•••
MARLON ABRAHAMS
NEW S
Nation in Conversation:
Tackling burning issues at Nampo
NATION IN CONVERSATION WRAPPED UP FOUR
DAYS OF FILMING AT THE
NAMPO HARVEST DAY IN
BOTHAVILLE ON FRIDAY,
20 MAY 2016, WHICH SAW
TEN PANEL DISCUSSIONS
ON BURNING ISSUES IN
AGRICULTURE BEING
TACKLED HEAD-ON BY
SOME OF THE SECTOR’S
MOST KNOWLEDGEABLE
EXPERTS - 35 PANEL MEMBERS TO BE EXACT.
T
he final day was marked by
a discussion on changing
the image of agriculture with
panellist Phumi Mashigo, Foun
ding Partner, Ignitive, suggesting
that ‘Feeding the Nation’ should
become the new brand slogan for
South African agriculture.
All ten episodes are available
Joe Maswanganyi, Senwes Group
Executive in deep convers ation with
Prof Mzukisi Qobo, Political Risk Analyst
during Nation in Convers ation. They
were part of an all black panel including
Anchor Mpumelelo Mkhabela, former
editor of the Sowetan and Prince
Mashele, Political Analyst.
22 JUN/JUL 2016
on Youtube, and will be broadcast
on various TV platforms. For the
full list of episode titles and panel
lists, please visit the Nation in
Conversation website.
The atmosphere over the four
days of filming was one of tangible optimism and passion despite
the current drought conditions
and political shenanigans dogging
the sector.
Discussions included success
stories, including those of new
black commercial farmers, family
businesses, the value chain from
the farm to the fork, changing
the image of agriculture, how to
market agriculture to the youth
as an attractive career choice and
even why South African farmers
are actively being pursued to farm
further north in Africa.
What this round of Nation in
Conversation put into focus, is
that the discussion is definitely
gaining momentum with the message going out to Joe Public on
more platforms than ever before.
The Nation in Conversation App
allowed people to participate in
the conversations live and in real
time. Similarly the Nation in
Conversation digital platforms
registered significant traffic
throughout the proceedings.
Consensus was reached that
transformation is non-negotiable, while the need to produce
enough food for South
Africa and Africa was
seen as a priority. The
quality of food came
up as an increasing
trend as the South
African consumer
expresses a demand to
be able to trace what he eats
• SENWES Scenario
back to where it was produced.
Government inertia in the
implementation of policy was
seen as the main culprit in hol
ding back the rolling out of some
of the suggested transformation
reforms while successful initiatives
from private groups of commercial farms in the transformation
arena were seen as a catalyst to get
more farmers to initiate their own
reform programmes.
The African continent still has
46% of the world’s underutilised
arable land. This incredible statistic means the potential for South
African farmers to expand their
businesses into Africa and share
their skills and experience is a real
option. This fact was driven home
by the revelation that 42 African
countries have made formal
approaches to South African agricultural associations for farming
assistance.
The inherent die-hard optimism among South African
farmers rose to the fore during the
discussions and in the final analysis it would seem that farmers will
endure and embrace the challenges
that face the sector to ensure the
continuation of food security in
the country.
Visit the Nation in Conver
sation website. Download the
Nation in Conversation App from
the various App stores and join
in the conversation. Watch all the
episodes on Youtube and check
the website for the broadcast times
of the episodes on the different
television networks. Also follow
the discussion on Twitter@nationconverse and check out our regular posts on our Facebook page
and Instagram.