With traceability and credibility being top priority, the MySIZA platform enables the sharing of vital information between producers, buyers, industries, and auditors. In addition to the visibility and traceability of the platform, MySIZA also allows stakeholders to actively engage with their suppliers. By making use of world-class software MySIZA among other things allows for:
- SIZA admin to interact with producers and simplify the audit process;
- Markets and relevant stakeholders to effectively monitor risks by generating risk reports; and
- Assisting relevant stakeholders in making informed decisions.
SIZA is taking the functionality of MySIZA to new heights by developing a new tool called the Digital Recordkeeping Tool. The implementation of the digital recordkeeping functionality will allow producers to capture their monthly production inputs by using standardised methods which will enable them to analyse trends, and also to monitor the key performance indicators (KPIs) of their business. Key performance indicators are values that illustrate how effectively a company is achieving its objectives, or what they can work towards. KPIs are measurable factors that can be used to assess whether your business is on track to meet your goals or objectives.
Why Digital Recordkeeping and who can make use of it?
The SIZA digital recordkeeping function will provide support to producers to help them to put practices into perspective, as standardised methods and calculations are used. As SIZA is a multi-sector agricultural programme, the digital recordkeeping functionality will accommodate the capturing of production (farm) and packing/processing (packhouse) data on separate checklists, resulting in producers only adding data that is applicable to their business setup. The digital record keeping functionality is created to all producers farming with any commodity. It is therefore not necessary to be a SIZA member to access and to use this functionality.
What are the benefits for businesses that use this functionality?
As recordkeeping and target-setting form the foundation of continuous improvement, using the digital recordkeeping functionality will assist producers in monitoring their day-to-day activities on site. This monitoring will in turn allow management to identify areas where improvement is needed and to implement appropriate actions to improve the productivity of their site, which will most likely also result in savings on input costs. Although the usage of the Digital Recordkeeping Tool is voluntary, management can benefit from this functionality, as the tool will not only allow management to generate reports for tailored periods, but also to compare the business’ performance from one month to the other and even over multiple years. Data capturing that forms part of the SIZA Digital Recordkeeping Tool will include:
- Volumes of product produced or processed
- Water usage
- Electricity usage
- Fuel usage
- Usage of plant protection products or post-harvest treatment
- Waste Production
How can I use my business’s Digital Recordkeeping data?
As SIZA aims to avoid duplication as far as possible, SIZA digital recordkeeping will also include a functionality where producers can request to have their business’ carbon footprint calculated using the data that they have captured on MySIZA. As the majority of the data that will be captured on MySIZA is relevant for calculating your business’ carbon footprint, this built-in functionality will not only allow members to analyse and interpret their water, electricity, fuel, chemical and waste usage for their current production cycle, but it will also allow them to have their data processed into a carbon footprint report by an independent agricultural greenhouse gas specialist such as Confronting Climate Change (CCC).
Will the data I upload be visible to buyers?
As all data gathered on MySIZA belongs to the producer, no data will be shared without the permission of a member. Markets or buyers will only be able to have visibility on a specific member’s digital recordkeeping, if a formal request for visibility has been sent on MySIZA platform and permission was granted by the member. Therefore, it is important that members carefully consider who may have visibility on their data and who not. It is also important to note that digital recordkeeping works separately from audit functionality. Visibility on audit data will not necessarily relate to visibility on digital recordkeeping data.
How and when can I start?
The development of the Digital Recordkeeping Tool will be completed on the 21st of September and producers can register for this functionality from then. If you are interested in enrolling for this new tool, please send an email to Lynn Taute at lynn@siza.co.za for further information. Please note that it is recommended and very important that producers who want to make use of this platform must attend an online training session on the completion of the digital recordkeeping tool before they officially start to capture their data.
As it is a legislative requirement that management keep track of certain usages, such as the abstraction of water, the Digital Recordkeeping tool will assist management to upload their data in a safe space where they can easily generate reports to indicate legal compliance and to interpret the effectiveness of current management practices. In preparation of the Carbon Tax Act 15 of 2019, the new functionality will also allow members to actively monitor their carbon emissions by identifying and analysing the activities or products that contribute to the member’s carbon emissions.
If you need more information on the above, please contact Henko Vlok at henko@siza.co.za.