The biggest opportunity in Southern Africa, noted both Tommie van Zyl, ZZ2’s CEO as well as Charl Dubois, executive officer at Capespan during last week’s IFPA conference, is in the process of decentralization.

Charl Dubois of Capespan (photo: Brent Abrahams)

Charl mentioned the trillions of dollars invested South Africa in land, infrastructure and intellectual property that is a result of the fresh-cut produce business, however with that comes the challenges of distribution as it is necessary to transport more of the perishable goods to more markets.

“If you examine the current situation in Namibia They have two thousand hectares of grapes, they’re planning to plant 10,000 ha of oranges, they’re preparing a new dam, and they have a private operator of Walvis Bay port. There are ports in Luanda as well as Maputo are also operated by private companies.”

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In fact, one of the most frequent themes for conference attendees was the awarding of a contract to manage Durban’s pier 2. The pier is owned by the Philippines-based International Container Terminal Services Inc. (ICTSI) that, as Charl said, is likely to be a step forward.

South African companies are keen to make investments in infrastructure as the poor-performing ports are easy to pick. Due to South Africa’s power issues and the state of their power grid, they’re where their thoughts are now: becoming as low a reliance on the government as they can.

The power shortage crisis (a term Tommie van Zyl would rather call “loadshedding”) has provided South Africa with a big possibility for decentralizing energy.

“We must align our goals and cooperate instead of criticizing and demonizing,” he said. “We simply need to finish the task.”

For sustainability, fresh produce gets a second place over the big names

In the area of sustainability that’s becoming the focus of every major business, consumer goods and large companies are the leaders in setting the course regarding sustainability, Tamara Muruetagoiena from IFPA ( left) spoke at the conference.

Everybody knows the work that companies like Patagonia or Nike has been doing to reduce environmental change. They share their experiences so effectively and have created a market for corporations to speak about the issues.

Charl explained: “In the bigger scheme of things, agriculture usually receives a negative rap because the monoculture of it and its use of chemicals and pesticides. However, there’s plenty going on in the world of regenerative agriculture which must be told. There is a significant role for us to play in the process of capturing carbon.”

This is the role IFPA is aiming to fulfill by providing fresh produce producers its own voice on the international platform to demonstrate why it’s one of the solutions.

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She said that the impact of carbon emissions on the supply chain is getting better-efficient, following due importance, but there’s an opportunity to improve sustainability in the future, due to climate change and methods of production that sequester carbon as well as preserve biodiversity.

Just 18% of ZZ2’s area is cultivated intensively, Tommie told the conference while 68% is kept in the form of green corridors and habitat that provide ecological services towards the farming. ZZ2 has established itself as a pioneer in bringing ecologists into its group.

The Westfalia CEO Paulina Theologou-Criticos as well as ZZ2’s Chief Executive Officer Tommie Van Zyl (photo: Brent Abrahams)

In the hands of ignorant packaging regulators

Ms. Muruetagoiena declares regenerative agricultural practices and the mitigation of climate change through techniques of production as the next frontier in sustainable development.

Unfortunately, the problem of packaging can be described as something of a Gordian knot.

“In the packaging industry, it is dominated by regulatory bodies and, as opposed to other industries which are governed by regulators, so the ball’s on their side,” she said; she worked as a sustainability specialist working in the field of fresh produce prior to joining IFPA which is where she manages the portfolio.

In different areas, producers are able to take the bull by the toes, sequestering carbon with Regenerative practices (although Charl pointed out they aren’t able to trade this carbon with carbon credits for agriculture like other sectors of economy) and decreasing the dependence on fertilisers that are synthetic, which produce nitrous oxide. But in this specific area, the fresh produce sector is entirely subject to the regulatory authorities, she added.

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At the moment, there is nothing else to replace plastic however, improved recycling and more recycled material are definitely best options and, instead of creating restrictions on the process, regulators can instead help the plastic industry by providing it with more funds to fund technological advancement.

“We must educate our regulators about the need for fresh produce to be packaged,” she believes. “The EU Green Deal and new rules on packaging have given all of us a major headache.”

Paulina Theologou -Criticos, the CEO of Westfalia agreed with Tamara’s assertion that sustainability is a shift in the way people think.

“Opportunity through adversity can propel us forward. Whatever resource which you utilize to bring this fruit served on your plate must be utilized in a sustainable, renewable and a minimal way. The fruit will continue being offered for sale. It’s up to you to bring there in a way that is sustainable.”

Source: The Plantations International Agroforestry Group of Companies