The Marketing and Economic Research Centre (MERC) was established to enhance the mandate of the NAMC through the MAP Act.  MERC is involved in five main focusing areas namely:

•         Mapping, understanding and quantifying agro-food chains
•         Trade
•         Linking farmers to markets and market development
•         Risk management
•         Information management system

This is done through research as commissioned by the NAMC or requested by directly affected groups.  Examples of requested studies done by MERC lately are the “Functioning of the agricultural futures market for grains and oilseeds” and “The impact of the Namibian Small Stock Marketing Scheme on South Africa”.  An internal study that was finalised this year was “The impact of market power and dominance of supermarkets on agricultural producers in South Africa: A case study of the South African dairy industry”.

On 18 April 2008, the NAMC received a mandate from the Minister of Agriculture to manage the reporting process between the Minister and ministerial trustees. The meeting scheduled with the ministerial trustees of the various industry trusts was to convey the important role that the ministerial trustees have in agriculture, to improve the process of communication and to improve the ministerial trustees knowledge and understanding of the Minister’s expectations.

On 24 June 2008 the NAMC held a meeting with ministerial trustees. The purpose of meeting was to investigate a plan on how the above mandate can be properly and effectively achieved. Key decisions were taken and required actions were mapped-out. This communiqué is one of the results of that meeting. The NAMC is committed to ensure that ministerial mandate is fully implemented and the desired objectives are achieved.

Economic growth is not simply about business linkages, but about concluding linkages that will lead to longer term economic growth of the sectors we are focusing on. Business Linkages work has demonstrated that there are significant opportunities for enhanced sectoral growth by addressing marketing constraints that prevent the sale/use/uptake of products and or services provided by historically disadvantaged enterprises as they flow from production through to the final consumer.

By addressing these constraints we will expand the overall size of the economic pie, leading for greater interest to all participants through-out the sector One of the objectives of the MAP Act states that “the increasing of market access for all market participants”. In recognition of that objective, the Agribusiness Development Division is strategically collaborating with the National Department of Agriculture, Provincial Departments of Agriculture, industries, other government departments and the private sector institutions in designing projects and models that leads to the increasing of market access, encouraging new business development, and capacity building of emerging enterprises. The provincial departments of agriculture and industries take a lead in implementing those models.

The MAP Act provides for the establishment of statutory measures, namely statutory levies, control of exports of agricultural products, records & returns, and registration. Once a statutory measure is approved by the Minister, it becomes enforceable and legal action may be taken against those who fail to adhere to the statutory measure that was approved and promulgated.

The Statutory Measures Division’s strategic goal is to –

• provide the Minister with recommendations regarding the establishment, continuation, amendment or repeal of a statutory measure,
• to promulgate statutory measures in the Government Gazette after the Minister approved it,
• to ensure that statutory measures comply with MAP Act objectives and NAMC policies and guidelines, and
• to monitor the application of statutory levies