COMPETING AT THE "CUTTING EDGE": OPPORTUNITIES FOR AGRIBUSINESS PARTNERSHIPS AND CO-OPERATION IN THE SOUTHERN AFRICAN REGION

What are the opportunities for agricultural business, trade and co-operation in Southern Africa and, in particular, South Africa and Zimbabwe - two of the most significant economies in the SADC region? The competitiveness status of agribusiness - from a global viewpoint - in sixteen food and fibre supply chains in Zimbabwe and South Africa is determined in this study using the Revealed Comparative Advantage method of Balassa. Based on this status, there is potential in certain agro-food chains for supply chain integration and cooperation between agribusinesses in South Africa and Zimbabwe. Such partnerships will improve competitiveness and will allow agribusinesses to compete at the "cutting edge" in the global environment.Agribusiness,

TECHNOLOGY, RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT AND THE IMPACT ON THE COMPETITIVENESS OF THE SOUTH AFRICAN AGRO-FOOD SUPPLY CHAINS

Industrial Organization, Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies,

DETERMINANTS OF COMPETITIVENESS IN THE SOUTH AFRICAN AGRO-FOOD AND FIBRE COMPLEX

The competitiveness of the South African agro-food and fibre complex depends on a number of factors: technological, socio-political and economic. This paper attempts to identify and analyse such factors by using a framework of analysis proposed by Michael Porter (1990). Appropriate measures to increase competitiveness are proposed. These include improved supply chain management, cost reduction, contractual pricing and the establishment of a clear "agribusiness development policy".Agribusiness, Industrial Organization,

ARE WE STILL INVESTING IN SOUTH AFRICAN AGRICULTURE: PERCEPTIONS, EVIDENCE AND ANALYSIS

In this paper the question of investment in the South African agro-food and fibre complex is explored. The analysis is based on empirical values and opinions/perceptions from ±400 agribusinesses operating in this complex. From the analysis it is clear that decisions to invest in the agro-food and fibre complex in South Africa must be viewed as on "knife-edge". A range of recommendations and policy options will be required to activate investment drivers and to address constraints in order to stimulate investment and to achieve growth.Agricultural and Food Policy,

HOW COMPETITIVE IS AGRIBUSINESS IN THE SOUTH AFRICAN FOOD COMMODITY CHAIN?

The competitiveness of sixteen selected food commodity chains in South Africa was calculated using the Revealed Comparative Advantage method of Balassa. The majority of commodity chains are marginally competitive. Except for the maize, pineapple, and apple chains, the competitiveness index generally decreases when moving from primary to processed products. This implies that benification or "value adding" opportunities in South Africa are restricted. To compete in a global economy strategies should be followed that improve the competitiveness of the whole food supply chain. It is i.e. not good enough for farmers to be able to compete globally at farm gate level, whilst the locally processed commodities that is sold to the consumer is not competitive in the world market.Agribusiness,

'n nuwe benaderingsmetode in verband met die studie van die kontak tussen blank en bantoe.

Die menslike verstand is daarop ingestel om feitelikhede te absorbeer en te onthou. Dit is ’n proses wat vanaf die oomblik van geboorte opgemerk word. Hierdie feiteversameling bly nie losstaande en dus niksseggende feite nie maar die menslike verstand is daarop ingestel om hierdiefeitelikhede om te bou en tot ’n rasionale beeld daar te stel

Jan Romein in Suid-Afrika

No Abstract

Strategic focus areas and emerging trade arrangements in the South African agricultural industry since the demise of the marketing boards

This paper investigates the responses of agribusiness managers to drastic changes in the policy and marketing environment of South African agriculture. The process of deregulation and liberalisation of agricultural markets exposed agribusiness managers to international trends, which required new institutions and relationships. Based on a survey conducted among business managers, we explored emerging growth strategies, strategic focus areas and coordination preferences. Results suggest that managers prefer a growth strategy based on market penetration and market development. Important strategic drivers are value-adding and power drive. Managers expressed their preference for increased coordination and cooperation resulting in relation-based contracts and equity-based alliances.agribusiness, strategic focus areas, institutional arrangements, South Africa, Agribusiness,

Identification of Silver and Palladium in Irradiated TRISO Coated Particles of the AGR-1 Experiment

Evidence of the release of certain metallic fission products through intact tristructural isotropic (TRISO) particles has been seen for decades around the world, as well as in the recent AGR-1 experiment at the Idaho National Laboratory (INL). However, understanding the basic mechanism of transport is still lacking. This understanding is important because the TRISO coating is part of the high temperature gas-cooled reactor functional containment and critical for the safety strategy for licensing purposes. Our approach to identify fission products in irradiated AGR-1 TRISO fuel using scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM), Electron Energy-Loss Spectroscopy (EELS) and Energy Filtered TEM (EFTEM), has led to first-of-a-kind data at the nano-scale indicating the presence of silver at triple-points and grain boundaries of the SiC layer in the TRISO particle. Cadmium was also found in the triple junctions. In this initial study, the silver was only identified in SiC grain boundaries and triple points on the edge of the SiC-IPyC interface up to a depth of approximately 0.5 μm. Palladium was identified as the main constituent of micron-sized precipitates present at the SiC grain boundaries. Additionally spherical nano-sized palladium rich precipitates were found inside the SiC grains. No silver was found in the center of the micron-sized fission product precipitates using these techniques, although silver was found on the outer edge of one of the Pd-U-Si containing precipitates which was facing the IPyC layer. Only Pd-U containing precipitates were identified in the IPyC layer and no silver was identified in the IPyC layer. The identification of silver alongside the SiC grain boundaries and the findings of Pd inside the SiC grains and alongside SiC grain boundaries provide important information needed to understand silver and palladium transport in TRISO fuel, which has been the topic of international research for the past forty years. The findings reported in this paper may support the postulations of recent research that Ag transport may be driven by grain boundary diffusion. However, more work is needed to fully understand the transport mechanisms. Additionally, the usefulness of the advanced electron microscopic techniques for TRISO coated particle research is demonstrated in this paper

Crystallization of recombinant Bacteroides fragilis glutamine synthetase (GlnN) isolated using a novel and rapid purification protocol

Glutamine synthetase enzymes (GSs) are large oligomeric enzymes that play a critical role in nitrogen metabolism in all forms of life. To date, no crystal structures exist for the family of large (1 MDa) type III GS enzymes, which only share 9% sequence identity with the well characterized GSI and GSII enzymes. Here we present a novel protocol for the isolation of untagged Bacteroides fragilis GlnN expressed in an auxotrophic Escherichia coli strain. The rapid and scalable two-step protocol utilized differential precipitation by divalent cations followed by affinity chromatography to produce suitable quantities of homogenous material for structural characterization. Subsequent optimizations to the sample stability and solubility led to the discovery of conditions for the production of the first diffraction quality crystals of a type III GS enzyme