This week’s Farmer’s Inside Track podcast kicks off with breaking news about the dramatic covid-19 shutdown of the Tshwane Fresh Produce Market. The RSA Group CEO, Jaco Oosthuizen, speaks candidly about this, as well as the brand-new Midrand alternative trading facility. We also chat to agriculturalist Lungelo Mathenjwa whose Zondle Asset Management helps small-holder farmers reach their commercial potential. Laurika du Bois from Agricolleges International has exciting news about a one-year certificate in agriculture and cotton farmer Petros Sithole says Food For Mzansi is fast becoming a household name. Farmers have selected Business Writing for South Africans as their book of the week. And Dr Johnny van der Merwe is back with the latest AMT Fresh Produce Outlook on the market. Farmer's Inside Track is presented by Food For Mzansi's Dawn Noemdoe and Duncan Masiwa.

South Africa’s hottest agricultural podcast is back with a bang! This week we catch up with Nezisa Sogoni, a business school and IT graduate turned poultry farmer. In our entrepreneurship slot, agricultural economist Lunathi Hlakanyane talks about the role street vendors play in social distancing food retail in Mzansi as we continue to tackle the covid-19 pandemic. We are inspired by Farmers Choice founder Andile Matukane, who is also known as “the Spinach Lady”. This week farmers have selected “Vusi: Business & life lessons from a black dragon” by author Vusi Thembekwayo as their book of the week. Dr Johnny van der Merwe is also back with the weekly AMT Fresh Produce Outlook on the market, analysing the latest fruit and vegetable prices.

In this week’s edition of Farmer’s Inside Track we catch up with trendsetter Edward Kgarose, an award winning Limpopo-based entrepreneur that invented the unconventional sweet potato drinking yoghurt. In our entrepreneurship slot, Najwah Allie-Edries, head of the Jobs Fund, celebrates their successful Sugarcane Development Initiative with Tongaat Hulett supporting farmers in KwaZulu Natal. In an exclusive interview, Edries is adamant that South African farmers are resilient and will overcome the coronavirus crisis.

We are also inspired by a 21-year-old North West farmer, Tshepiso Lekabe. He says a Food For Mzansi article about his journey has helped him set up new business deals with other farmers in Mzansi. Our farmers have selected “In the Driving Seat: Lessons In Leadership” by Brand Pretorius as their book of the book. Dr Johnny van der Merwe, an agricultural economist, is also back with the latest AMT Fresh Produce Outlook on the markets.

Farmer's Inside Track is proudly brought to you by Food For Mzansi. This episode is anchored by Dawn Noemdoe and Duncan Masiwa.

In episode 29 of Food For Mzansi's podcast, Farmer's Inside Track, we speak exclusively to Thoko Didiza, the minister of agriculture, land reform and rural development. Didiza speaks candidly about the payout-delay with covid-19 relief vouchers for small-scale farmers, as well as how the pandemic revealed the traces of South Africa's past. She believes that a resurgence of home gardening is critically important a food secure future at household level. Didiza is interviewed by Food For Mzansi co-founder Ivor Price.

Listeners of Farmer’s Inside Track can now also look forward to the AMT Fresh Produce Outlook on the fruit and vegetable markets. Dr Johnny van der Merwe joins the show’s impressive weekly line-up. Episode 28 also features permaculturist Ludwe Majiza who gave up a top city job to revive agriculture in his ancestral home. NAMC chief economist Dr Sifiso Ntombela explains what lockdown level 3 means for farmers. The episode also features the co-founder of the Bee Academy, Mbali Ngcobo, while Sihle Msibi recommends Working through the barriers to success” by author Sibusiso Molimi as the book of the week.

Farmer's Inside Track is proudly presented by Food For Mzansi, South Africa's leading agricultural lifestyle and news publication. The show is hosted by journalists Dawn Noemdoe and Duncan Masiwa. More info www.foodformzansi.co.za.

In this week’s edition of Farmer’s Inside Track we journey to Carnarvon in the Northern Cape. This is where Juan Louw and his friend, Demetrius Sas, creates magic in one of the toughest farming parts of the country.

In our entrepreneurship slot, we get some business tips from one of the world’s richest businessmen Richard Branson.

We are inspired by North West farmer Thabo Dithakgwe, making waves on social media as the nation’s youngest commercial farmer. And, we’re reading “Finding Common Ground: Land, Equity and Agriculture”. The hip-hop-loving Agbiz economist Wandile Sihlobo speaks to us about his brand-new book.

This episode is anchored by Food For Mzansi's Dawn Noemdoe and Duncan Masiwa.

This week we get up close and personal with Qinisani Qwabe, a leading Kwazulu Natal agricultural researcher and soybean farmer. He champions the importance of indigenous crops.

In our business slot, Jahni de Villiers, Agri SA’s policy head for labour and development outweighs short time work versus retrenchment in this difficult economic climate.

Our farmers selected their favourite book of the week, “For the love of the Land”, by Food For Mzansi co-founders Ivor Price and Kobus Louwrens. We also feature farmer Kagalelo Matlala, who is inspiring millennials and raising up an army of She-Bosses in the Northern Cape.

This episode is anchored by Food For Mzansi's Dawn Noemdoe and Duncan Masiwa.

Food For Mzansi’s popular, weekly farmers’ podcast is back with a bang. KwaZulu-Natal farming superstar Andile Ngcobo dreams on owning the whole agricultural value chain. In our new agripreneur slot, AHI Western Cape chairperson Dr Willie Cilliers uncovers the good, bad and the ugly of hiring your own family. Noluthando Ncgakani shares her fave new recipe for home-made pineapple beer, and Duncan Masiwa talks about the life-changing experience of interviewing a blind Guguluth gardener. This episode is anchored by Dawn Noemdoe and Kobus Louwrens.

KwaZulu-Natal farmer Morgan Brand persistently sways farmers to think innovatively, especially in the midst of the covid-19 pandemic. This out-of-the-box thinking led the soil scientist to experiment with pineapple beer. His second mom, Besta Ntobela, who basically raised him on the farm where he grew up in Adelaide in the Eastern Cape, shared her secret recipe and Brand couldn’t resists an experiment. A few recipe tweaks later and Brand along with his college friends were connecting in a virtual tasting room trying their brew.

Despite police minister Bheki Cele's continued insistence that alcohol sales in South Africa will remain forbidden for the foreseeable future, insiders are expecting a dramatic turnaround as early as Thursday allowing a combination of online wine sales and food deliveries. In an exclusive interview with Food For Mzansi the MD of wine industry body Vinpro, Rico Basson, says he is expecting wine exports to reopen from Friday onwards. He also hopes government will heed industry submissions to allow online wine sales under strict controls. The interviewers are Ivor Price and Kobus Louwrens.