I spoke to Dr Tracy Davids about the impact of COVID-19 on South Africa’s food system. Tracy heads the commodity markets and foresight division at the Bureau for Food and Agricultural Policy (BFAP).

Tracy is an established specialist in agricultural market analysis, her focus includes commodity market modelling, price formation and spatial price relationships, competitiveness and international trade. Tracy has an extensive record of international collaboration, contributing regularly to international market outlook publications and conferences. She has a consistent publication record in peer reviewed journals. She holds a PhD in Agricultural Economics from the University of Pretoria.

BFAP, founded in 2004, is a non-profit organisation. BFAP exists with the distinct purpose to objectively inform and support decision-making by stakeholders in the agro-food, fibre and beverage sectors of Africa. It provides independent, rigorously tested, research-based market and policy analyses. BFAP consists of a network of 45 employees, including associates and researchers at universities spanning the African continent.

Resources - South Africa:

BFAP COVID-19 Information Page: https://covid19.ivis.africa/

Agri SA COVID-19 Information Page: https://www.agrisa.co.za/covid19

SA Department of Agriculture: https://www.daff.gov.za/daffweb3/Home/COVID-19-updates

Resources – International:

FAO: http://www.fao.org/2019-ncov/q-and-a/en/?fbclid=IwAR2IUaATf9w3EOn6sCkjhFpvzAmQXYFBlT1Se5Yhe_v57MXHGruYHMPkhB

UNSCN: https://www.unscn.org/en/news-events/recent-news?idnews=2040

CGIAR: https://www.cgiar.org/news-events/all-news/our-response-to-covid-19/

I spoke to Prof. Carel van Aardt, Research director at the Bureau of Market Research (BMR) at the University of South Africa (UNISA) (www.unisa.ac.za/bmr). Our discussion touched on various aspects and insights of big data, for example: consumer behaviour, happiness, financial inclusion and economic development.

Show notes:

Defining Big Data:

Gartner: “Big data is high-volume, high-velocity and/or high-variety information assets that demand cost-effective, innovative forms of information processing that enable enhanced insight, decision making, and process automation.”

Lexico (Oxford): “extremely large data sets that may be analysed computationally to reveal patterns, trends, and associations, especially relating to human behaviour and interactions”

Cambridge dictionary: “very large sets of data that are produced by people using the internet, and that can only be stored, understood, and used with the help of special tools and method”

Resources on big data:

Google trends: https://trends.google.com/

Simply searching for big data will deliver numerous useful results – also search for big data courses, there are many free options available. Resource examples: 

Stanford University Presentation: Overview of Big Data Tools and Techniques, Discoveries and Pitfalls: https://web.stanford.edu/class/cs102/lecturenotes/Overview102.pdf   

Data Science Central: https://www.datasciencecentral.com/   

I spoke to Doris Viljoen: Senior Futurist at the Institute for Futures Research (IFR) and lecturer in Futures Studies (FS) at the University of Stellenbosch Business School (USB).

Show notes and resources:

On defining the field:  Richard Slaughter: “the ultimate purpose of FS was to open out productive mind spaces, precursors of social innovations, from which more advanced stages of civilized life can emerge” - Slaughter, R.A. (2002). Futures studies as a civilizational catalyst. Futures, 34, 349-363.

On activities of a Professional Futurist: Andy Hines identifies three groups of activities:

1. Creating content: sharing information with people to gain insight

FS as a scientific field: FS is a science and an art. It is not about predication but rather about identifying possible/multiple futures and making this part of your strategy process.

Personal exercise: on a regular basis, start asking why and what if? Why are we doing this? (For example, ask why? X5) What are my underlying assumptions?

Futures studies in South Africa: https://www.usb.ac.za/academic-programmes/academic-programmes-future-studies/

Nedlac report - Futures of Work in South Africa:  https://nedlac.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/Futures-of-Work-in-South-Africa-Final-Report-March-2019.pdf

Reading:

• UNDP (2018): Foresight Manual - Empowered Futures

For organisations:

• George Day and Paul Schoemaker: See Sooner, Act Faster

 Podcast website: https://waitspeak.podbean.com/p/contact-1578666710/

Welcome to the Wait & Speak Podcast, my name is Requier Wait.

I hold a PhD in Economics and I am currently enrolled for a Postgraduate programme in Futures Studies (strategic foresight). My experience covers academia, consulting and industry advocacy. Industry experience ranges from upstream oil and gas to renewable energy and agriculture. I am based in South Africa.

Join my learning journey and goal of being a multi-hyphenate in business. I will be interviewing experts on topics ranging from futures studies, strategy, economics and entrepreneurship. Please rate and review the podcast if you enjoy it.

The first episode will look at Futures studies, followed by interviews on behavioural economics, cultural intelligence, negotiation and the concept of brand/branding.

You can find the podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and Podbean. You can find more information on the podcast website. I look forward to learning and growing with you.

Podcast website: https://waitspeak.podbean.com/p/contact-1578666710/