This presentation will provide the policy background, then look at the current status of main South African stocks, followed by a discussion on the economic returns from small-scale fishing and what can and cannot be expected from implementation of the policy; concluding with recommendations on the way forward.

To amplify the development impact of the African Agriculture Fund, the International Fund for Agricultural Development actively promoted a Technical Assistance Facility to work alongside its investments. Blending development finance with technical assistance can be a powerful tool to achieve business growth and development outcomes. After five years of implementation,...

A fall armyworm outbreak, the first emergence of the pest in southern Africa, is causing considerable crop damage in some countries. If the pest damage aggravates, it could dampen prospects for good crop harvests that is anticipated in the current farming season. Maize, a staple food in the region has...

This documentary examines rural livelihoods in South Africa. Drawing on the narratives of several interviewees, it explains how impoverished people in South Africa's rural, former homeland communal areas survive and sustain themselves. The film suggests both the importance of between rural areas and urban centres, and the multiple activities on...

Malnutrition, including over- and under-nutrition and micro-nutrient deficiencies, is the top contributor to the global disease burden. Globally, 800 million people are under-nourished, 2 billion are overweight or obese and 2 billion are micronutrient deficient. The vast majority of the world’s hungry live in developing countries. Southern Asia faces the greatest...

Inclusive agribusiness umbrella organisations (which ideally are vertically integrated down to the level of smallholder farmers’ organisations) could be key institutions to contribute to policy dialogue and design from the perspective of the private sector. Furthermore, they have the potential to carry forward the implementation of such policies on the...

El Niño conditions have caused the lowest recorded rainfall between October and December across many regions of Southern Africa in at least 35 years. Short-term forecasts from January to March indicate the high probability of continuing below-normal rainfall in the south, signaling that this could become one of the worst...

This scoping report looks at key policies, legislation and programmes in South Africa with an emphasis on seed laws and considers the implications for small- scale farmer involvement in this sector and outlines a few projects on community seed production, indigenous crops and black-owned private sector seed production efforts.

This short video explains the basis of Participatory Guarantee Systems (PGS). It was designed as a trailer and short version of the documentary: A guide to Participatory Guarantee Systems for Organic Agricultureavailable to watch here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GbwiC...The video was produced by IFOAM – Organics International with the financial support of the Technical...

USA/ Statistically, the family farm makes up ninety-eight percent of all American farms, while farmers in general comprise 2% of the work force in the United States. 40% of the crop market is accounted for by 2.5% of nation's total farms, while family farmers produce approximately twenty-seven percent of the...

The SADC Consultative Meeting on Preparedness and Response to the Impact of the 2015/16 El Niño on Agriculture and Food and Nutrition Security in Southern Africa was held from 25th to 26th February 2016 in Johannesburg, South Africa, with support from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations...

Against a background of resurgent land grabs, penetration of capital in the rural landscape and the expulsion of small producers from their pieces of land in most African countries, the Sam Moyo African Institute for Agrarian Studies (SMAIAS) working in collaboration with the Zimbabwe Land and Agrarian Network (ZiLAN) announces...

This policy brief discusses ways to scale up agroecological approaches and suggests actionable advice tailored for various stakeholders, including policy-makers, private sector, financial partners, research and development community and civil society. The brief focuses on how to design scaling up initiatives and provides success as well as failure stories.

A promising start has been made: the two new community seedbanks of Gumbu and Sterkspruit and complementary technical support provided by the government will allow farmers to improve seed conservation technologies, increase access to crop diversity, apply crop improvement practices and explore seed production and marketing opportunities. The Gumbu community...

Small-scale fishing communities in South Africa have to cope with unequal power relations as they seek effective means for the implementation of the SSF Guidelines

Integral to achieving the SSF Guidelines goal of targeting the most vulnerable and marginalized persons and eliminating discrimination is the need to have adequate understanding of the power relations and intersectionalities that shape access to and control over marine and other resources according to gender, age, race, ethnicity, labour and...

Building an enterprise takes many different tasks, from stepping into the shoes of potential customers to designing products or services, to running a marketing campaign. This was one of the key messages for women farmers at SACAU’s Agro-preneurship training in Johannesburg this month. The three-day training from 27th – 29th September...

El Niño is the warming of sea surface temperature in the tropical Pacific, which occurs roughly every 2 to 7 years, lasting from 6 to 24 months. While the main threat to food production is reduced rainfall and drought in some regions, El Niño can also cause heavy rains and...

Farmers have traditionally maintained local seeds, and through them biodiversity, using indigenous knowledge passed through generations. Farmers select, plant, harvest, clean, and store seeds to feed their families today and in the future. They also exchange and share seeds with their neighbors, friends, and relatives. However, these traditional practices are...

Coinciding with World Food Day, the African Centre for Biodiversity (ACB), in a new report titled “Transitioning out of GM maize: towards nutrition security, climate adaptation, agro-ecology and social justice” makes a compelling case for South Africa to urgently transition out of GM maize production, to systems that are socially...