable in a product, it can be traced back to the farm – even the field – of its origin.
While the Rooibos industry has always had environmental preservation at heart, an increased global demand for the tea has compelled the industry to more proactively review its impact across its value chain.
On Monday the 31st of May, the Ad Hoc Committee on the amendment of section 25 of the Constitution met for deliberations prior to the expiration of its mandate at midnight.
FairPlay welcomes the many positive features in this week’s statements by the South African government on trade policy and localisation of production. These will help to bring about improvements in areas on which FairPlay has focused – action to limit job-destroying predatory imports such as in the chicken and sugar sectors, and a job-creating stimulus for the industries and areas most affected, including poor and under-resourced rural areas.
