SA is a diverse and sizeable country of 122-million hectares. But there is a commonality in challenges that farmers and agribusiness raise regardless of the provinces or municipalities. The challenge of poor service delivery by municipalities and inadequately maintained roads are among the core issues in every discussion.

A few weekends back I joined a discussion in the Free State organised by the Sernick Group, and these matters were yet again the key points of reflection, along with broad policy themes of land reform, biosecurity and water-use regulations...