SIZA Sustainability Newsletter

As we approach the upcoming summer season in South Africa, focusing on fire prevention and safety within our farming communities is crucial. Fire safety should be integral to your business’s health and safety management system. Implementing efficient and robust measures for all types of fires that could occur in a business is not just about protection; it’s a form of insurance that ensures business resilience and sustainability.

South Africa’s agricultural sector increasingly feels the pressure of rising electricity costs and the recurring threat of load shedding. These challenges increase operational expenses and disrupt vital farming activities such as irrigation, cold storage, and processing. To navigate these issues effectively, agricultural producers must adopt strategies that emphasize efficient energy use and align with environmental compliance, ensuring the sustainability and resilience of their operations.

In modern agriculture, agrochemical applications are a common practice used to manage crop nutrient requirements and control damaging pest and disease outbreaks. The usage of these agrochemicals, however, comes with its own risks towards the surrounding environment and human health.

In a world driven by green movements trying to curb the production of waste and greenhouse gases (GHG), the sight of a landfill on agricultural land may be taboo, especially when most waste disposed of in the landfill is reusable or recyclable.

Waste separation and recordkeeping are two important practices that can help agribusinesses and their related organizations better manage their waste and reduce their environmental impact.

South Africa is considered a semi-arid country that relies on dams for water supply. In addition to having half the global average annual rainfall, the country has high evaporation rates (due to its abundant sunshine).

Water being the finite resource that it is, it is strictly overseen by the South African government through the National Water Act (NWA 36 OF 1998). Licensing and registrations are overseen by the Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS).

Alistair Galloway has long been passionate about environmental sustainability and has secured an MSc in Conservation Ecology from Stellenbosch University. His MSc project was his first step into the sustainable agriculture realm, where he did his research on citrus orchards within the Sundays River Valley, Eastern Cape. He has experience in the sustainable agriculture industry… Continue reading Meet the SIZA Environmental Technical team

Looking at the 92 SIZA members that have already completed their 3rd party audit, the following non-conformances per category dominated the non-compliances that were raised over the last three months.

Commercial agriculture has grown and developed over the past few decades to meet the ever-growing demand for food worldwide. The increase in demand has led to the implementation of intensive agricultural practices that can be environmentally damaging.