According to the World Health Organisation, one in three women around the globe have been subjected to either physical or sexual violence in their lifetime. Oxfam International further confi rms that “every day, in every country around the world women are confronted by discrimination and inequality – at home and in their wider communities”.
In the context of women’s rights, the agricultural sector is certainly evolving. “Women: warranted recognition” on page 7 features (amongst others) an excerpt of a survey done by FreshFruitPortal.com amongst women from around the world
who work in the sector; as well as findings from the 2020 Women in Agriculture Report produced jointly by SIZA and the Western Cape Department of Agriculture.
And for some girl-power fun, our Chef Pete Goffe-Wood goes up against Chef Jocelyn Myers-Adams for a spring grapefruit “cook-off” on page 114. We hope these recipes add a new dimension to your kitchen creations. Other features in this edition include “A disease risk monitoring tool”, “Adoption of integrated pest management in citrus”, “Ken jou koue modelle”, and “Driven by gratitude: Karabelo Motsei”. And as Anton Rabe rightfully points out in the foreword, (and I’m paraphrasing) the industry already has an abundance of strategies in its arsenal; what’s needed now is implementation.
In the context of women’s rights, the agricultural sector is certainly evolving.
From a South African perspective – like in many countries worldwide – the COVID-19 pandemic remains a grave concern (no pun intended). At the time of writing, President Ramaphosa had just announced an extension of adjusted level 4 lockdown, until 25 July. The announcement came against the backdrop of the Delta variant of the pandemic continuing to wreak havoc, with the total number of deaths in SA having reached 64 289. Ramaphosa also confirmed that a new “historic agreement” would speed up the delivery of Johnson & Johnson vaccines to SA and the rest of Africa, and that the company has agreed for SA to, in time, manufacture its vaccines under licence.
En as dit by die markte kom, hou die vrugtebedryf eenvoudig aan om indrukwekkende produksie-volumes te toon.
Dis júís hoekom die verwoestende sosiale en ekonomiese impak van die onlangse onluste in KZN en Gauteng so ontmoedigend is. Maar ons is ons produsente wat aanhou deurdruk, innig dankbaar. En dis ongeag al hulle ander uitdagings, soos fi tosanitêre vereistes en vertragings by die hawens – veral in Durban (ten tyde van die skrywe).
Vir ons vroulike produsente en al die ander vroue in die bedryf sê ons gelukkige Vrouemaand! Mag julle vernuf en harde werk aanhou om jul reputasie vooraf te gaan.