Background The Agricultural and Agro-processing Master Plan (AAMP) was signed at a ceremony in Cape Town on 12 May, after a two-year-long consultation process in which Agbiz fully participated.

This was an important week in South Africa's agricultural sector. We had a budget vote speech and the signing off of the Agriculture and Agro-processing Master Plan.

Phase one of the three-year Sugarcane Value Chain Master Plan recently ended, marking a critical point for reflection in the industry.

It is roughly a year since the signing of the Agriculture and Agro-processing Master Plan (AAMP).

As we are fast approaching the second anniversary of South Africa’s Agriculture and Agro-processing Master Plan, there is very little to show in terms of implementation on the ground.

For a few months, attributing bold ideological measures by the Department of Agriculture and its SOEs, which are out of step with the DA’s own policies and pre-election positions, to “muscle memory” worked for Minister Steenhuisen.