South Africa is a country of dichotomies and ironies and there is no economic sector that that typifies this more than the agri-food sector. 

There is consensus that land reform is an indispensable yet complicated process often overloaded with multiple objectives including economic, social and political underpinnings.

The South African government and policy makers have long appreciated the importance of food security and the right to food is enshrined in South African constitution.

It is hardly newsworthy anymore to state that the Covid-19 pandemic has wreaked havoc in the global economy, including South Africa.

According to Milton Friedman, one of the great economists of the 20th century, “One of the great mistakes is to judge policies and programs by their intentions rather than their results”.

IT IS NOW common knowledge that the Covid-19 pandemic has disrupted agricultural and food supply chains in unprecedented ways, and the results continue to be experienced in developed and developing economies.