Harnessing the Opportunities for Sustainable Small-Scale Rural Farming Towards Attaining Food Security in Southern Africa

Agriculture is the main food production industry in emerging economies. Its importance in increasing food security is reflected in SDGs 1 and 2 of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Thus, improving food production through small-scale agriculture transformation and sustainability is crucial. However, recent pandemic (COVID-19) awareness and impacts necessitate urgent need for sustainable small-scale farming. This study sought to find ways for small-scale agriculture in Southern Africa to withstand natural disasters like the COVID-19 pandemic and to identify solutions to boost production amid COVID-19 effects on labour, markets, and access to knowledge or inputs. Local and international reports on small-scale agriculture in Southern Africa, and literature from 2009 to 2022, were systematically used. Technology that could be harnessed to ameliorate the identified challenges and enhance small-scale farming productivity in the region is recommended. Finding solutions to the issues encountered by small-scale farmers in general and due to the pandemic will promote the transformation and sustainability of small-scale agriculture and hence food security in the region. Additionally, the importance of science communication related to small-scale farming in Southern Africa, along with practical and policy implications to enhance and support small-scale farming, and subsequently food security is highlighted. © The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2023.

COVID-19 in Zimbabwe: Trends, Dynamics and Implications in the Agricultural, Environmental and Water Sectors

This contributed volume, based on papers presented at a conference held in Zimbabwe in mid-2021, interrogates solutions to COVID-19-related problems and issues across agricultural, environmental and water sectors in Zimbabwe and assesses their scientific, economic and practical validity. Across 19 chapters, this volume unpacks the science, economics and politics of the pandemic with a focus on understanding its secondary and tertiary impact on Zimbabwe's population. The volume is also dedicated to understanding the practical and policy-oriented approaches in tackling the pandemic and confronting the "new normal” of COVID-19. It brings together researchers, development practitioners and policy makers from various disciplines in an endeavour to understand COVID-19 trends and analyse the scientific options for mitigation, containment, innovation and ultimately pre-empt the possible emergence and impacts of other pandemics in the future. © The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2023.

Seroprofiling of antibodies against endemic human coronaviruses and SARS-CoV-2 in an HIV cohort in Lesotho: correlates of antibody response and seropositivity.

BACKGROUND: Serological data on endemic human coronaviruses (HCoVs) and SARS-CoV-2 in southern Africa are scarce. Here, we report on i) endemic HCoV seasonality, ii) SARS-CoV-2 seroprevalence, and iii) predictive factors for SARS-CoV-2 seropositivity and strength of SARS-CoV-2 and HCoV serological response during a 17-month period at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic among adults living with HIV. METHODS: Plasma samples were collected from February 2020 to July 2021 within an outpatient HIV cohort in Lesotho. We used the ABCORA multiplex immunoassay to measure antibody responses to endemic HCoV (OC43, HKU1, NL63, and 229E) and SARS-CoV-2 antigens. RESULTS: Results of 3'173 samples from 1'403 adults were included. Serological responses against endemic HCoVs increased over time and peaked in winter/spring. SARS-CoV-2 seropositivity reached >35% among samples collected in early 2021 and was associated with female sex (p = 0.004), obesity (p < 0.001), working outside the home (p = 0.02), and recent tiredness (p = 0.005) or fever (p = 0.007). Positive correlations were observed between the strength of response to endemic HCoVs and to SARS-CoV-2, and between older age or obesity and the IgG response to SARS-CoV-2. CONCLUSIONS: These results add to our understanding of the impact of biological, clinical, and social/behavioural factors on serological responses to coronaviruses in southern Africa.

Social Consequences of the COVID-19 Pandemic on the School Closings in Five Southern Africa Countries: Lesotho, Namibia, South Africa, Zambia, and Zimbabwe

After the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in China in January 2020 and its global spread during February and March, many governments took far-reaching measures to control it in their countries. One of the first measures to reduce the outbreak of COVID-19 was banning group gatherings of over 500 and later 50 people. Surprisingly many countries also decided very fast to close all their educational institutions for some weeks or months as one of the early provisions. UNESCO reported that more than one billion children globally are currently out of school, which is 80% of all enrolled pupils. Many universities and schools still try to use online learning tools to enable some kind of learning and teaching. Countries like Ukraine broadcast some learning materials through TV, while others like South Africa designated new specific TV channels entirely for educational purposes to reach more children. Two questions, especially for countries of the Global South, such as in Sub-Saharan Africa, are: how vulnerable and rural or non-dominant language children are affected by school closures and what languages are being used for online or TV materials to reach children in Sub-Saharan African countries? The possibility is high that the already existing educational gap between the better-off and the disadvantaged communities globally and within each country further spreads. This paper analyses some online materials used for pupils as well as TV and social media platforms in selected countries of Southern and Eastern Africa. © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2022.

Virological, epidemiological features and prevention of SARS-CoV-2 Omicron (B.1.1.529) variant: a review

The emergence of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) variant Omicron (B.1.1.529) has been a cause for serious concern worldwide due to its high rate of transmission and number of mutations. During genomic studies in South Africa and Botswana in November 2021, a new variant of SARS-CoV-2 was identified associated with a rapid resurgence of infections in Gauteng Province, South Africa. Omicron variant was identified as a type of concern by the World Health Organization after sequence uploads of the first genome. It was subsequently identified in 87 countries within three weeks. The Omicron variant is a very exceptional virus carrying more than 30 mutations in the spike glycoprotein that are predicted to affect antibody neutralization and spike function. Omicron is highly contagious and spreads faster than previous variants, but may cause less severe symptoms than previous variants. Omicron variant can evade the immune system. It can also evade the vaccine responses developed against COVID-19. Rapid and careful preventive steps, including vaccination, will always be a key for suppression of the Omicron variant. This review summarizes the highly mutated regions, core infectiousness, vaccine elimination, and antibody resistance of the Omicron variant of SARSCoV-2.

Reflections on the post COVID-19 teaching and learning: Lessons from the emergency transition to online learning at two African universities

The COVID-19 restrictions resulted in the most significant disruptions to education in this century. Universities responded differently to the restrictions. For example, some universities in Southern Africa closed and had no academic activities for months. These universities had little online teaching and learning, opting for a phased return to face-to-face teaching and learning. Other universities shifted to online teaching and learning after a short suspension of academic activities. This article reflects on the cases presented by two universities, considering evidence from the literature on the challenges of transition to online teaching and learning, and the affordances of the learner management systems they adopted. The reflections uncovered the fact that although the responses of the two universities were different, the challenges they faced were similar. There are challenges of access to data and devices needed for online teaching and learning, lecturers', and students' struggles to adapt to online teaching and learning, and issues related to the incompatibility of face-to-face pedagogical practices with online teaching and learning. Despite these challenges, the emergency online teaching and learning mastered during the COVID-19 pandemic offer future benefits of lesser workload for staff, increased enrolments, and preparation of students for the fourth industrial revolution. However, universities that quickly return to face-to-face teaching without retaining the good practices developed during the pandemic might not benefit from the lessons learnt and may be unprepared for future disruptions to education.

Economic implications of COVID-19 for the HIV epidemic and the response in Zimbabwe

AJOL : Understanding the economic implications of COVID-19 for the HIV epidemic and response is critical for designing policies and strategies to effectively sustain past gains and accelerate progress to end these colliding pandemics. While considerable cross-national empirical evidence exists at the global level, there is a paucity of such deep-dive evidence at national level. This article addresses this gap. While Zimbabwe experienced fewer COVID-19 cases and deaths than most countries, the pandemic has had profound economic effects, reducing gross domestic product by nearly 7% in 2020. This exacerbates the long-term economic crisis that began in 1998. This has left many households vulnerable to the economic fallout from COVID-19, with the number of the extreme poor having increased to 49% of the population in 2020 (up from 38% in 2019). The national HIV response, largely financed externally, has been one of the few bright spots. Overall, macro-economic and social conditions heavily affected the capacity of Zimbabwe to respond to COVID-19. Few options were available for borrowing the needed sums of money. National outlays for COVID-19 mitigation and vaccination amounted to 2% of GDP, with one-third funded by external donors. Service delivery innovations helped sustain access to HIV treatment during national lockdowns. As a result of reduced access to HIV testing, the number of people initiating HIV treatment declined. In the short term, there are likely to be few immediate health care consequences of the slowdown in treatment initiation due to the country's already high level of HIV treatment coverage. However, a longer-lasting slowdown could impede national progress towards ending HIV and AIDS. The findings suggest a need to finance the global commons, specifically recognising that investing in health care is investing in economic recovery

Estimating spatially disaggregated probability of severe COVID-19 and the impact of hand washing interventions: the case of Zimbabwe

The severity of COVID-19 disease varies substantially between individuals, with some infections being asymptomatic while others are fatal. Several risk factors have been identified that affect the progression of SARS-CoV-2 to severe COVID-19. They include age, smoking and presence of underlying comorbidities such as respiratory illness, HIV, anemia and obesity. Given that respiratory illness is one such comorbidity and is affected by hand hygiene, it is plausible that improving access to hand washing could lower the risk of severe COVID-19 among a population. In this paper, we estimate the potential impact of improved access to hand washing on the risk of respiratory illness and its knock-on impact on the risk of developing severe COVID-19 disease across Zimbabwe. We use a geospatial model that allows us to estimate differential clinical risk at the district level. Results show that the current risk of severe disease is heterogeneous across the country, due to differences in individual characteristics and household conditions. This study demonstrates how household level improved access to handwashing could lead to reductions in the risk of severe COVID-19 of up to 16% from the estimated current levels across all districts. Taken alongside the likely impact on transmission of SARS-CoV-2 itself, as well as countless other pathogens, this result adds further support for the expansion of access to hand washing across the country. It also highlights the spatial differences in risk of severe COVID-19, and thus the opportunity for better planning to focus limited resources in high risk areas in order to potentially reduce the number of severe cases.

Risk assessment of global COVID-19 pandemic in January 2023

Objective: To assess the global epidemic of Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in January 2023 and the risk of importation. Methods: According to the daily COVID-19 data publicly released by Johns Hopkins University, combined with the travel restrictions published by Sherpa, an epidemiological description method was used to provide a comprehensive and timely assessment of the global epidemic risk through a general overview, a comprehensive assessment of the epidemic trends in each continent and key countries, as well as a comprehensive analysis of the epidemic and travel requirements in 14 neighbouring countries. Results: Compared with the previous month, the number of confirmed cases and deaths respectively decreased by 40.37% and increased by 147.95% globally in January 2023. Daily new confirmed cases showed a decreasing trend, while deaths in all continents stayed stable except Asia in January. The time taken for every 50 million new confirmed cases and 500 thousand deaths globally has increased slightly. The number of deaths in Japan, America, China, and Australia increased rapidly. Zambia, Argentina, New Zealand and Mexico were the countries that showed a sharp rise in the number of deaths in January. Russia was the country with special concern among the 14 neighbouring countries. Conclusion: The global daily new confirmed cases and deaths showed a downward trend in January, but the epidemic situation was prominent in some regions and countries. It is necessary to continuously monitor countries with global focus and establish a communication mechanism with relevant agencies to exchange information and provide timely warnings.

Smallholder views on Chinese agricultural investments in Mozambique and Tanzania in the context of VGGTs

Based on a case study in each country, this study documents the views of Mozambican and Tanzanian smallholders regarding Chinese agricultural investments and the extent to which investors abide by their legitimate land tenure rights as defined by the Voluntary Guidelines for the Responsible Governance of Tenure of Land, Forests and Fisheries in the Context of National Food Security (VGGTs). The VGGTs offer guidelines to government on how to protect the land tenure of rural communities when land is being acquired for large-scale land investments. The study also assessed the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on smallholders. Due to COVID-19, instead of fieldwork, we conducted telephone interviews with 20 smallholders in Mozambique and 35 in Tanzania. The Mozambican case showed that even when land set aside for investors was not in dispute, smallholders still had unmet expectations, especially regarding investors' corporate social responsibility activities. In the Tanzanian case, even though the land leased by the Chinese investor had been designated as general land, it had laid fallow for a long period, and smallholders had moved back onto the land, only to be displaced in 2017. Although smallholders' views on the investment were mixed, the case underscored the need for government to assess current land use before allocating it to investors - regardless of how the land is classified and especially in areas where land shortages are creating conflict. The cases show that even if communities are consulted about proposed land investments, guidelines need to include clauses that allow for ongoing communications between investors, communities and government officials such that if communities are unsatisfied with the results of the investment, renegotiation is possible. Further, in the event of crises, such as COVID-19, investors should partner with communities and government to limit the extent of harm in communities as a result of the crisis.

A historical survey of the African Neo-Pentecostals' response to digital transformation

The ongoing digital transformation (DT) in our world has not only brought change to secular systems but also to how things are done in the mission and ministry of the Christian faith. Although before the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, some churches were interacting with DT, the post COVID-19 experience has shown that many more Christian organisations, especially, the African Neo-Pentecostal Churches (ANPC), have carved their niche in the digital space. With South Africa and Nigeria in view, this article investigated how the ANPC interacts with DT to improve missional work and the possible implications of doing so in the last 15 years. In the process, three strategies were applied. Firstly, a literature review and some online investigations were undertaken to articulate how the ANPC have engaged with DT in the past. Secondly, as a primary source, a quantitative empirical survey was conducted through data collection from 109 Neo-Pentecostal leaders to assess the current development in the use of digital technology (DTECH) by the ANPC. Thirdly, the article applied Albert Humphrey's Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats (SWOT) framework to analyse the implications of the interaction. The outcome showed that the strengths and opportunities of digital interaction such as the wider and easier reach of audience, online training, online giving, improved sound and light technology and advertisements among others are helpful in missional assignments. Nevertheless, some observed Weaknesses and Threats need attention. Most importantly, the lesson from the findings is that ‘techno church' practices come with gains;however, interaction with DT is not sufficient for missional services. Contribution: Aligning with HTS Teologiese Studies/Theological Studies's focus and scope, this article contributed to an interdisciplinary religious aspect of research as it brought forward the interactions of African Pentecostalism, Historical Theology and Information Technology.

Effect of Coronavirus on students' food security status: a case of University of Cape Coast, Ghana

Coronavirus is a novel virus that hit the world starting from developed countries to under-developed countries. Ghana is amongst the countries in Africa that observed some level of confinement by their government leading to the shutdown of various institutions including schools. The resulting impact of the policy saw students being more vulnerable to food insecurity and related issues. This paper examines the effect of Coronavirus on students' food insecurity status at the University of Cape Coast. The research design adopted for this study was the cross-sectional survey design with the University of Cape Coast, Ghana being the study area. A total of 291 students were randomly selected to participate in the study. Structured questionnaire was used for data collection. The findings of the study show that socioeconomic characteristics of students and food insecurity status showed no association. Students rated the extent of the effect of the pandemic as moderate and the major area of academic life affected was the change in the academic calendar. Class attendance was the most perceived effect of the pandemic. Students also reported that they were rarely food insecure. The study further found out that the best predictors of students' food insecurity were age, current level, insurance and employment status. The major challenge faced by students during Coronavirus was difficulties in their academics. This led students to adopt mitigation strategies such as online studies, paying heel to Coronavirus protocols, and self-support to mitigate the pandemic's impact. The study concluded that the academic activities of students of the University of Cape Coast were affected moderately by the pandemic and therefore recommends that the University of Cape Coast should improve its information and communication technology infrastructure to make online classes easier and the school should increase funding opportunity to less privilege students.

The impact of COVID-19 on the business sector and labour market in South Africa: a focus on the hospitality industry

The purpose of this paper is to explore the impact which was by the Covid-19 pandemic in the hospitality industry of South Africa. South Africa has one of the largest and highest developed hospitality industries in the region. The hospitality sector in South Africa employs 5% of the active age group and contributes around 10.3% revenue income to the government of South Africa. Unfortunately, South Africa emerged as one of the hot spots of the Covid-19 virus infections. As a way of controlling the pandemic, hard lockdowns were introduced starting on the 27th of March 2020. The sealing of the country's port of entries brought the hospitality sector to its knees. This study evaluates impact of Covid-19 on the business sector and the labour market in South Africa focussing on the hospitality industry. The study used secondary data from survey reports from South Africa's National Department of Tourism, (Statssa, Google mobility and other authoritative relevant sources). The study concluded that the pandemic had a devastating effect on areas such as labour, the overall business, the labour market, and the hospitality sector. The most affected areas from the hospitality sector were aviation, maritime, special events, accommodation, hotels, restaurants, lodges, recreational parks, and national parks. When COVID-19 came some businesses in the hospitality sector were servicing loans borrowed from financial institutions. The findings of the study indicated the need for a strong financial backup to cushion business during pandemics for the hospitality sector, tax holidays and adoption of stringent health protocols to assist the industry recovery and make business more profitable. The theoretical implication of the study is that it will expose the impact of COVID-19 on the business sector and the labour market in South Africa with a focus on the hospitality industry, and to map a future mitigatory way to overcome such natural calamities towards the business sector.

In celebration of providing the South and southern African sugar industry with more than 20 years of accredited quality analysis of mixed juice, molasses and sugar

The Sugar Milling Research Institute NPC (SMRI) has provided the South and southern African sugar industry with analytical services for more than 50 years. The need for an internationally-recognised quality assurance system to provide SMRI members and their customers with the necessary confidence in the results that they were receiving was recognised more than 25 years ago, and it culminated in the SMRI Analytical Services Division achieving ISO/IEC Guide 25:1990 accreditation in 1998. The SMRI analytical laboratory has since successfully progressed through the ISO/IEC 17025:1999 and ISO/IEC 17025:2005 iterations to the current ISO/IEC 17025:2017 standard. The SMRI has therefore had to continually expand the scope of its systems over the past 25 years, in order to match the updated requirements. The system is used for the analysis of weekly composite mixed juice and final molasses samples from all the SMRI South African member mills and some southern African member mills. Similarly, raw and white sugar analyses are conducted, with the reporting of results to the members' specifications. Critical to the accuracy of these results is the continual auditing and monitoring of the methods, equipment and chemical solutions that are used in the analysis methods. This is achieved by using Certified Reference Materials and control samples, as well as participating in internationally-recognised analytical proficiency schemes. Critical to the success of the laboratory in maintaining its accreditation is the competence of the laboratory staff who undergo continual training and assessments. This was demonstrated in 2020 and 2021, when they were able to continue providing the necessary services, despite the challenges faced during the Covid pandemic.

SACU and Trade Facilitation: A Post-Covid Pandemic Legal Analysis for Improved Efficiency

The Southern African Customs Union (SACU) prioritizes trade facilitation as one of its primary objectives in its founding Agreement (Article 2 (a)), implementing programmes to increase trade through expedited movement, and release and clearance of goods in the region. The oldest Customs Union in the world anticipated increased trade-flows following the entry into force and implementation of the progressive World Trade Organization's Trade Facilitation Agreement (WTO TFA), and operation of the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA). Its aspirations, however, were dampened by the Covid-19 pandemic, which presented supply side challenges and slowed customs processes. Members introduced critical legislative measures to reduce or stop the spread of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) and initiate needed trade-facilitations interventions at a national and regional level. SACU also played a role in this regard, albeit a minimal one, through Council decisions. This raises the question of the SACU's effectiveness, or ineffectiveness, its relevance in its functions, institutional structural readiness to address pandemics and regional emergencies, and future role it will play in this regard. This article examines trade-facilitation related responses from the institution following the outbreak of the pandemic, and adequacies/inadequacies of the said measures. The article, lastly, proposes trade-facilitation related approaches the SACU could adopt to improve efficiency for future pandemics and other global emergencies © 2023 Kluwer Law International BV, The Netherlands

The impact of COVID-19 on small and micro-enterprises in South Africa

Small and micro-enterprises cannot be wished away. This became more clear in the fight for survival during the COVID-19 pandemic. The impact of this pandemic on small and micro-enterprises has challenged both government and the private sector to rethink their approaches to support these enterprises. The study was aimed at examining the impact of COVID-19 on small and micro-enterprises in South Africa. A desk research design was used to collect the data. The discussion included the government's response to address the pandemic's impact on small and micro-enterprises. The plight of small business practitioners, as a consequence of the lockdown, are also reported on in the findings of the study. Recommendations of the study are to revisit the regulatory environment that should enable small businesses to thrive, strengthen skills development, and speed up the transfer of knowledge of the digital economy to small and micro-enterprise practitioners.

Therapeutic strategies encompassing monoclonal antibodies and vaccines to tackle the SARS-CoV-2 omicron variant amongst European children

Omicron is a notable B.1.1.529 variant of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) comprising 50 gene mutations in total, within which 32 gene mutations were recorded on spike 1 (S1) protein. Omicron beholding higher gene mutations than other prevalent SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern, including the Delta-SARS-CoV-2 variant, exhibited the highest transmission efficacy. About 2152 individuals from 57 countries contracted Omicron in the shortest interval of two weeks proclaiming the variant to be the most contagious SARS-CoV-2 variant amongst all other SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern. The first Omicron contracted patient was diagnosed on 24 November 2021 in South Africa, and the South African population was infected presenting these health ailments: sore throat, headache, body pain, and mild to severe fatigue commonly witnessed among children and adults. In Germany, together with aged people with co-morbidities and young adults, children of 0-4 yrs and 5-14 yrs were profusely affected by Omicron. Omicron contracted Swedish children showed moderate to severe convulsions as adverse symptoms. In the UK, Omicron positive children in higher numbers were examined and treated under hospital care with ventilators and oxygen cylinders. This narrative insight review illustrates the distinct virulence characteristics of Omicron in evading the human-host neutralizing antibodies action in both SARS-CoV-2 convalescent individuals and immunized population in the context of its outbreak in European children. Moreover, the effect of monoclonal antibodies and the appropriate therapeutic dosage of SARS-CoV-2 vaccines, and the common pediatric vaccines that finds promising to tackle Omicron outbreaks in children across Europe have been unveiled in the review.

Improving access to COVID-19 vaccines: an analysis of TRIPS waiver discourse among WTO members, civil society organizations, and pharmaceutical industry stakeholders. (Special Issue: COVID-19 vaccine equity and human rights.)

Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, international access to COVID-19 vaccines and other health technologies has remained highly asymmetric. This inequity has had a particularly deleterious impact on low- and middle-income countries, engaging concerns about the human rights to health and to the equal enjoyment of the benefits of scientific progress enshrined under articles 12 and 15 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. In response, the relationship between intellectual property rights and public health has reemerged as a subject of global interest. In October 2020, a wholesale waiver of the copyright, patent, industrial design, and undisclosed information sections of the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property (TRIPS Agreement) was proposed by India and South Africa as a legal mechanism to increase access to affordable COVID-19 medical products. Here, we identify and evaluate the TRIPS waiver positions of World Trade Organization (WTO) members and other key stakeholders throughout the waiver's 20-month period of negotiation at the WTO. In doing so, we find that most stakeholders declined to explicitly contextualize the TRIPS waiver within the human right to health and that historical stakeholder divisions on the relationship between intellectual property and access to medicines appear largely unchanged since the early 2000s HIV/AIDS crisis. Given the WTO's consensus-based decision-making process, this illuminates key challenges faced by policy makers seeking to leverage the international trading system to improve equitable access to health technologies.

The impact of COVID-19 and coping strategies used by small-scale farmers: a case study of buffalo city metropolitan, Amathole and O.R Tambo - district municipalities of the Eastern Cape

Livestock farming plays a vital role in food supply, job creation, promoting economic transformation and financial capital. Covid-19 pandemic negatively influenced livestock production through reduced access to markets, medicines, extension services and animal health services. The aim of the study was to assess the impact of covid-19 and coping strategies used by small-scale farmers in three municipalities. Eleven farms were purposively selected and a total of 30 farmers were interviewed using semi-structured questionnaires. The results showed that the participation of females (12%) in farming was low compared to males (88%). Lower participation by the youth was alarming with 92% of farmers were above 35 years of age and 50% having a matric. Landownership;40% were private farms, 30% rely on communal land and 30% on lease agreements. The findings showed that the majority of farmers kept livestock for cash sales (60%) meat (19%) and prestige (10%), respectively. Reduced access to markets (50%) and animal health services (19%) were the most highly ranked constraints. Farmers mentioned that they had lost marketing opportunities and income due to the suspension of traditional ceremonies and initiation schools by government restrictions. Approximately 50% of farmers acknowledged the government's intervention in the form of vouchers to cushion the impact covid-19. Due to stringent restrictions, 66% of farmers used cell phones, and 13% went used online to gain access information in order to cope with challenges imposed by the pandemic. In conclusion, the study revealed that small-scale farmers were socially and economically affected by the pandemic.

A review of South African sugarcane production in the 2021/22 season: climate, production and economics

This paper characterises South African sugarcane production for the 2021/22 milling season, from an agricultural perspective, to enable the industry to evaluate recent production strategies, and to identify priorities for improved efficiency. The industry's cane and sugar production during the 2021/22 season was 17.2 and 1.84 million tons, respectively. These figures show a marked drop of 5.6% for cane and 8.7% for sugar, when compared to the production figures for the 2020/21 season. The estimated industry average cane yield and quality also decreased slightly, compared to the previous season, but the main reason the drop in cane and sugar production was the limited milling capacity at several mills in KwaZulu-Natal. The civil unrest in July 2021 exacerbated the situation, causing disruptions to harvest and mill operations, as well as the subsequent closure of mills in parts of KwaZulu-Natal. The area harvested decreased considerably from an estimated 254 028 ha in 2020/21 to 241 030 ha in 2021/22 while estimated carry-over cane area increased from 24 029 ha to 32 476 ha over the same period. Rainfall was generally well above the long-term mean and well-distributed in most areas, while irrigation water supply also improved remarkably, compared to 2020 supply. Low temperatures and reduced sunshine duration caused yield reduction in the northern irrigated areas, but most rainfed areas experienced yield improvements when compared to 2020/21, because of the good rainfall. The Midlands region experienced severe frost damage during the winter of 2021, which had a negative impact on cane yield and quality. The Sugar Industry Value Chain Master Plan continued to help stabilise local sugar demand as well as reduce imports and exports at low world market prices, which all contributed to a 6% increase in the Recoverable Value (RV) price. This improved profitability for both largeand small-scale growers. COVID-19 had no noteworthy impact on sugarcane production.