Weekly neWsWrap
24 farmer’sweekly 9 August 2019
Thewindsofchangeareblowing
across South Africa’s more than
150-year-old sugar industry, which
has increasingly struggled to remain
relevant and profitable in recent
years. This was according to South
African Sugar Association (SASA)
chairperson Hans Hackmann.
Speaking at the association’s 2019
annual general meeting, held recently
in Mount Edgecombe, KwaZulu-Natal,
Hackmann said that implementing
transformation and diversification
were key to ensuring the industry’s
long-term survival in the future.
He told delegates that this change
had suddenly gained momentum
during the 2018/2019 milling season.
One such change driver was former
minister of Trade and Industry Rob
Davies’s promulgation of amendments
to SASA’s constitution and to the
sugar industry agreement.
This had not only resulted
in “immediate and profound”changestoSASA’scounciland
committees,buthadseenofficial
recognitionoftheSouthAfrican
Farmers’DevelopmentAgency
(SAFDA)asa fullyfledgedmember
ofSASA’sgovernancestructure.
“Theseamendmentsaretransitional
onesthatwillapplyuntilthe
endofMarch2020,”hesaid.
HackmannaddedthattheikuSASA
(TheFuture)taskgroupcomprised
SAFDA,theSouthAfricanCane
Growers’AssociationandtheSouth
AfricanSugarMillers’Association,
anditsdeliberationswerebeingheld
inthepresenceofDepartmentof
TradeandIndustry(DTI)officials.
Thetaskteam’sdraftamendments
wouldbedeliveredtotheDTIby
30 September for its consideration.
He also told delegates that the
sugar industry was in the process of
implementing strategies to diversify it
into renewable energy production and
markets, thereby reducing its exposuretosugarexports on the world market at
prices below local cost of production.
“The diversification opportunities
on which we have well-developed
positions include cogeneration
of electricity, the production of
biofuels, and the production of
biogas for electricity production.
“The Department of Energy has
confirmed that sugar cane will
be one of the feedstocks for the
government’s biofuels programme.
Support interventions are required to
ensure the industry’s sustainability
until such time that the diversified
[sugar] industry vision becomes
a reality,” Hackmann said.
He called on all role players in the
industry to commit to contributing
towards the success of SASA’s
changed governance structure, to the
successful delivery of transformation
efforts, and to “moving forward
united by a common vision for
our industry”. – Staff reportersugar‘Diversification the future for SA’s sugar industry’
Theoriginoffoodis the
mostimportantfactorthat
peopleinEuropetakeinto
considerationwhenmaking
purchases,withconcerns
aboutgeneticallymodified
(GM)foodstuffsdiminishing
overthepastnineyears.
A recentstudyconductedbythe
EuropeanFoodSafetyAuthority
andEurobarometerinvestigated
people’sconsiderationswhen
purchasingfood.Onaverage,
“wherefoodcomesfrom”
wasmostoftenhighlighted.
AnthonyGilbert,theUS
senioragriculturalattachéto
Europe,saidthatthisresult
mostlikelymirroredthe
EU’s“vehementpolicyof
geographicalindications”.
“Ofthe 28 memberstates,
onlysixlistedfoodsafetyas
themostimportantfactorwhen
purchasingfood.Interestingly,
thecostoffoodwasa topfactor
inFrance,Germany,Sweden,
Belgium,theUK,Portugaland
Italy,alongwith,perhapsless
surprisingly,foodorigin.The
topfactorintheNetherlands
wasnutrientcontent.Only
respondentsfromonemember
state,Poland,listedtasteasthe
topfactorwhenpurchasingfood.”
Gilbertnotedthattrendsin
awarenessappearedtoparallel
emotivepublicdiscussionson
tradewiththeUS,particularly
forpesticides,hormone-
treatedbeef,andpollutants
inmeatandpoultry.
“Notably,sincethelaststudyin
2010,thetopissuesofrespondent
awarenesshavenotchanged
forantibioticsinmeat,pesticide
residues,andpollutantsinmeat
andpoultry.In2010,however,
GMingredientswerethefourth-
mostcommonlylistedtopicofConsumer trends
Food origin trumps food safety for EU consumers
awareness, whereas the 2019
survey indicated a decline,
down to 27% of respondents.”
Respondents in the survey
for the study were most aware
of food issues involving
additives (72%), food hygiene
(68%) and, as one category,
antibiotics, hormones and
steroid residue in meat (66%).
Respondents were least familiar
with genome editing (21%),
nanoparticles in food (30%),
and poisonous moulds in
food and feed crops (39%).
Respondents were also asked
to highlight their top concerns
from the same list of topics. The
main concern (44%) was the broad
category of antibiotics, hormones
or steroid residue in meat,
followed by pesticide residue in
foods (39%), and environmental
pollutants from meat and
dairy (37%). – Lindi Botha