The Bureau for Food and Agricultural Policy (BFAP) (www.bfap.co.za) is a virtual network linking individuals with multi-disciplinary backgrounds to a coordinated research system that informs decision making within the Food System. The core analytical team consists of independent analysts and researchers who are affiliated with the Department of Agricultural Economics, Extension and Rural Development at the University of Pretoria, the Department of Agricultural Economics at the University of Stellenbosch, or the Directorate of Agricultural Economics at the Provincial Department of Agriculture, Western Cape. BFAP is the first of its kind in South Africa and has become a valuable resource to government, agribusiness and farmers by providing analyses of future policy and market scenarios and measuring their impact on farm and firm profitability. BFAP acknowledges and appreciates the tremendous insight of numerous industry specialists over the past years.

BFAP was founded in 2004 with the purpose of facilitating decision making in the South African agricultural sector as well as training of individuals in order to increase the amount of analytical and research skills available to the sector. The analysis of world and domestic markets consists of baseline projections and scenario analyses of possible market and policy changes and the possible impacts of these changes on domestic markets and farm profitability and survivability. The baselines and scenarios are constructed in such a way that the decision maker can form a picture of possible future changes and what their likely effects could be. Pro-active actions can thus flow from the use of these baselines and scenarios. BFAP is the first of its kind in South Africa and has become a valuable resource to government, agribusiness and farmers by providing analysis of future policy and market scenarios and measuring their impact on farm and firm profitability. Core funding for this initiative is provided by: National Agricultural Marketing Council, THRIP programme of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), WineTech and Eskort.

BFAP acknowledges and appreciates the tremendous help and insight of numerous industry specialists over the past years. Although their comments and suggestions are taken into consideration in the baseline projections, BFAP takes full responsibility for any errors. Finally, BFAP expresses its sincere appreciation to the Food and Agricultural Policy Research Institute (FAPRI) at the University of Missouri and its staff who have trained BFAP staff members and supported the modelling initiative at the University of Pretoria over the past five years. Without their support and invaluable inputs, this program would not have been a reality.