AGRICULTURAL CONFERENCE
Senzeni Zokwana urges solidarity in Brics bloc
Co-operation among Brics states has the potential to make ‘agriculture a driver of higher GDP growth’
Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Minister Senzeni Zokwana has called for close co-operation between members of the Brics group of nations: Brazil, Russia, India, China and SA. Welcoming officials at the Brics agricultural ministers conference in Mpumalanga, Zokwana said agriculture had the potential of being a "larger contributor [than it is] to national GDPs … that we must nurture for prosperity". The conference precedes the Brics heads of state summit in July. SA holds the Brics chair for 2018. The minister said that despite the effects of drought, SA’s agricultural sector displayed resilience and extricated the country from technical recession in the third quarter of 2017. In the first quarter of 2018, however, SA’s agricultural sector contracted 24.2% quarter on quarter from a 37.5% increase in the fourth quarter of 2017. Commercial farmers’ body Agri SA said it was optimistic about the sector. It quoted Requier Wait, the head of the Centre of Excellence for Economics and Tra...
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