The Biodynamic Agricultural Association of Southern Africa will be hosting a monthly webinar via Zoom: 25 July - Session 1: Farm organism and the origin and role of biodynamics in agriculture. 29 August - Session 2: A phenomenological approach to soil, plants and animals. 26 September - Session 3: Farm fertility, biodynamic preparations and compost. 31 October - … [Read more...]
Will the UK House of Lords protect rural residents from toxic pesticides?
Despite the fact that we are in the midst of the biggest public health crisis for a century with the Covid-19 pandemic - and all the mass deaths and horrifying devastation it is causing - the UK government is forging ahead trying to force through various crucial pieces of legislation. One of those pieces of legislation is the Agriculture Bill which was debated and voted on … [Read more...]
EU commission plans green reset for agriculture
Yesterday, the European Commission published their roadmap for EU policy action on biodiversity and food for the coming decade. In the midst of the COVID-19 outbreak that has brought our relationship with the natural world into sharp focus, the strategies have never been more timely. The EU Farm to Fork and 2030 Biodiversity Strategies launched today are potential game … [Read more...]
Safeguarding biodiversity essential to prevent next pandemic
While the world’s attention is focused on controlling COVID-19, evidence points at the biodiversity crisis as a leading factor in its emergence. At first glance, the two issues might seem unrelated, but disease outbreaks and degraded ecosystems are deeply connected. Frédéric Baudron, systems agronomist at the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) and … [Read more...]
Giant leap for SA amphibian conservation recognised
A conservation biologist from South Africa has won a prestigious Whitley Award worth £40,000 to support her quest to save threatened amphibians. Dr Jeanne Tarrant works for the Endangered Wildlife Trust (EWT), where she manages the Threatened Amphibian Programme. The EWT is the only NGO in South Africa to include frogs as a conservation focus. The Whitley Awards, often … [Read more...]
Nature must be protected to reduce the risk of future pandemics
There is a single species that is responsible for the COVID-19 pandemic - us. As with the climate and biodiversity crises, recent pandemics are a direct consequence of human activity – particularly our global financial and economic systems, based on a limited paradigm that prizes economic growth at any cost. We have a small window of opportunity, in overcoming the challenges of … [Read more...]
Minister Barbara Creecy talks about climate change
The following speech was delivered by Minister Barbara Creecy during a Parliament debate on climate change, at the Parliament of the Republic of South Africa, Cape Town, Western Cape Province on 11 March 2020: Allow me at the outset, to once again welcome the President Cyril Ramaphosa’s commitment to establishing the Presidential Climate Change Commission to lead our just … [Read more...]
New fund aims to grow green businesses in SA
The Green Outcomes Fund (GOF), a first of its kind structure, incentivises local South African fund managers to increase investment in green businesses. Through a partnership officially signed on 31 January 2020 between National Treasury’s Jobs Fund and GreenCape, the R488m fund provides outcomes-based matched (concessional) funding to local investment funds to support … [Read more...]
Supporting farm workers with food baskets during lockdown
The Covid-19 crisis will also be a hunger crisis. The PHA Food & Farming Campaign are deeply concerned about the impact the lockdown will have on their farmland communities. The PHA Food & Farming Campaign is initiating a drive to support 1550 vulnerable families in the Philippi Horticultural Area with food baskets during the Covid-19 lockdown. These families are … [Read more...]
Cape High Court rules in favour of the PHA Campaign
In a precedent-setting ruling, Judge Kate Savage on Monday declared that South African municipalities must take climate change and water scarcity into account when making planning decisions. The Western Cape High Court ruling states that the rezone permission and environmental authorisations for the development known as Oaklands City are suspended, and must be returned to … [Read more...]
Survey reveals common concern of global scientists
The greatest threat to humanity hides in the potential cascading of impacts of five highly-related, highly-likely risks - a collision that can amplify these effects catastrophically, according to a new survey of 222 leading scientists from 52 countries. Conducted by international sustainability research network Future Earth, the survey identifies five global risks - failure … [Read more...]
More poisoning of South Africa’s staple food approved
The African Centre for Biodiversity (ACB) is extremely alarmed to learn that three genetically modified maize varieties developed by Corteva (new name of the Dow-DuPont merged entity) to withstand the application of the dangerous 2,4-D herbicide have been approved for general release by the Executive Council: GMO Act. This poses a grave threat to the health of food consumers, … [Read more...]
Youth Entrepreneurship Programme boosts budding farmers
Nine budding farmers from around the country have made the cut as finalists in the SAB Urban Agriculture / Youth Entrepreneurship Programme. It seeks to have young people identify and invest in hydroponic technology and transform it into thriving farming businesses. Each of the finalists will receive training and investment to grow their farms. In October 2019, Stats … [Read more...]
