Marsh's risk service acquisition will benefit SA agriculture industry

In addition to having branches all over the country as well as expert service teams country-wide, who are familiar with agricultural intricacies, "South African agriculture industry," the statement says, will "benefit from global risk expertise, and from being able to transfer risk globally."

According to Carel van der Merwe, Marsh Africa's Managing Director, Commercial Solutions, Marsh Will be able to link local agricultural practitioners with their counterparts around the world "through our global agricultural risk platform, allowing them instant access to global best practice, new learning, and alternate techniques - no matter how specialised their area of agricultural expertise." Van der Merwe is particularly excited about Marsh's global agricultural benchmarking capabilities "which will allow us to measure and compare local agricultural practice against best in class globally." Information, he says, will be practical and relevant - like podcasts providing lessons on reducing damage to grain silos or reducing injury on cattle trucks.

For example, Van der Merwe explains, the United States represents global best practice in grain production. Using Marsh's global practice group, Marsh Africa will be able to benchmark local grain production, marketing, sales and pricing practices against United States grain industry norms - sharing best practice with local grain producers and offering priceless information to local farmers, agricultural co-operatives and traders. South African exporters, too, will enjoy direct access to risk managers with local knowledge of tariffs, liabilities, legislative risks and physical and commercial exposures in all markets around the world. "This," van der Merwe says, "will improve the effectiveness of the advice we offer clients and the competence of our policy wording around the world."

Read the full article on www.itinews.co.za.