The FairPlay Food Security Summit scheduled for next month has been cancelled. It was to have been held in Johannesburg on 3 November.
FairPlay founder Francois Baird said the decision had been taken with regret, because there was a pressing need to ensure South Africa’s food security over the short, medium and longer term.
“The Food Security Summit was to be a solutions-focused event. We aimed to develop implementable action plans to address problems in food supply, processing and distribution,” Baird said.
“Unfortunately, due to unavoidable last-minute cancellations, we were unable to secure the required participation of stakeholders to develop these plans and put them into effect.”
Baird said FairPlay’s focus on food security would remain.
“We still worry about the food security risk, because there are already millions of people in South Africa who do not have enough to eat. Widespread hunger is not only a humanitarian tragedy, but it is a threat to our social security.
“Our farmers and food producers are hampered by power shortages and infrastructure failures. Producers and distributors have told us yet again of the problems in the food supply chain because of load shedding and the poor state of our railways and harbours.
“These problems can only be addressed by co-operation between government and the private sector. We need expert planning and innovative solutions. We need quick fixes and long-term thinking. And above all, we need co-operation between everyone involved, because South Africa’s future is at stake.”
FairPlay had fought against dumped chicken imports since 2016, and had campaigned for “VAT-free chicken” since 2018.
“We will not let up on the need for solutions that will ensure our food security and social stability,” Baird stated.
