New GNU Cabinet Shuffle Bodes Well for Plant-Based Agenda

Key Ministerial assignments open possibility for improved non-animal advocacy

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, re-elected for a second term, on Sunday night unveiled his new Cabinet that consists of members of the Democratic Alliance and other political parties who have coalesced into the new Government of National Unity, with 11 ministers and 10 deputy ministers in the reformed cabinet not being from the African National Congress (ANC).This followed a tumultuous week of fractious exchanges which threatened to sunder this novel coalition in the crib. 

In the revised ‘mix masala’ cabinet, Democratic Alliance (DA) leader Steenhuisen will be the new Minister of the Department of Agriculture, thereby splitting up the Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development (DALRRD) into two separate ministries. The Ministry of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment will be run by Dion George, also from the DA. ProVeg, as an advocate for food systems reform, heralds this shift as an opportunity to emphasise key future improvements in both our national agricultural and environmental sectors for the benefit of all South Africans. 

For the past several years, DALRRD has been pursuing a program of excluding plant-based meat alternatives from the retail environment, citing naming conventions, which would involve the seizure and banning of these products from retail shelves. This is a case that the Consumer Goods Council of South Africa (CGCSA) recently overturned on behalf of the plant-based industry. However the probability of ongoing litigation and further challenges has remained high amid intimations that DALRRD would merely be stripping out definitions for meat alternatives from the relevant statutes, thereby making these products entirely made out of plant material – somewhat absurdly – legally equivalent to actual meat products. With the dissolution of DALRRD and with new party leadership at the agricultural helm it may signal a positive shift in the regulatory posture towards the meat alternatives market, and possibly an end to the inane saga of the so-called ‘burger ban’ – which not only jeopardises an entire thriving food-sector industry,  at an estimated global  market value of USD 65.5 billion by 2030, but many current jobs along the value chain as well. 

The present climate crisis is a massive threat to food security, water availability, and biodiversity, worldwide and in particular Africa, as well as a major cause of environmental disasters. According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), our current food system is responsible for up to a third of global greenhouse gas emissions. Animal agriculture accounts for about 20% of global emissions  South Africa now has a renewed opportunity to begin weaning itself off agricultural practices that contribute detrimentally to our Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) for greenhouse gases. 

The world is in the midst of a water crisis. Water scarcity already affects more than 40% of the global population. Globally, agriculture is the biggest consumer of freshwater, using 70% of freshwater for the irrigation of fields and for rearing farmed animals on land and in aquaculture farms. Growing feed crops for animals is responsible for 20% of global freshwater expenditure.

Biodiversity is crucial to the functioning of ecosystems and is necessary for healthy soils, water regulation, carbon storage, food production, pollination, and healthy wildlife populations. Yet, a large part of the food we consume comes from only a small number of species, and the ways in which we produce our food places further pressure on biodiversity. We have entered the era of sixth mass extinction. Agriculture is one of the main reasons for this huge decline in biodiversity, as we are changing the surface of this planet within such a short period of time that it renders nearly any adaptation by wild species impossible. 

Global warming, along with land- and water use, resource waste, biodiversity loss, and the rise of zoonoses are some of the most significant civilisational problems we are currently facing, exacerbated by a growing global population and a corresponding increase in demand for animal-based products, and only realistically malleable to reformations in our food policy and practices,  . 

Our planet has a certain capacity in terms of how much it can take before a vital system, such as the planetary climate, reaches a critical point. Reaching those points, or even exceeding them, can cause irreversible and major changes to some of our earth systems, leading to global warming or biodiversity loss, as well as other negative impacts. The global food system, together with current consumption patterns play a major role in exceeding some of these planetary boundaries. Changing what we eat can be beneficial for both human and planetary health.

Most crucially, it is now widely accepted that a plant-based diet offers numerous benefits compared with a diet centred on animal products. While animal-based diets carry several health risks, a rich and varied plant-based diet can offer prevention and treatment of a host of modern lifestyle diseases, including diabetes  – which costs the South Africa public sector at least ZAR 2.7 billion per annum – to some forms of cancer, hypertension, cardiovascular disease and strokes.  

With the Democratic Alliance now in charge of both the Agricultural and Environmental ministries South Africa has new room to manoeuvre in improving the health of the nation, gearing down on our greenhouse gas footprint, and making greater contributions to both local and international ecological conservation. 

ENDS

Media Contact

ProVeg South Africa – Wikus Engelbrecht – Communications Manager: [email protected]; +27 64 172 0120

About ProVeg South Africa:

ProVeg South Africa is the local branch of ProVeg International. ProVeg is an international food awareness organisation working to transform the global food system by replacing conventional animal-based products with plant-based and cultured alternatives.

ProVeg works with international decision-making bodies, governments, food producers, investors, the media, and the general public to help the world transition to a society and economy that are less dependent on animal agriculture and more sustainable for humans, animals, and the planet.