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The South African Red Meat Producers Organisation (RPO) has welcomed the recent landmark agreement signed with Saudi Arabia to export between 500 and 1 000 tonnes of red meat per annum to that country from next year.

Gerhard Schutte, the CEO of the RPO, told Farmer’s Weekly that South Africa was now exporting red meat to 25 countries after losing all its export markets three years ago due to the outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease (FMD).

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Ryan adds that the announcement was made following an official state visit to Saudi Arabia by President Cyril Ramaphosa.

Before trade can officially commence, officials from Saudi Arabia’s Food and Drug Authority will be visiting South African producers to ensure that products conform to their country’s specifications.

Another news story in this week’s edition of Farmer’s Weekly takes a look at the looming threats of cybercrime facing the agriculture sector. Ryan says this is yet to be addressed adequately.

According to a cyber security company, Kaspersky, who says that seeing the agriculture sector become increasingly digitised and smart technology is implemented, it’s making itself vulnerable to cyber attacks that seek to cripple competition, as well as hackers that intend to hack bank accounts or influence regional politics.

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Reports by Kaspersky indicate that in the first half of 2022, computer systems in the IT environment across Africa were attacked using multiple means. This included malicious object spyware and phishing pages.

Ryan further shares that during the first six months of the year malicious objects were blocked on average on every third ICS computer in South Africa, which represents an 11% increase from last year.

An IT sub-security expert at Kaspersky, says modern farming equipment at risk includes GPS systems automated navigations and software that manages fertiliser spraying.

Furthermore, another news story takes a look at evidence that the devastating damage that’s been done to biological systems worldwide is irrefutable.

Dr Morné du Plessis, CEO of the Worldwide Fund for Nature (WWF), says the crisis can no longer be ignored, and that businesses, governments, civil society and individuals needed to take urgent steps to protect the biological systems that underpin the existence of the human race.

According to the WWF's Living Planet Report, the globally monitored wildlife population saw a 69% decline on average between 1970 and 2022. Ryan explains that the report urgently called for transformative action to reverse the destruction of biodiversity.

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