Key priority focus areas
- Establishment and management of a sorghum cluster
- The Cluster will serve as the implementation mechanism to drive the various programmes that support the enhanced competitiveness of the sorghum industry in South Africa. The main aim is to coordinate activities to elevate the sorghum production, processing, and application capabilities of South Africa into a sustainable and globally competitive industry.
- Policy aspects: Zero-rating of VAT on sorghum
- A standard 15% VAT is currently levied on sorghum and sorghum products and not on other related staple foods such as maize meal, bread flour, and rice. This makes sorghum products less competitive and less profitable. This impacts consumers’ choice of products and the value chain’s ability to invest in further development of the industry. Considering poverty and unemployment stats, SA population will be more reliant towards the more affordable product. Government is taking the lead on this initiative to attempt to zero-rate sorghum and sorghum products.
- Creating awareness campaign to market sorghum
- Sorghum is a grain indigenous to Africa and of great health significance. Its value is overshadowed by these better-known grains, especially maize. Although a significant quantity of sorghum is consumed annually, the demand is decreasing on an annual basis. Sorghum has for years been perceived as so called “poverty food” (SA Chef: 2022), highlighting the need to create new channels for the promotion of sorghum as a remarkable alternative grain and awareness of its health benefits. The main aim is to boost sorghum demand through targeted marketing and create awareness of sorghum’s health benefits.
- Alternative quelea control methods
- The average quelea bird eats around 10 grams of grain per day, so a flock of two million can devour as much as 20 tons of grain in a single day. With an estimated adult breeding population of at least 1.5 billion. The Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development is responsible for its management and currently, two control methods are used: paraffin/gasoline explosion and aerial chemical spraying. Various other quelea control methods have been also been developed in the past few decades but these methods, such as netting, repellents, artificial scaring tactics, and chemicals are either ineffective or not economically viable in some instances. This initiative is to work with the Department to investigate even more alternative management control options for quelea birds in South Africa.
- Establishing a sorghum pre-breeding programme
- Due to the lack of sorghum genetic improvement in South Africa, commercial sorghum producers have been planting the same cultivars for more than 20 years. This have led to a shortfall in yield improvement in comparison to that of maize and soybean yields over the years. The long-term aim of this initiative is to establish a sustainable pipeline of high-performing sorghum hybrids bred under local conditions for all producers. The short-term aim is to strengthen sorghum breeding in South Africa and investigating the potential to establish a supplementary hybrid pre-breeding programme.
- Piloting potential agro-processing facilities
- Agro-processing forms an important link of the sorghum value chain that creates a market for local producers and supply the end user/customer with acceptable final products. This initiative aims to conduct an in-depth feasibility study on setting up a pilot agro-processing demonstration plant that produces sorghum-based products.