The outbreak resulted in the withdrawal of its status as a FMD-free zone as declared by the World Health Organisation (WHO) in January this year. The viral disease causes lesions and lameness in cattle and sheep. Although no new cases have been reported in the past two months, the department said it was taking precautions to stem the spread of the disease. It says more than 13,000 animals in the previous foot-and-mouth disease -free zone will have been vaccinated twice by the end of March 2019. The department says it would reapply for declaration of a disease containment zone before the end of April, which, if successful, would allow for the WHO to reinstate the rest of the country as disease-free. South Africa exports meat and other  products to countries including Bahrain, Lesotho, Egypt, Mozambique, Swaziland, Seychelles, Namibia and Qatar. According to the department, the approval of a disease containment zone would greatly assist in re-opening trade with these and other trading partners.

North West acting MEC of Rural, Environment and Agricultural Development, Mpho Motlhabane, is adamant that digitising extension and advisory services will bring about improved services to emerging and established farmers in and around the province. Motlhabane was addressing hundreds of farmers who attended the 11th Provincial Extension and Advisory services held in Potchefstroom. OFM News' Michael Tlhakudi reports Motlhabane said, with digitisation gaining momentum, there is an urgent need to transform and digitise the sector, to achieve specific national development initiatives as envisaged in the Agricultural Policy Action Plan and the National Development Plan.

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Nestlé South Africa was on Thursday awarded top honours at the Massmart Supplier Environmental annual Awards for their Zero Water manufacturing facility in Mossel Bay, in the Western Cape. The company won the award for their ground-breaking initiative to save water. Nestlé says it saves an impressive 168 million litres of water each year through the zero water intake dairy manufacturing facility. Now in their fifth year, the awards recognise top performing suppliers who have demonstrated an industry leading commitment to sustainable supply chain management. Massmart Sustainability Executive, Alexander Haw, says since 2009 Massmart has worked closely with suppliers to understand and track the progress they are making in ensuring their products are manufactured in a sustainable way. He says to date, the group has profiled and benchmarked the environmental practices of more than 2000 suppliers through focused advocacy surveys and environmental assessments. Haw adds the assessments covers, among other things, packaging rationalisation, water conservation, operational energy efficiency, environmental product attributes, third-party certification and bio-diversity impact mitigation. Haw added that they work closely with various suppliers to ensure that the products they sell are designed and manufactured in an environmentally-thoughtful manner.

OFM News/Michael Tlhakudi