Posts

JD Kirsten's recycling collection igloos

JDK’s interesting household recycling initiative!

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Arguably the most important step to driving any environmental initiative is to change behaviour. As with recycling, it is simply difficult to increase recycling rates without increasing  the rate at which recyclables are collected at both the household and company levels, requiring a change in behaviour by both you and I. JD Kirsten, realising the potential wider gains from improved rates of recycling, have adopted a novel approach to onboard its farm workers. Read more

Analysis of Western Cape dam levels

Western Cape dam levels: 15% by April 2017?

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Since the winter of 2014, the Western Cape region has been in the midst of a significant and worsening drought. The winter rains of 2015 and 2016 have done little to offer relief, and as of the beginning of November 2016, the City of Cape Town entered into Level 3 Water Restrictions, and the agricultural operations of the Western Cape continue to face substantial water-related risks. In this piece, I take a look at the historical levels of the major dams in the Western Cape, and what these might mean for the province’s municipal and agricultural water resources in 2017. Read more

Cape-Agriculutral-Farms

Small-scale mixed farming Carbon Footprint Calculator

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The concept of developing a carbon footprint calculator for emerging farmers in the Western Cape is the subject of a Masters research project funded by the Western Cape Department of Agriculture (WC DoA). The purpose of this tool is to firstly create awareness around climate change and the impact on agriculture, and secondly to prepare emerging farmers for future carbon audits and declarations for formal market access locally and internationally, as well as the national legislation around the proposed carbon tax.

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Cape-Agriculutral-Farms

New Project: Impact of legislation on the Western Cape agricultural sector

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Blue North, working in conjunction with DNA Economics, have been contracted by the Western Cape Department of Agriculture (WC DoA) to assess the agricultural legislative environment in the Western Cape and how conducive this environment is to business.

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