Gauteng Smallholder Gauteng Smallholder September 2017 | Page 3

GAUTENG COMMENT, by Pete Bower MAGAZINE HOW TO MAKE YOUR PLOT PROFITABLE Vol 18 No 9 September 2017 PUBLISHED BY Bowford Publications (Pty) Ltd Established 1985 (Reg No 2004/019727/07) PO Box 14648, Bredell 1623 Tel: [phone] or 076 176-7392 Fax: [phone] website: www.sasmallholder.co.za facebook.com/gautengsmallholder PUBLISHER & EDITOR Pete Bower email: [email protected] RESEARCH EDITOR Vanessa Bower email: [email protected] GRAPHIC DESIGNER Mark Hageman email: [email protected] ADVERTISEMENT SALES Pete Bower email: [email protected] ADVERTISING RATES ( All Rates Full C o l ou r , incl VAT ) Full Page - R7 480 Half Page - R 4 620 Quarter P age - R2 570 1/8 page - R1 360 Smaller sizes: R 104 per col cm (Minimum size - 4 col cm) ( Black only: colour rate less 2 0% ) Booking discounts Payment lumpsum in advance. Not applicable to SuperSmalls. 3 insertions - less 10% 6 insertions - less 15% (other payment and discount options are available) Circulation More than 1 9 000 copies * distributed free through outlets in the Agricultural Smallholding settlements of Gauteng and adjoining provinces. * excluding on-line readers. By Mail To receive the Smallholder by mail subscribe for only R210 per year. See coupon in this edition. Online Magazine & Classifieds http://www.sasmallholder.co.za Copyright Title and contents protected by copyright. No part of this publication may be reproduced or stored in any form whatsoever without the prior written permission of the publisher. Disclaimer While every care is taken to ensure the accuracy of the information in this journal, neither the Editor nor the Publisher can be held responsible for damages or consequences of any errors or omissions. The Publisher does not stand warranty for the performance of any article or service mentioned in this journal, whether in an advertisement or elsewhere. FRONT COVER A feature of a Highveld winter: Guineafowl flying over the dry, pale grasslands. Online developments I n what is for us at the Gauteng Smallholder the biggest develop- ment since we moved from bashing out the magazine ourselves on old single-sheet printing presses to full colour glossy web offset printing, we have launched a fully-fledged online small farmers' exchange portal covering the whole of southern Africa. The name of the site is officially the Southern African Small Farmers' Online Exchange, shortened to, we think, the quite snappy www.sasfox.co.za. In time we hope to develop the site into the biggest online shop of its kind, where smallholders will be able to: K Sell their unwanted, surplus and used farm equipment and livestock of every kind; K Buy the equipment, livestock and inputs they need; K Swop unwanted stuff for stuff they want ~ there are very few restrictions; K Sell surplus produce. While the first three categories are simply another online classified portal specialising in the needs of small farmers (think of them as Gumtree for maplotters), it is the last category which is new, and which gets our motors revving. That's because it is the first national attempt at putting small food growers in touch, in a simple and instant way, with potential buyers. And it's aimed at YOU, the average Smallholder reader, as much as it is aimed at commercial small farmers. Thus, if you are growing vegetables for the family table, or enjoy bountiful fruit from your trees, you will now have the ability to sell the few extra bunches of spinach, or extra pumpkins or cabbages that would otherwise have gone to waste, or which you would have foisted onto townie friends. For out there in the ether of the internet you will find (because they will appear when they see how the system works) people in your area who will respond to your ad, pick up your surplus and pay for it, and combine it with the surplus production of others, in turn to take it to market, sell it to a local grocer, or use it to stock a farmstall or table at a farmer's market, or to supply informal traders. What this means is that you ~ the grower ~ can concentrate on growing, even expanding, your plantings, while knowing that your produce will be sold and used, without the hassle and time necessary to market the stuff or man a stall yourself. In this way we hope that the portal will allow and encourage those of us fortunate enough to have land and water to expand our production, to the betterment of all South Africans, thus tackling some of the issues we have, and continue to highlight in #SAFoodCrisis. Oh, and all of this is free. Completely. To you the seller and you the buyer. No charge. No strings attached. No hassle. To place your ad you will simply fill in an on-line form describing the product, giving (if you wish) the price, your general location, and either your telephone number or email address, or both. Hitting the submit button will send your ad to our team who will moderate it edit if necessary, and within a few minutes it will be live on the site, to be seen by anybody with an interest throughout southern Africa. Yes, overborder entries and participation are welcome. Our (and other) commercial advertisers can participate too, listing products for sale in the various categories ~ also for free. Oh, and all of this will be possible on your cellphone as well. So how will we make the site pay? There are various advertising options, such as bold type ads, “bumped” ads where for a fee we will ensure your ad stays at the top of any particular section, ads with additional illustrations and sidebar ads on the individual pages. In developing this site we believe we are taking our operation, which has hitherto been geared to Gauteng's smallholders, to a whole new level. Firstly, we will be bringing together a much wider national and international audience. Secondly we will be bringing on board a younger readership for whom the new fast-paced communica- tion/social media format is more appealing than the older, slower paper-based model. But for those who prefer the paper-based model, rest assured we will continue to serve you as we have done for the past 18 years, the only difference being that the Classified ads and SuperSmalls in the magazine will fall away from next month, as all classifieds received will be listed on www.sasfox.co.za. So, I urge you to try out the new site. You will find it refreshing, fast and exciting. And jolly convenient, too. SAY YOU SAW IT IN THE GAUTENG SMALLHOLDER