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By the Citrus Growers Association
Report over on-farm vaccinations and supply of reefer equipment to meet demand .
We appreciate the contributions of those that took part in the survey .
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People who say it cannot be done should not interrupt those who are doing it .” A few weeks back our newsletter covered vaccination drives on farms in Mpumalanga and Limpopo provinces . There was a call to get more growers to take up the challenge and assist in worker vaccinations . The Citrus Academy did a survey on this matter – and this is the preliminary report after receiving almost 50 responses ( covering 16 000 hectares / 37 million cartons ).
Responses came from farms and packhouses across all citrus growing regions . 50 % of the respondents have no Covid in their business at present ; 20 % indicated a decreasing Covid infection trend , while stable and increasing trends were both 15 %. 80 % indicated that Covid did not affect their ability to do business . 10 % of respondents had 76-100 % vaccination rate in the farm / packhouse ; 17 % had 51-75 % vaccination rate ; 19 % 26-50 % and 13 % 11-25 %.
The majority ( 40 %) had a vaccination rate of 0-10 %; indicating that there is a lot of work to do . The sample was split evenly in terms of those who had experienced vaccination resistance , and those who had not – the reasons for resistance were cited as fear , suspicion , apathy , and misinformation .
The sample was also almost evenly split in terms of those who had a vaccination drive and those who did not . Activities included in a vaccination drive were information campaigns , transport to vaccination sites , and vaccination stations at the workplace . Those who had a vaccination drive indicated that what worked well was management getting vaccinated and serving as an example , and assistance from the local Department of Health .
SHIPPING LINES ADDRESS SUPPLY TO MEET DEMAND The scenario of container shipping from South Africa has become quite constrained , global , and local dynamics at play are creating a complex situation . The massive demand for sea freight from east to west , coupled with massive freight rates sees container and vessel allocations focusing on those routes .
Vessel delays and congestion are very evident due to the volume flow coupled with recent closure of ports and terminals in China due to Covid , this is tying up much needed container equipment . This trend has been at play since late 2020 and has caused all sorts of problems routing empty containers to South Africa . Locally we are at boiling point as terminal operations were affected by the July uprising in KZN and then days later the Cyber Attack on Transnet IT systems , coupled to this severe weather impacts across the port terminals .
All of this now coming to a head . CGA and FPEF Executives met with representatives from Maersk and MSC to understand their viewpoint on these issues . In general , shipping schedules locally are upside down as delays are extensive and this is resulting in many vessels omitting ports or bypassing South Africa altogether to avoid delays . The routing of empty containers to South Africa has been problematic up to now but further impacted by the delays and the bypassing of vessels that were earmarked for bringing empty containers to South African ports .
We have learnt that reefer equipment is planned across all lines and aligned for the balance of the citrus season . We can surmise however that reefer equipment can become constrained based on the above factors , but we were assured that local representatives of shipping lines are not taking a back seat and are hard at work to ensure equipment is available at each port . CLA
Karolina Grabowska | Pexels
COLD LINK AFRICA • October 2021 15