As 2024 draws to a close we reflect on what has been a difficult year.
The knock-on effect of the 2022 macadamia price crash on industry-wide spend forced The Macadamia to cut back on its usual four editions to just three for the year.
Regardless, these editions have continued the tradition of high-quality journalism aimed at promoting and informing the sector since the launch of the title in 2018.
The Macadamia is utterly dependent on its advertisers for survival. With that in mind, we would like to express our deep and grateful appreciation to all of those who have continued to support the magazine, believing it to be a worthy vehicle for product and support services awareness. We cannot say thank you enough!
In this edition we pick apart the agriculture insurance industry. We ask whether insurance is fit-for-purpose and whether the products on offer are designed with food security and optimum production in mind.
Other than in the sugarcane industry, where farmers are insured by the innovative not-for-profit Grocane, we found that investigating the subject was a lot like kicking over an ants’ nest.
Farmers generally begrudge insurers their premiums, saying products are too expensive and seemingly designed more for profit than securing the country’s food supply in a time of crisis.
On the other hand, insurers believe their products are well priced and ideally suited for the industry, describing their relationship with macadamia farmers as a “partnership” where risk is mitigated through shared responsibility.
The growing impact of the climate crisis, urbanisation and unsustainable population growth is a call on agricultural insurance companies to respond with innovative products able to assist in securing food supply. At the same time, these products must remain affordable for farmers, who are often in a price crunch. A tricky juggle indeed.
In September 2020, pictures of vandalised macadamia orchards in the Upper Tongaat region circulated like wildfire on WhatsApp groups across the industry. Thousands of mature macadamia trees were chopped down overnight on a couple of farms by a neighbouring community. They were allegedly hitting back at the farmers for curtailing their illegal poaching operations and a failed land claim.
The photos doing the rounds at that time showed rows and rows of trees with their stems split in two, the leaves of the canopy starting to wilt as the trees lay on their side on the ground.
Now, four years on, The Macadamia visited the orchards to see how farmers like Thinus Fourie not only restored their trees to full health, but are anticipating a bumper crop in 2025 – albeit it with a security fence encompassing the orchard and security guards on 24/7 patrol.
The spirit and fortitude of South African farmers is the stuff of legends.
May we take this opportunity to wish our readers and advertisers a peaceful and restful festive season, with high prices and an ideal growing season for all in the new year.
