The expected rainfall in the western parts of South Africa did not materialise in many areas this week, and thus the maize and sunflower seed planting activity has not progressed much in this particular region. This, however, is not a major concern for now as optimal planting window will be open until mid-December.

An American research team set tongues wagging in South Africa this weekend when they called on South Africa to learn a lesson from the Robert Mugabe regime, in order to avoid becoming a “second Zimbabwe” when implementing land expropriation policies.

More than 400 buffaloes believed to have been chased by lions drowned in a river in northern Botswana this week, the government said.

Two things became immediately clear as the crisis unfolded. The first was that, as we’ve already noted, the municipal, provincial and national authorities had absolutely no idea how to deal with the looming disaster.

The collapse of Zimbabwe’s agricultural sector from the early 2000s is well documented, and largely attributed to ill-conceived land reform policies.

The optimal planting window opened at the beginning of this month in the sunflower seed growing areas, but it is still a fairly quiet period in the fields as the expected rainfall has not yet materialised in most areas. This is not much of an issue because the optimal planting window will open until early January 2019.