Agriculture represents one of Kenya’s largest industries. Over the decades, the mega-sector has shaped and formed to include some of the continent&#8217;s highest export volumes, with major crops making a name for the country in the global market. FORBES AFRICA takes a closer look as the country celebrates its 60th birthday.



Agriculture in Kenya is big business. According to the latest Central Bank data, this national industry is responsible for at least 20% of the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP). It’s also a top income earner, accounting for 65% of national export earnings, and employs over 40% of the working population; a majority of which (approximately 70%) lives outside the cities. Additionally, the industry is directly and indirectly responsible for the livelihoods of an estimated 80% of the Kenyan population.



The productivity of this industry is expected to have a major impact on the economic growth of the country. Hence, it has become a cornerstone pillar in President William Ruto’s strategic economic plan known as the Bottom-Up Economic Transformation Agenda (BETA).



Among six pillars, Agriculture cuts across several objectives intended to boost resilience and recovery in the country’s national economy. Among the key directives is a paradigm shift, challenging previous policy approaches in force within the industry.



A focus on entrepreneurship, across the value chain, including at farm-level as well as a move towards unit productivity rather than production marks the shift. Adding to this, agricultural resources, such as land and livestock, are now treated as national assets, elevating these factors of production to crucial levers in prevailing food security and export mandates. Overall, BETA seeks to address major economic challenges including poverty reduction through the creation of employment opportunities, particularly for the country’s large youth population, as well as boosting foreign exchange earnings, among others.



Organizations, in both the public and private sectors as well as civil society, have stepped in to shore up targets. Among them is the Centre for African Bio-Entrepreneurship (CABE), which supports stakeholders across the agricultural value chain in Kenya including farmers and Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs).



“We do market linkages. We gather market information, share the current state of market, in terms of agricultural produce [and] what is trending [in the marketplace]. This is to create value so that they have a targeted market and whenever they engage in business, it is demand-driven,” explains Lucy Adoyo, who leads Research at CABE’s Nairobi headquarters, to FORBES AFRICA.



MSMEs represent an important layer of the sectoral value chain and within the BETA framework. One of the pillars of the economic agenda, these enterprises are poised to drive job creation and stimulate trade and market activities across the national economy. Within agriculture, they provide a crucial pipeline for the youth population to enter the industry while employing the majority of Kenyans who depend on subsistence farming for both food and finance.



“These are the enterprises that produce the food which we consume in the country. They are the people you’d find in the domestic market and those are the people who even drive the local economy beyond the export [market]. The current discussions we’re having right now are around sustainable food systems coupled with climate action,” adds Adoyo.



These agribusinesses range from specialization to size and focus on direct food production to value addition such as agro-processing. The development of these businesses is a core national objective and a target of the BETA plan.



Last year, Strathmore University Business School, one of the most respected tertiary institutions in the country, in collaboration with the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries and the Kenya Small Business Development Centers (SBDC) announced a program to support MSMEs within the industry. The partnership is intended to commercialize sectoral value chains across the country’s major counties; each of them home to a bulk of the farming population in Kenya.



While these businesses form a crucible within Kenyan agriculture, MSMEs in the country remain arrested in development. Barriers to growth such as lack of access to financing and markets are consistent stumbling blocks for entrepreneurs across all sectors as well as inflexible policy environments. The hopes for the BETA interventions frame this context with its promises for improved trading conditions, greater access to funding, and much needed business development support.



The Strathmore Business School program for agricultural MSMEs sharpens its focus on addressing gaps in the industrial value chain; beyond direct business support. Data, for improved policy-making and for tracking sectoral growth and impact, is lacking at both local and international levels. The program launched with an intention to address these challenges.



“There is a need to map out the value chains and integrate them under one platform to inform decision-making and areas of intervention,’’ noted Dr. George Njenga, Programs Manager at the Kenya Small Business Development Centers, during the announcement.



In Kenya, these enterprises currently employ close to 15 million people and hold the key for further job creation within the agricultural industry, particularly for the growing youth population.



“Youth are mobile, youth transition very fast, [they] are also innovative in nature and if we understand those aspects about youth, [then] creating sustainability [in] the businesses they establish and also tracking them to ensure that they are creating employment opportunities for themselves and others; looking at the multiplier effect of the initial seed [investment] is most important to us,” says Adoyo of CABE.



Kenyan youth are becoming prolific players within agriculture than in previous decades thanks to recent policy efforts, namely the national Kenya Youth Agribusiness Strategy that ran from 2018 to 2022. However, like other entrepreneurs in the MSME space, young agri-preneurs face similar challenges to scale such as limited market information, lack of credit, and competition from imported agricultural produce, which is often cheaper and floods the market during peak seasons.



Nevertheless, they remain a crucial demographic for BETA’s interventions, across the board. The country’s young people not only represent major human capital potential at the national level, they are also potential food producers for Kenya&#8217;s local and export markets. However, to keep them in the industry, relevant support systems need to be put in place, explains Adoyo.



“They are looking for livelihoods. If they are unable to sustain themselves, they might even sell their infrastructure and move on to the next thing. Sustainability of initial efforts is what is key in making sure that youth are able to earn meaningful employment or income.”



Like its youth population, agriculture remains one of Kenya’s most vibrant and promising industries. With output set to grow over the coming decades and its current export earning prowess, the industry is poised to drive the country into a new era of development and economic growth – financing the futures and fortunes – of the next generation.

Vegetable farmer

Kenya@60: Driving Agribusiness As A Core Imperative In The East African Country 

In anticipation of COP28 – the United National Climate Change Conference – which takes place later this month, we speak to food and beverage conglomerate, PepsiCo about the significance of the conference, and how the company is tackling its climate change goals.



Multinationals worldwide have begun the process of reviewing their business and operational strategies in order to meet their net zero goals.



With COP28 set to take place in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, from November 30 – December 12, FORBES AFRICA speaks to Eugene Willemsen, CEO for PepsiCo AMESA (Africa, Middle East and South Asia) about the company’s agricultural strategies, its focus on renewable energy and growth prospects on the continent.&nbsp;&nbsp;



Q. In terms of COP28 and PepsiCo, what&#8217;s the premise behind this? What are your plans for the upcoming conference?



A. COP28 is a crucial event for not just PepsiCo, but for the world. I think everyone is seeing the impact that climate change is having on everything from food security to people being displaced, etc. At PepsiCo, we firmly believe that we have a role to play to create a more sustainable world, and I think that is also embedded in our positive vision and strategy that we rolled out a couple of years ago.



There are a few elements within that strategy that are, for us, critical. One is positive agriculture. The second is positive value chain and the third one is positive choices. As we look at COP28, in particular, the focus is going to be primarily on the first two of those pillars. Within positive agriculture, we have committed ourselves to convert the equivalent of the agricultural land that we&#8217;re using to grow our crops. We work with about 100,000 farmers across the world and we want to convert the equivalent of the land that we&#8217;re using with these farms to grow our crops to regenerative agricultural practices.



On positive value chain, this is very much in focus for COP28. A few key focus areas there – as a company, we&#8217;ve committed to become net zero, across our entire ecosystem, by 2040. If you then break that down –agriculture is, for us, one of the important drivers of our emissions. The second area that we need to work on is packaging, which is another contributor to our emissions. And there, we&#8217;ve pledged to significantly reduce the amount of virgin PET, so we will reduce that by 50% by 2030, per serving. That means that we need to establish proper recycling infrastructure, especially, in the markets that I&#8217;m responsible for, but also start including recycled PET within our packaging footprint to ensure that we create this circular economy for packaging. Within the Africa, Middle East and South Asia (AMESA) sector, we now have established the right legislative framework in most of the markets, in the sense that recycled PET is allowed to be used for food grade consumption.


<div class="wp-block-image">
<figure class="aligncenter size-large is-resized"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="1024" height="567" src="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/Tshego-Selepe-agribusiness-manager-at-the-Kgodiso-Development-Fund-helping-with-the-first-planting-at-a-model-farm-in-Kakamas-Northern-Cape-South-Africa-1024x567.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-60163" style="aspect-ratio:1.8059964726631392;width:542px;height:auto" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/Tshego-Selepe-agribusiness-manager-at-the-Kgodiso-Development-Fund-helping-with-the-first-planting-at-a-model-farm-in-Kakamas-Northern-Cape-South-Africa-1024x567.jpg 1024w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/Tshego-Selepe-agribusiness-manager-at-the-Kgodiso-Development-Fund-helping-with-the-first-planting-at-a-model-farm-in-Kakamas-Northern-Cape-South-Africa-300x166.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/Tshego-Selepe-agribusiness-manager-at-the-Kgodiso-Development-Fund-helping-with-the-first-planting-at-a-model-farm-in-Kakamas-Northern-Cape-South-Africa-768x426.jpg 768w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/Tshego-Selepe-agribusiness-manager-at-the-Kgodiso-Development-Fund-helping-with-the-first-planting-at-a-model-farm-in-Kakamas-Northern-Cape-South-Africa-1536x851.jpg 1536w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/Tshego-Selepe-agribusiness-manager-at-the-Kgodiso-Development-Fund-helping-with-the-first-planting-at-a-model-farm-in-Kakamas-Northern-Cape-South-Africa-2048x1135.jpg 2048w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Tshego Selepe, agribusiness manager at the Kgodiso Development Fund helping with the first planting at a model farm in Kakamas, Northern Cape, South Africa</figcaption></figure></div>


We have been and are working with other stakeholders to set up and further scale up proper collection and sorting mechanisms. And also we&#8217;re working with suppliers to secure a sufficient supply of recycled PET and we have now launched, in nine markets, recycled PET with our packaging footprint. We&#8217;re now in the process of further scaling that up and adding a few other markets to the roster.



And the third one, of course, is in our manufacturing and logistics setup. There, the focus is to drive towards renewable energy. That&#8217;s going to be a big focus area for us, again, as we look at COP28, for discussions with governments and other stakeholders.



Then the last focus area for us is on water, where we’ve pledged to become net water positive, and again, making good progress on that by reducing water usage consumption as much as possible, but also leveraging our technologies to help others save on water.



Q. With the countries and the markets you&#8217;re involved in, what kind of practices are you implementing to improve the livelihoods of farmers in those areas?



A. As I said, globally, we work with about 100,000 farmers – that&#8217;s from very large scale commercial farmers, like you would have in the Midwest, to smallholder farmers in, whether it be India, whether it be the African continent. Especially in the sector that I&#8217;m responsible for, we have tremendous experience working with small-scale farmers. We have a lot of know-how in terms of how you can reduce water usage, how you optimize the use of fertilizers, the best type of fertilizers, but also how we can work with those farmers to improve their yields. We&#8217;ve deployed that across many markets in AMESA, definitely also in Egypt and South Africa, as well as in Ethiopia.



In South Africa, one of the other things that we&#8217;re doing, as part of the financials acquisition, is we have made available a development fund, which is R600 million (approx. $32.7 million) in total. [Half of that] is specifically earmarked for agriculture, and with a focus of including emerging farmers into our value chain, and helping them with tools, with skills building, and with that, hopefully, also create better livelihoods for them, for their families and for their communities. That is one of the areas that we&#8217;re very much focused on in South Africa.



Q. With your renewable energy practices, what are some of these you&#8217;ve implemented or are implementing?



A. Net zero has many different components, because we have emissions across that entire value chain, but if you specifically look at what the focus is, and when it comes to our manufacturing and logistics setup, within manufacturing, the aim there is to move to renewable energy sources. That will be through investments in solar energy, using wind energy as well, where possible.



The big unlock that we need to still see happen in many of our markets is the establishment of power purchase agreements, so that will help us generate energy through renewable sources. And when we&#8217;re not in a position to use that energy, we can put it back on the grid. When we need energy from the grid, we can take from it. That is the ‘wheeling arrangements’, as they&#8217;re called, that is not yet in full force in most of the markets in AMESA. That is a big focus area for us in the discussions with local governments.



Second – when it comes to our fleet – you&#8217;ll see us investing in electric vehicles, in order to ensure that our fleet, over time, also becomes a fleet that is not using fossil fuels anymore, but is using renewable energy as the main source, to transport our products and raw materials.



Q. Let&#8217;s talk about opportunities in Africa, and then in the AMESA region in general. What are you seeing in terms of growth and expansion?



A. It spans about 45% of the world population. It&#8217;s a very young population. There is also an opportunity for us, as we look at that growth, to create very positive impact in the communities where we operate. And that is, again, linked to some of the work that we&#8217;re doing with farming communities, because, specifically for our foods business, we need to source crops, and we largely want to source those crops locally. The region as such, I think, offers a lot of opportunity for growth.

Eugene Willemsen

How This Global Company Is Pushing for Regenerative Agriculture And Renewable Energy In Africa

By Sabdiyo Dido Bashuna, Senior Technical Adviser Value Chains &amp; Agribusiness, Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation (CTA)



As Covid-19 continues its spread across Africa, the restrictions to limit infection are having a disproportionate impact on half of the continent’s food growers and producers: women.



At a time when food security is under extra strain because of the pandemic, women in agriculture are enduring extra hygiene and social distancing measures on top of endemic inequalities, which together undermine their capacity to respond and recover from the crisis.



But the pandemic has also triggered creativity and survival techniques, leading to product diversity, new digital marketing and distribution channels.



Across Africa, women make up&nbsp;<a href="http://www.fao.org/3/am307e/am307e00.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">50 per cent</a>&nbsp;of the agricultural labour force as well as often taking primary responsibility for caring for families, households and communities.



Yet historic inequalities mean women are facing the added pressure of the coronavirus outbreak while also having access to just a fraction of the necessary resources, from land and labour to finance and trainings.



In normal times, the productivity gap between men and women farmers is an estimated&nbsp;<a href="http://www.fao.org/3/i2050e/i2050e04.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">30 per cent</a>&nbsp;as a result of unequal access to resources, but with shocks like coronavirus exacerbating existing inequalities, the potential impact on food production, food security and nutrition could be far greater. &nbsp;&nbsp;



Better supporting African women in agriculture would help bridge this gap and increase both yields and profitability, providing more food for the poor, sick and hungry, and more income to support rural families during the global health emergency. So how can we do this during the pandemic?



One challenge of persistent gender inequality is that women, whose roles are often home-based and even more so during the coronavirus outbreak, tend not to present themselves for support.



The first barrier to overcome, then, is reaching women in the first place, whether with agricultural advice, financial support or valuable farm inputs like seeds, fertilizer and pesticides.



For more than three decades, CTA has worked closely with extension workers in Africa, who make direct contact with women through cooperatives and communities while also championing digital tools and services that are less intrusive or demanding.



Online networks such as&nbsp;<a href="https://value4her.hivebrite.com/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">VALUE4HERConnect</a>&nbsp;have provided a platform for African women entrepreneurs in agriculture that offers networking, mentoring and training support in a way that is convenient for heads of households.



These kinds of networks are also helpful for addressing a second challenge resulting from gender inequality, which is that the majority of women’s agri-businesses tend to be smaller and more likely to fail given the low levels of resilience.



To be effective, any tailored support for women must also be channelled with such small businesses in mind. Only a small fraction of rural women own bank account, for example, so accessing such funds is a challenge.



Providing grants and flexible loans for women can help them afford financial services like insurance and credit that protect their livelihoods against stresses while allowing them to invest in growing their enterprises.



Additionally, for women to fulfil their often care-based roles in households and on farms throughout the pandemic, they must be safe, both from the risk of infection and gender-based violence, which has&nbsp;<a href="https://www.unwomen.org/-/media/headquarters/attachments/sections/library/publications/2020/issue-brief-covid-19-and-ending-violence-against-women-and-girls-en.pdf?la=en&amp;vs=5006" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">increased</a>&nbsp;as a result of lockdowns.



Finally, the new coping mechanisms and survival techniques adopted by women in agribusiness during the pandemic need to be documented, supported and scaled to cushion them from failure and help build resilience against future shocks.



Governments, health agencies and non-profits must provide technical assistance to help educate women on navigating the complexities caused by this pandemic, from basic hygiene measures to skills such as business management, renegotiation of supply contracts, or accessing business support.



Women smallholders already play such a vital role in producing and providing food in low-income countries, which has become all the more important in the wake of coronavirus.



But without targeted and appropriate support, they miss fulfilling their potential, which is a loss to women and families that depend on their incomes, and in the grip of a pandemic, it may also be a fatal oversight.

gettyimages-1164630844-594×594

Op-Ed: Why African Women In Agriculture Face The Greatest Double Burden Of Covid-19 And Food Insecurity

Africa has 60% of the world’s uncultivated arable land, and has the potential to become an agricultural hub by applying agri-tech and futurist thinking. Lessons from a Canadian food economy.



<hr class="wp-block-separator"/>



“Our food system is broken.” And Africa is no exception.“Just consider that 30 percent of all food produced doesn’t make it to the plate. Much of it ends up in landfills where it creates methane, a greenhouse gas.”



These were the words by Barbara Swartzentruber, the Executive Director of Strategy, Innovation and Intergovernmental Relations at the City of Guelph, west of downtown Toronto in Canada, to a range of journalists in a bid to encourage foreign direct investment for the city’s visionary smart city plan.



According to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations, “every year, consumers in rich countries waste almost as much food (222 million tonnes) as the entire net food production of sub-Saharan Africa (230 million tonnes)”. 



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow">To address these challenges, the entire design and food production system needs to be rethought and reimagined. </blockquote>



Thought needs to be given to what we put on our plates, to how we produce it and to how we dispose of it etc., reckons Swartzentruber.



Failure to do so will have dire consequences for the nine billion people expected to live on this planet by 2050, she adds. In response, Guelph-Wellington, the city in Canada I am visiting, which has a long history of agricultural excellence, is re-imagining its food system. 



Many of the discoveries and solutions it is applying could be adopted and repurposed in Africa, which has 60% of the world’s uncultivated arable land, and the potential to become a burgeoning agricultural hub of the future.



<h5 class="wp-block-heading">Circular food economies</h5>



Guelph-Wellington has started work to be among the world’s first circular food economies by 2025. Its ambitious plan will see a system where everyone has access to nutritious food, nothing is wasted and the impact on its own environment is minimal, reveals Swartzentruber.



 It is proposing a 50x50x50 model, in which access to affordable, nutritious food is increased by 50%, 50 new circular businesses and collaboration opportunities are created and economic revenues are increased by 50% by reducing and recognizing food waste,she adds. 



To achieve this, food experts, academics, social innovators, farmers, community partners and entrepreneurs will collaborate to tackle Guelph-Wellington’s most complex food challenges using big data and the latest technologies. 



<h5 class="wp-block-heading">Biomaterials</h5>



One of these academics is Professor Amar Mohanty, Director of the Bioproducts Discovery and Development Centre (BDDC) and Premier’s Research Chair in Biomaterials &amp; Transportation at the University of Guelph. Mohanty, who comes from India, is working with plant biologists,chemists and engineers to reuse waste, investigate and commercialize biomaterial. His passion stems from a desire to save the environment, the ebullient scientist tells FORBES AFRICA. 



His zeal to contribute to the reduction of greenhouse gases,
which he calls ‘slow poison’, is already bearing fruit. 



Together with Toronto-based coffee roaster Club Coffee, the BDDC created the world’s first fully-compostable coffee pods, which became available in Canada in 2016. 



To address the scourge plastic straws are having on rivers and oceans, Mohanty says his department is currently testing a 100% compostable straw made with biodegradable plastics. 



The BDDC is also working with the likes of Volkswagen, Ford and Tesla to turn plant materials such as wheat, soy and corn into alternatives to petroleum-based sources for car parts. In December, together with one of the car manufacturers, it is launching these products. 



<h5 class="wp-block-heading">Controlled environment systems</h5>



A few blocks away on the same campus, Professor Mike Dixon of the Controlled Environment Systems Research Facility (CESRF) and his team are hard at work creating controlled environment plant production. 



The technology will be used to feed people living in harsh environments, astronauts traveling to Mars, to growing plants on the moon, to improving the medicinal components of plants such as cannabis, to developing new cancer therapies, says Dixon.



<figure class="wp-block-image"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="826" height="618" src="https://www.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/Mike.png" alt="" class="wp-image-38297" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/Mike.png 826w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/Mike-300x224.png 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/Mike-600x449.png 600w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/Mike-768x575.png 768w" sizes="(max-width: 826px) 100vw, 826px" /><figcaption> Mike Dixon of the Controlled Environment Systems Research Facility. Picture: Supplied</figcaption></figure>



With confidence, Dixon reckons, provided he gets funding,that he will send the first plants to the moon in 2019. True to his Scottish blood and love for single malt whiskey, the plants will be barley.



The laboratory where Dixon and his team of researchers work uses new attributes of light-emitting diode (LED) lights to promote production of various plant commodities. For example, says Dixon, “researchers have learned that exposing lettuce to different LED light changes metabolic compounds that influence the color and taste of lettuce and even the medicinal properties of other plants”.



<h5 class="wp-block-heading">DNA barcoding</h5>



Professor Paul Hebert from the Department of Integrative Biology at the University of Guelph was the first scientist to propose that a short DNA sequence be used to identify species. According to the university, he called the system ‘DNA barcoding’, analogous to how retail products are tagged to allow for quick identification.



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow">“With DNA barcoding, scientists may identify species within hours – and, ultimately, minutes – using all life stages and even fragments of organisms.”</blockquote>



The technology can also be used to eliminate food fraud and ensure that you get what you order and pay for at shops and restaurants. 



On its journey to becoming the food basket of the world, Africa has a treasure trove of new ideas to use. The future is in her hands.&nbsp;&nbsp;

barley

Is This Technology the Answer to World Hunger?

It’s a multi-billion-dollar business that is struggling, with millions of lives on the line.
The business of food is a major industry in Africa, but the lack of investment is threatening it.
Grain SA expects that South Africa will, this year, need to import about 770,000 tons of maize, its staple.
Speaking at the 6th African Grain Trade Summit in Kigali, Rwanda, Michael Hailu, the Director of the Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation (CTA), said Africa spends at least $25 billion on food imports, according to reports. Nigeria alone ate 5 million tons of rice in 2013, while importing 2 million tons of this. It spends over 350 billion naira ($1.78 billion) a year importing rice.
“To decrease imports, we need to solve the problems we have in the agricultural sector so that the continent can be a bigger agricultural investment option,” says Dennis Matangira, Senior Managing Partner at Databank Agrifund Manager, which invests in African agriculture.
It is risky, according to Matangira, because of poor rainfall, a lack of technology, support and seeds, expensive inputs and uncertainty around land tenure in many countries.
“African agriculture productivity is way behind the rest of the world. Investments in technology and modern farming methods are what made the difference in high productive regions. If Africa has to be food secure, adequate investments will need to be made. It’s not so much about the size of the land, but the productivity of the land under use,” he says.
African entrepreneurs want to solve this problem and make money from it.
Fertilizer companies, like Avison, are taking the bull by the horns. It has created a semi-organic fertilizer in which Databank has invested. According to Matangira, this fertilizer enhances soil fertility.
“Increasing yields from currently utilized land is the only solution for necessary, sustainable, production increases,” he says.
Databank invested in Avison in 2014 and has helped build three fertilizer plants.
“When you apply semi-organic fertiliser, you introduce macro- and micro-nutrient elements to the soil. That gives life back to the soil, making it productive. After years of using 100 percent chemical fertilisers, micro elements are depleted, the soil gets damaged by the fertiliser and yields are reduced. This fertiliser counters that,” he says.
Avison mixes organic material and chemical fertilizer which returns higher yields that Databank claims tripled revenue in 2015.
“If you use purely organic fertilizer, like bird manure or chicken manure, without blending with chemical fertilizer, the yields are not as great. There is less work with this because you only apply it once before planting and there is no need for boosters,” says Matangira.
“We use satellite technology to map the soil and use 13 years of historical data to determine the production capacity of the soil. In conjunction with this we do comprehensive soil classification and soil potential maps. Armed with this information we can pinpoint the specific needs within each hectare. Now we can fairly accurately estimate how much the farm can produce each year. If you know the soil can never produce more than 5 tonnes a hector you won’t fertilise for more and can save time and money.”
Below the empty road to Jasper van der Linden’s farm in Mookgophong, a two hour drive from Johannesburg, lie healthy crops as far as the eye can see. There is a vast field of wheat waving in the wind.
Van der Linden says his farm is an agricultural paradise. He claims his yields have increased by around 40% since he began using Avison’s fertilizer.
“The protein levels in the wheat have also increased. The top grade is 13 percent but now I have it at 15 percent. I grew up on a farm and I have been farming my whole life. I farmed two years in the US and in Sudan and many parts of Africa and I have never seen a combination like this that has such great outcomes,” he says.
“Too many yields are lost in the continent and we need such inventions to improve it. This puts a smile on my face because it means I will make more money than most farmers.”
The World Bank estimates that food production and processing in Africa could generate $1 trillion a year by 2030. All it needs is investment, innovation, rain and canny, hardworking farmers.

Satellites And Sweat Coax Wealth From The Soil

Realistic and measurable transformation within certain South African industries has been a long journey. In some sectors it has warped definitions as boxes are ticked mechanically.  In others transformation is non-existent. The agricultural sector unfortunately still carries the stigma of embracing change at an extremely slow pace. Its record on transformation is patchy at best.
The wine industry is no different. With its sterling international reputation  and millions of liters of South African wine exported every year, vexed questions still remain on whether this generational industry has genuinely transformed and if so, to what extent?
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignleft size-medium wp-image-5762" src="/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/FWA-2013-Oct-076-077-ENTR-Wine-002-300x275.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="275" />
In this industry, broad-based black economic empowerment transactions are usually viewed as façades used to divert unwanted questions from those who are pro-transformation. Despite these realities, there are women who are working tirelessly towards altering the status quo, with passion, to bring about significant change within the wine industry.
Nondumiso Pikashe and Carmen Stevens are two of these women. Ignoring skeptics and forecasts of failure, their professional journeys are the result of meticulous timing, dedication and resilience. Responding to a call from former president Thabo Mbeki in 2004 for active players within South Africa’s economy, Pikashe decided to enter an industry completely foreign to her. “Curiosity was what attracted me to [winemaking],” she explains.
“I was always fascinated by wine because in the townships it was an alcoholic beverage that was associated with shattered homes…, while on the other hand, wine’s other face was one of sophistication, class and elegance.”
Wanting to find out more about the characteristics of wine, the more she researched, the more Pikashe became intoxicated by the industry. And thus, Ses’fikile wine was born.
‘Ses’fikile’ is isiXhosa for ‘we have arrived’.
“My wines symbolize the impact that the growing number of women within the industry are making, regardless of the challenges and obstacles they face,” she says, proudly. Pikashe is frustrated by the pace of change in the winemaking industry. She says little is being done in order to pique the curiosity of young black girls.
“I entered the industry through support from associations and groups which are now collectively known as the Wine Industry Development Agency. The work they are doing is commendable; however, more needs to be done.”
Another player in the South African winemaking industry is Carmen Stevens. Unlike Pikashe, Stevens says it was almost a given that she would enter the industry because of how passionate she had always felt about winemaking. A winemaker at the esteemed Amani estate in the Cape Winelands, her passion for the technicalities behind the process has earned her respect throughout the industry. With 18 years’ experience and two harvest internships – one in California and the other in France – under her belt, Stevens is set to make a significant change in the industry.
“I just knew that I wanted to make wine: the smell of the wine cellar; the enchanting and sometimes majestic process of the art of winemaking was fueled by fantasies I developed from reading through my mom’s romantic novels, which were set in the vineyards,” Stevens recalls.
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignleft size-medium wp-image-5765" src="/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/FWA-2013-Oct-076-077-ENTR-Wine-001-300x225.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="225" />
Stevens is using her passion for wine to change women’s access to land and promote skills sharing.
“Agricultural land needs to be more affordable within the well-known wine regions to increase both female and black participation. The government needs to look into sustainable strategies in order to bring this into being. Skills transfer and development is another thing. Yes, there has been a visible growth of female winemakers within the industry, however, the growth in understanding of the industry holistically still needs much work,” she argues.
Stevens believes that the South African winemaking industry has the opportunity to increase the percentage of women and black role players.
She is upbeat about her future in the industry.
“Amani has given me the opportunity to make wines that are reflection of me, having a brand that carries my name is the next big step,” she says.
Carmen’s recent association with UK-based brand Naked Wine has inspired her to developing her own blends – Carmen Stevens Wines.
“Watching my brand growing each year has been a great experience; this puts me in a position to develop future winemakers as well, that is something that is necessary and which will be very humbling,” she concludes.

Ses’fikile We have arrived

When Douglas Stern wakes up in the morning, he looks over the beautiful hills of the Karoo, which cradle his livestock farm in the Eastern Cape. This land is close to his heart and defines his life.
On his bad days, he is haunted by the scenes he saw at numerous hydraulic fracturing sites in the United States of America in July. A local agricultural co-operative sponsored his trip to research hydraulic fracturing or fracking. In Pennsylvania, he saw heartache among people suffering from fracking, which is planned for the Karoo and many other parts of the country.
<div id="attachment_721" style="width: 484px" class="wp-caption alignleft"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-721" class="size-large wp-image-721" src="/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/006-1024x768.jpg" alt="" width="474" height="356" />Douglas Stern and his wife, Liz</div>
“They are gagged by the law because they are forced to sign non-disclosure agreements by the various companies’ lawyers, in return for a water supply to replace theirs, which is contaminated by gas. They [gas companies] hold this ‘holier-than-thou’ attitude. It seems they do what they like and won’t be held accountable, but I won’t let it happen here,” says a determined Stern.
Hydraulic fracturing involves horizontal drilling to create fissures. The insertion of pressurized water, sand and fracking fluids release the gas. Shale gas reserves require a high-volume hydraulic process which uses around 20 million liters of water per fracking incident. In short, it could damage the Karoo’s land and possibly its water.
Stern was born and bred in Graaff-Reinet. This land has been in his family since 1948; he inherited it, from his mother, in 1979. He gained an agricultural diploma from Grootfontein College in Middelburg. Farming is his life and he won’t allow gas companies to ruin it. In this part of the country, water is life. His daily water usage for domestic and farming purposes adds up to 1,512,600 liters.
“In my view, it’s the government’s responsibility to tell them to bug off. Our constitution is strong and allows us to earn an honest living and be exempt from such possible water contamination,” he says.
Derek Light, the epitome of a small-town attorney, represents the farmers of Graaff-Reinet, who see themselves as guardians of the Karoo. Many of Light’s 300 landowner clients refer to him as a saint, a humble man and a saviour. He also represents Agri-Eastern Cape, which brings his representation up to thousands of farmers and landowners. The Eastern Cape produces around a third of South Africa’s livestock.
The protestors want to stop the landscape from being littered with drilling rigs. That could happen if international energy companies are granted the rights to exploit gas. “Imagine well pads every three to five kilometres, for thousands of kilometres, which will be interlinked with roads. You’ll have a highway of pipelines all over the country to Mossel Bay, Coega, a Sasol plant or wherever you want it. You won’t recognize this country, it’ll be a wasteland,” he says.
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignleft size-large wp-image-722" src="/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/DSC_4530-680x1024.jpg" alt="" width="474" height="714" />
The protestors are not immune from criticism. Their critics ask whether their landownership is valid as they are not ‘traditional’ owners of the property. Light feels that this view is aimed at creating a divide between South Africans and that it has nothing to do with the scientific research in question.
“People tell us to wind our necks in. We’re saying, don’t come with false promises… We don’t want our land harmed to the detriment of all our people. But sadly, people are sometimes persuaded by their political views,” Light says.
It all began in October 2008, when the worried owners of Samara private game reserve, in the Karoo, approached Light. In a lengthy process, Light successfully opposed three of Sunset Energy’s applications for exploration rights before the local regulator, Petroleum Agency South Africa (PASA). Sunset Energy is the Australian subsidiary of South African Bundu Oil and Gas.
More clients approached Light after Falcon Oil and Gas—a Canadian company—applied for exploration rights elsewhere in the Karoo, spanning 30,000km2.
In January 2011, PASA accepted three of Shell’s applications for fracking in three areas in the eastern, central and western Karoo covering 90,000km2.
Light addressed landowners from around Graaff-Reinet. It drew the big names: multi-billionaire Johann Rupert, whose father was a founding member of the World Wildlife Foundation; and Dutch Princess Irene, a Karoo landowner. She even had a full audit conducted to prove that she has no links with Dutch company Shell.
“What had been a lonely fight for me and a handful of landowners suddenly entered the public domain and became big,” he says.
Light filed applications against Falcon Oil and Gas and the three Shell applications in March 2011. PASA directed objections against the five applications to regional committees to be adjudicated. It had been swamped with applications concerning parts of KwaZulu-Natal, the Eastern Cape, Northern Cape and the Free State.
On April 29, 2011, Susan Shabangu, Minister of the Department of Mineral Resources, placed a moratorium on all applications for six months and extended it for another six months to allow for investigation.
The process is determined by the Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development Act (MPRDA) of 2002. According to the act, the applicants should determine how the environment will be affected.
“I am satisfied that in law none of these companies have complied with their legal obligations in terms of the MPRDA. There are, in my view, shortcomings in the processes currently regulated, in that it’s certainly inadequate to deal with a situation of this magnitude. I have very little doubt in my mind that the courts will intervene if the applications are granted under the current circumstances,” says Light.
The government and South African citizens have an obligation to preserve their environment for future generations. While the moratorium passed in mid-February, the investigation’s findings are expected to be presented to cabinet by the end of July. Energy Minister Dipuo Peters is awaiting cabinet’s decision. She has conflicting views about fracking: while it could ensure energy supply security, it needs to be done safely.
“If we need 10 years to decide, then we need to take those 10 years,” says Light.
Light questions how fracking fits into South Africa’s long-term energy planning. Do the benefits outweigh the costs? He suggests the government considers the Mozambican offshore natural gas find as an affordable, alternative source.
Stern agrees: “The gas industry in the United States went from boom to bust. At the moment, gas is being produced at a loss because there’s an over-supply. South Africa can purchase gas far more cheaply than it can produce it.”
Light talks about the report by respected economist Tony Twine, who died in March, which was commissioned by Shell. “He had to make huge assumptions about the extent of the gas reserves in the Karoo; the price of gas when it comes into production in 10 to 15 years’ time; and the cost of producing it in South Africa. He [Twine] acknowledged that he had to make those assumptions, which rendered the report nonsense because you could equally make other assumptions,” says Light.
The protestors also claim that the industry in the US was regulated poorly; they made fatal errors and are now putting on the brakes so they can re-regulate.
According to Stern, incidents of water contamination and chemical spillage have been reported throughout the US. The claim from gas companies is that there is a natural barrier of impermeable rock between the area you frack and the ground water.
There is also concern about the chemicals that could be used. They sub-contract the process to other companies that want to protect trade secrets, which means that certain chemicals are undisclosed. Some of the chemicals are known carcinogens and toxic: simply put, hazardous to health.
Two recent studies, conducted in Denver by Petron and Howarth, suggest that 4% of the methane gas was leaking. According to Stern’s research conducted in the States, he found that 5% of wells were failing on an ongoing basis, which resulted in further leaking.
Countries should consider renewable energy sources like solar and wind power as clean, alternative energy sources, say Karoo farmers.
“We [farmers] are very conservative people in the Karoo with regard to our water because it is sacrosanct and we have droughts. As a consequence, I never use more than half of my borehole water capacity. My concern is that they will say to me, ‘But you’re not using the other 50%’,” says Stern.
“The rate of recharge is very low in the Karoo—scientists tell us it’s between 2-3%—and it could take decades or even hundreds of years to recharge when you take water in those volumes,” says Light.
Once exploration rights are granted, the applicants have to conduct a public participation meetings.
“We were appalled by how sly they were,” mentioned a Karoo farmer who was eager to talk and who had attended a public participation meeting.
“They didn’t even show their faces. They sat in amongst us like cowards. It’s a very large area we represent, so I don’t know every farmer within the district and neither does the next. Derek Light was standing in front of us, by himself, waiting for answers from representatives who, it seemed, didn’t even bother to show up. They wanted to see who they were up against.”
The country awaits cabinet’s final verdict. It’s a case of determined farmers versus equally determined international energy companies, who have deep pockets and big-city lawyers.

Tag: agricultural