Agribook Agriculture Weekly: Americans turn to home-farming on food supply fears, Covid-19 affecting South Africa’s ability to export and the Land Bank’s financial woes (issue 6.09)

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Photo by Roy P. on Unsplash

Our weekly look at significant stories in the agriculture and the agricultural media the past seven days:

International

Fresh Plaza’s weekly global update deals with the Raspberry, Blackberry And Redcurrant Market.
US Department of Agriculture’s Foreign Agricultural Services (FAS) reports included “Food Labeling Initiatives in the EU Farm to Fork Strategy“. On May 20, 2020, the European Commission announced the publication of its Farm to Fork (F2F) Strategy, which contains a roadmap for enhancing food and agricultural sustainability by 2030 under the EU Green Deal.
A second FAS report of interest to us is “South Africa: Citrus Semi-annual”. It identifies the following threats to this highly successful South African sector: (i) the impact of COVID-19 on consumer incomes (ii) constraints on shipping lines and containers, and (iii) port restrictions remains a concern for South African exports if the pandemic worsens.

Covid-19 related

The Guardian had the article “Americans turn to home-farming as they fear for their food supply” over the weekend. The subtitle is “As Covid wreaks havoc on the US agricultural chain, a wholesale reform of the country’s food system is on the cards”.

National

The Portfolio Committee on Agriculture, Land Reform & Rural Development considered and adopted its Committee Report on the Budget Vote for the Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development (DALRRD ) and its entities (29 May 2020). Amongst the Committee’s many recommendations, it covered concerns about the Land Bank.
The Land Bank featured elsewhere: Eye Witness News, “Agri SA urges private sector to help amid Land Bank’s financial troubles” and the IOL’s Business Report, “Farmers turn to commercial banks as SA lender stalls“.
“This is a creative way of establishing a food oasis in any region and not only for the benefit of communities in need, but also to establish an income stream”. Watch the YouTube video (under 4 minutes) on the CFAM Technologies offering …

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“South Africa: Drought relief extension welcomed, but urgent assistance still needed”. Read the Agri SA press release.
The Conversation included an article by Prof Ben Cousins of the University of the Western Cape, “Study shows land redistribution can create new jobs in agriculture in South Africa“. The findings “have major implications for the targeting and selection of beneficiaries, commodities and farming systems”.

Covid-19 related

Find the Bureau for Food and Agricultural Policy (BFAP) publications on Covid-19’s food system impact at https://covid19.ivis.africa/.
Creamer Media reported on the webinar addressed by Bureau for Food and Agricultural Policy (BFAP) MD Professor Ferdi Meyer and Agricultural Business Chamber (Agbiz) CEO Dr John Purchase on the agricultural sector amid Covid-19.
Wandile Sihlobo (Agbiz) writes “SA’s agricultural trade expected to remain vibrant in 2020 despite lockdowns“
Both Fresh Plaza and Farmer’s Weekly reported in challenges to the country’s fruit exports at Cape Town harbour.