Updated GreenAgri website - an info hub for sustainable farming

"Climate change is key on my priorities as a minister. This year marks the seventh year of a fruitful collaboration between the Western Cape Department of Agriculture and GreenCape. The agricultural sector plays a critical role in food security, economic growth and job creation," said Dr Ivan Meyer, minister of Agriculture in the Western Cape.

GreenAgri supports the Western Cape's Provincial Strategic Goals and its Green Economy Strategic Framework, and hosts information around its SmartAgri programme.

"Realising the full potential of this sector heavily depends on the natural resource base and smart technologies that can enhance their use amid climate change and other environmental constraints. Sharing best practice information through various media platforms is important for creating awareness and information dissemination as highlighted in the sector SmartAgri Plan," added Dr Meyer.

"Agriculture is a key sector to the Western Cape and South African economy. The agricultural community has been rapidly building resilience and adapting to the lived experience of extreme climate events. As the world commits to low carbon targets and associated strategies, the Western Cape agricultural sector is well placed to position itself to provide products for climate smart exports and domestic consumption. The GreenAgri portal is a central information repository for this rapidly changing sector," said Mike Mulcahy, CEO of GreenCape.

The advantages of the GreenAgri website are to:

• Provide a platform for industry participants to actively discuss smart agricultural matters.
  
• Allow users the opportunity to network with green industry participants, which would otherwise not have been possible.
  
• Provide an opportunity for greater understanding of green policies and smart agricultural activities undertaken by the Western Cape Government.
  
• Assist with the collection of data as well as obtaining feedback on proposed policies, projects and initiatives which would otherwise have been difficult to obtain.
  
• Assist industry participants to keep up to date with ever-changing green policies, practices and inventions and to help them assess their own level of green activities.

The updates to the portal, done with further support from the Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom, will also allow for industry participants to communicate interactively on all smart agricultural matters. By so doing, it will allow greater awareness and understanding of smart agricultural practices and the green economy space in the Western Cape.

GreenAgri is a one-stop agricultural information portal for all farmers, researchers, private and non-governmental agencies interested in smart agricultural practices. The site is aimed at supporting greater adoption of green production practices, balancing farming and conservation needs, resource efficiency and waste minimisation in the Western Cape.

To access the website, please click here.