SACAU (the Southern African Confederation of Agricultural Unions) is a regional farmers’organization that was established in 1992. Its membership is open to national farmers’unions and regional commodity associations in Southern Africa. It is involved in agricultural development in the region by strengthening the capacities of farmers’orgnizations, by providing a collective voice for farmers on regional and international matters, and by providing agriculture related information to its members and others stakeholders.

The report on the SACAU 2010 Policy Conference on land issues in southern Africa as they impact on the agricultural sector, which was held on 29-30 March 2010 in Muldersdrift, Gauteng, South Africa, is now available. Please click here to download the report. Presentations made at the conference can be downloaded on the ‘Events’ page, under the ‘Policy Conferences’ section.

SACAU held its 2010 Annual General Meeting on 31 March 2010 in Muldersdrift, Gauteng, South Africa. A new board was elected, with Mr Douglas Taylor-Freeme of the Commercial Farmers’ Union of Zimbabwe being re-elected for a second term as president. Please go to the section ‘Board of Directors’ of the ‘About us’ page for the detailed composition of the new board. The AGM also adopted a new strategic framework for the organisation and admitted the Swaziland National Agricultural Union (SNAU) as member of SACAU.

View the press release on the SACAU 2010 AGM … English , French

SACAU 2010 Policy Conference was held on 29-30 March 2010 at the Misty Hills Country Hotel and Conference Centre, in Muldersdrift, Gauteng, South Africa. The theme of the Conference was around land issues in southern Africa as they impact on farming enterprises and the agricultural sector in general. The Conference was attended by participants from African Farmers’Organisations in Southern Africa and other regions in sub-Saharan Africa, other stakeholders in the agro-value chain, Regional Economic Communities (COMESA, SADC), the African Union Commission, research institutions, international development agencies and NGOs.

The SACAU secretariat and its national Farmers’ Organisations affiliates, along with representatives of SADC Members States, participated in the SADC-Regional Agricultural Policy (RAP) regional workshop organised by the Food, Agriculture and Natural Resources (FANR) directorate of the SADC Secretariat that was held in Gaborone, Botswana from 22 - 23 April 2010. The objective of the workshop was to update the Member States on progress and outcomes of the preliminary steps so far attained towards the formulation of the SADC-RAP. Proposed activities and timelines for the next phase in the formulation of the RAP were also presented and discussed at the workshop.

SADC embarked on developing a regional agricultural policy in 2007. National and regional consultations to identify emerging key agricultural issues to be addressed by a regional agricultural policy in Southern Africa have been carried out since March 2008, including a SADC-RAP workshop for Farmers Organisations co-organised by SACAU in September 2009 (View the press release). SACAU is also participating in the SADC-RAP working group of the SADC-FANR directorate. .

On 22-23 February 2010, the steering committee of the Pan-African platform of farmers’organisations met in Tunis, Tunisia, hosted by the northern African Farmers network UMAGRI (Union Maghrébine des AGRIculteurs). Initially, the Pan-African platform of farmers’organisations was a joint initiative by the four regional farmers networks in sub-Saharan Africa, namely EAFF in eastern Africa, PROPAC in central Africa, ROPPA in western Africa and SACAU in southern Africa, aiming at coordinating efforts and joining forces to defend the interest of African farmers in a globalised world and advocate for a strong agricultural sector in the continent. It was born in May 2008 at a meeting in Addis platform later. The agenda for this steering committee meeting included the platform constitution as well as the preparation of the launching assembly.

SACAU participated in the third Global Meeting of the Farmers’ Forum that was held on 15-16 February 2010 at IFAD’s Headquarters in Rome, Italy. The Farmers’ Forum was born in 2005 and since then is an on-going process of consultation and dialogue between farmers’ organisations, IFAD and governments, focused on rural development and poverty reduction. The Forum is rooted in concrete partnership and collaboration at the country and regional levels. It meets every two years for a global consultation, in conjunction with the Governing Council of IFAD. SACAU also attended, as an observer, the 33rd session of IFAD’s Governing Council that will take place consecutively on 17-18 February 2010.

For more information on the Farmers’ Forum, please visit: http://www.ifad.org/farmer/2010/index.htm

The new issue of the SACAU Newsletter is now available on line. In this issue, the CEO’s editorial draws up a summary of SACAU’s achievements in 2009 and outlines the different milestones for 2010. The inner pages present some SACAU members highlights for the year 2009. In the interview section, Mr. Motsepe Matlala, Vice-President of SACAU, gives his views on how SACAU should engage more with research institutions.

SACAU co-organised, in partnership with CTA, Namibia Trade Forum, ECDPM and GTZ, a workshop titled : ‘Aid for Trade and Agriculture : Towards a SADC agenda’, which was held on 9-11 November 2009 in Windhoek, Namibia. The aim of the workshop was to share Aid for Trade experiences in the agricultural sector in the region to date in order to explore how to enhance the implementation of Aid for Trade for the southern African agricultural sector. About 30 participants drawn from the RECs, governments, private sector, including Farmers’ Organisations, research institutions and cooperation development agencies attended the workshop. The SACAU discussion paper and policy positions on Aid for Trade were used as a basis for discussion.

On 22-24 October 2009, SACAU participated in the European Development Days (EDD) that were organised in Stockholm, Sweden. The European Development Days are a yearly event hosted jointly by the European Commission and the EU Presidency. It showcases the EU’s work and commitment to development as well as provides opportunities through debates and exhibitions for sharing ideas and exploring innovative partnerships in the area of cooperation development. It brings about 4,000 people from more than a hundred countries and 1,500 organizations from the development community together.

Thanks to the support of CTA, SACAU had its own booth at the EDD, where it displayed SACAU’s features and work. SACAU also contributed to a roundtable on the controversial issue of global land acquisitions. For more information on this roundtable, see:
http://www.eudevdays.eu/agenda/events/land_grabbing_en.htm

A consultative workshop on the SADC Regional Agricultural Policy (RAP) was held from September 2 to 4 2009, in Johannesburg, South Africa, for Farmers’ Organisations (FOs) in the region.The workshop was jointly organised by the SADC- Food, Agriculture and Natural Resources Directorate (FANR), the FAO Sub-regional Office for Southern Africa and the Southern African Confederation of Agricultural Unions (SACAU). It aimed at enabling Farmers’ Organisations to better understand the rationale and objectives of a regional agricultural policy and eventually effectively contribute to identifying essential elements of the SADC-RAP. About 50 delegates from 13 SADC countries as well as the SADC secretariat, the FAO, the SACAU secretariat and ReSakss-SA, participated in the workshop.

View the press release on the SADC RAP workshop for FOs.

On 30-31 July 2009, SACAU held a Strategic Framework Consultation Workshop at the Kopanong Conference Center, Johannesburg, South Africa. The workshop was part of the consultation process in the development of SACAU’s new strategic framework, which will take SACAU to its next organisational development phase (the current SACAU strategic framework runs until 2010). More than 40 delegates attended the workshop, and these were drawn from SACAU's membership, as well as development partners, including RECs, donor agencies, research institutions and NGOs. The inputs from the delegates will assist SACAU in strategising on how it can serve its members and partners better. The next steps will be the finalisation and adoption of the Strategic Framework, as well as the development of multi-annual action plans that will operationalise the Framework.

On 17-19 June 2009, SACAU hosted the start-up workshop for the continental “Support to Farmers’ Organisations in Africa Programme” (SFOAP) in Johannesburg, South Africa. The 3-year grant programme is jointly financed by the European Commission and the UN-IFAD. It aims to strengthen institutionnal capacities of Farmers’ Organisations (FOs) in the continent, as well as supporting their engagement in policy dialogue. It will be implemented by the four Sub-Saharan African regional FOs, namely Eastern Africa Farmers' Federation (EAFF), Plateforme sous-Régionale des Organisations Paysannes d'Afrique Centrale (PROPAC), Réseau des Organisations Paysannes et de Producteurs de l’Afrique de l’Ouest (ROPPA), and the Southern African Confederation of Agricultural Unions (SACAU).

On 17 April 2009, SACAU held its 2009 Annual General Meeting in Durban, South Africa. A new board was elected. Mr. Douglas Taylor-Freeme, of the Commercial Farmers’ Union of Zimbabwe, succeeded Mr Ajay Vashee, of the Zambia National Farmers Union, as the president of SACAU. Lesotho National Farmers’ Union (LENAFU) was admitted as a new member of SACAU, bringing total membership to 14 members in ten countries in Southern Africa.

View the press release on the SACAU 2009 AGM … English , French

On 15 and 16 April 2009, SACAU held its 2009 Policy Conference in Durban, South Africa. It was attended by more than 60 participants from the ranks of SACAU, RECs (Regional Economic Communities), the African Union Commission, civil society organisations and the donor community in Southern Africa. The presentation and discussions focused on climate change and agriculture in the region, agricultural trends, SADC regional agricultural policy, aid for trade, and food aid and agriculture.