••••
NEWS
Senwes and Agri SA lead with market first
Smart Agri-Risk Management Desk
EVERY BUSINESS , ENTI- TY OR ORGANISA- TION KNOWINGLY OR UNKNOWINGLY DEALS WITH SOME FORM OF RISK MANAGEMENT WHEN DAILY DECISIONS ARE MADE . THE AGRI- CULTURAL INDUSTRY IS NO DIFFERENT AND ESPECIALLY SO FOR THE FARMER AND PRIMARY PRODUCER .
AUBREY KRUGER
Thanks to the funding provided by Senwes , Agri SA launched the Smart Agri-Risk Management Desk at Nampo
Harvest Day 2017 to proactively identify and mitigate the key risks within the industry and the value chain .
WHY WAS IT LAUNCHED ? Senwes and Agri SA thought that the approach to risk management must be re-evaluated . Disaster management was a well developed area within Treasury but last year ’ s drought incident confirmed that the process has since become deficient and sterile .
GATHERING INFORMATION HAS PROVEN THAT :
• Research on the total risk profile of agriculture as the main objective , is vital .
• A multi-disciplinary approach to risk management is required .
• Rising costs of drought relief in industrialised countries have resulted in a policy shift away from emergency subsidies towards more long-term selfreliance of rural communities .
• Modern thinking with respect to risk management seems to focus on the integration of risk assessment , reduction , mitigation , response and recovery in respect of the overall agricultural sector .
• It is accepted that agricultural risk management aims to increase the likelihood that a household , community , city or any area will be able to anticipate , resist or recover from the losses sustained from a hazard or other threat . This could indeed become a national crisis should it not be managed .
RESEARCH ARISING FROM THIS PROJECT WILL AIM TO :
• Ensure permanent protection against or reduction of the intensity of risk events ;
• minimise the severity of the consequences of risks ;
• prepare the sector to react appropriately during and after a risk event ; and
• alleviate hardship and meet basic needs ;
• increase the competitiveness of the food sector relative to the international world .
Omri van Zyl ( CEO of AgriSA ), Johannes Moller ( President of AgriSA ), Danie Minnaar ( Senwes Chairman ) and Francois Strydom ( Senwes Group CEO ) during the signing of a MOA to establish and fund a Smart Agri Risk Management Desk . The announcement was made on 17 May 2017 at the Nampo Harvest Day near Bothaville .
The project will assist with any strategies that may be required to assist the agricultural community , government and other stakeholders and role players following a risk event to fully restore the pre-risk event level of functioning . To this end , the project will entail a holistic approach with collaboration between the agricultural
28
JUN / JUL 2017 • SENWES Scenario