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This week, Farmer’s Weekly sheds some light on a newly established indigenous veld goat project which promises to unlock the raw potential of Eastern Cape communities plagued by poverty.

Ryan explains that the project is being established near Maclear, with the hopes that the stud would grow into a viable agriculture business which would eventually offset the initial investment costs. She adds that it was also hoped that the base herd provided by the stud would also be used in projects across the province.

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The initial herd consists of 20 Nguni ewes and one ram. Ryan further says that this breed was chosen for the project as it is exceptionally fertile and seldom experiences lambing problems.

The owner of LGL Indigenous Veld Goat Skilder Stud, Gerhard Louw, adds that the breed is also well suited to mountainous mixed grazing conditions and that it is also a non-selector eater.

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Another story takes a look at the US dollar which has reached an all-time high against most currencies. This has resulted in opportunities and pitfalls for export-orientated South African farmers.

A senior agricultural economist at ABSA Agri-Business, Marlene Louw, says since most of South Africa’s exports were destined for Europe, payments were made in euros which has not strengthened as much as the dollar.

However, most of the costs were priced in dollars, which meant that farmers were losing out. Louw adds that the stronger the dollar gets, the higher local farmers’ costs became. She advises that, at this stage, it is better for farmers to export to markets where payments were made in dollars, such as the US and the Middle East. But, South African exporters face stiff competition from countries like Chile and Peru.

Lastly, the South African government has to find ways to protect local banana farmers from cheap imports. The Minister of Agriculture, Thoko Didiza, says this decision was made after she met with the Banana Growers' Association of South Africa.

The chairperson of the association, Jan Louw, says South African producers are struggling to break even at the current low prices, averaging at around R6,70/kg.

He adds that farmers cannot compete with the neighbouring countries due to the low price of bananas on the local market.

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