Agriculture Series: Sustainability

The Talking Point

Sustainability is a challenge facing small-scale farmers and it impacts the business of agriculture at several levels: profitability as the cost of seed to export increases with inflation. One may have to consider whether to diversify the output of your product (think sugarcane and their by-products, for example). One also has to consider whether to introduce alternative farming methods where there is a lack of resources or basic infrastructure. Finally, how to adapt to climate change events which extends the production period and makes communities food insecure.

As part of a series of discussions, we unpack the state of our agricultural sector with a focus on the 2 million small-scale farmers that are in operation. Today, we will address some of the issues raised around sustainability of these holdings and what are some of the solutions that can be shared in building a more expansive small-scale farming landscape.

Guest: Mr. Thabile Nkunjana - Senior Economist in the Trade Research Unit at the National Agricultural Marketing Council (NAMC)

Guest: Dr. Jack Armour - Commercial Manager at Free State Agriculture

Guest: Ms. Mandisa Mazibuko - Masters Candidate in the Department of Crop Sciences from the Faculty of Natural & Agricultural Sciences at the North West University