April 2013 - AFMA

A hearty welcome to Africa
By De Wet Boshoff, executive director of AFMA and chairman of the
GFFC 2013 organising and hosting committee
It is indeed a pleasure and a great honour for AFMA to host the
prestigious 4th Global Feed & Food Congress (GFFC) in partnership
with IFIF and the FAO. It is an even greater pleasure
welcoming you to South Africa, as this leading global event
will be hosted on the African continent for the very first time
from 10 to 12 April 2013 at Sun City in the North West province.
What makes this special, is the fact that this 4th GFFC coincides
with AFMA’s very own successful and internationally recognised
AFMA Forum, which is hosted on a triennial basis (eight AFMA Forums
over a 21-year period, starting in 1992). At the same time, we
are also celebrating AFMA Matrix’s 21st anniversary as our official
industry magazine, which will henceforth open new frontiers as it
is now published in cooperation with Plaas Publishing.
General
Across borders
Hosting the 4th GFFC in Africa lends itself towards acting as a vehicle
to build closer ties among members in the region. Therefore
AFMA will be taking the initiative by hosting the launch meeting
of the Southern African Feed Manufacturers Association (SAFMA)
during the congress. This will lay the foundation for future cooperation.
This might also be a groundbreaking opportunity not only for
feed, but also for the food value chain as a whole in the region.
The global challenge of having sufficient, safe and affordable food
available for all people, fits in well with the 4th GFFC’s theme – “Safe
Feed & Food for All”.
To keep up the production of sufficient food for a rapidly increasing
world population, means that we will have to produce more with
less every year and that we will have to keep doing this. In order to
achieve this goal, we will have to keep on improving in all areas of
the food value chain. Successful application of new and innovative
technologies in all the feed and food disciplines has indeed become
a reality.
Sufficient food
We have already exceeded performance targets previously thought
of as biologically impossible and today we believe that this progress
can be maintained. Global trade is a major aspect in the sufficient
supply of food and compliments the notion of producing more food
in areas where land and water is available, for consumption in areas
that are deprived of land and water. Both the GFFC and AFMA Forum
programmes support the principle of producing sufficient food globally.
The variety of sophisticated high quality traceability systems applied
by the feed and food industries globally, is testimony to the
commitment towards supplying safe feed and food. Technological
improvements increase our ability to identify and manage safety risks
in the food chain. Important safety risks are not limited to, but include
global trade, higher yields, higher stocking densities, pollution
(air, land and water) and adulteration.
Whereas governing bodies in the past directed the what, where
and how of production, their role in assisting the safe production of
feed and food has now become crucial. Governing bodies need to
improve their efforts in this regard because safety issues are often
misused as trade barriers and sometimes ignored, thus increasing
the safety risk for the importing country. The GFFC programme allows
for a platform where different governing bodies and industries
can debate these issues with the expectation of positive outcomes
for all involved.
Affordability
The concept of affordable food for all is not new, but to truly say
that we have reached our goals in the supply of sufficient, safe and
affordable food means that it must be sustainable, which is not
possible if it increases unemployment. If affordability does not enjoy
the same focus and attention as sufficient and safe food, we are
not solving the problem but are in fact contributing to it.
The GFFC would furthermore aim to leave a legacy behind in
the form of an action plan for sub-Sahara Africa facing the challenges
going forward. This promises to bring an interesting end to
the congress with unique solutions and action plans for a unique
continent.
On behalf of IFIF, the FAO and AFMA – I trust you will have a most
enjoyable time in Africa!
AFMA MATRIX ● APRIL 2013 1