Solutions that power a brighter agricultural future
Informing policy and the regulatory environment
Team Lead: Mmatlou Kalaba
- We inform strategic policy decisions through the application of our forward-looking analysis in the agro-food and beverage space across Africa. Our modelling system is continuously being improved and expanded through innovative thinking and data integrations.
- Our trade specialists provide insights on multi-lateral trade agreements and the impact of tariffs, regulatory, policy and non-tariff measures.
- BFAP reviews and researches policy / regulatory design and quantifies the impact of policies through an end-to-end value chain approach.
- BFAP developed the replicable Policy Prioritisation through Value Chain Analysis (PPVC) approach (together with IFPRI) and has applied this approach in 4 countries in Sub-Saharan Africa towards prioritising governments’ investments into agricultural value chains. The approach considers Market-Led, Inclusivity, Transformation and Value Chain Scan information. Read more on the approach and the results here: https://ppvc.bfap.co.za.
Strategy Design & Innovation
Team Lead: Gerhard van der Burgh
- We engage clients and stakeholders in collaborative, data-driven scenario planning to quantify the impact of various drivers and shocks throughout the agricultural sub-sectors to offer strategic decision support.
- We review existing strategies and governance systems in light of the salient economic and business environment, risks and opportunities and provide insights into potential future scenarios that inform strategic decision making.
- We provide workshop facilitation support towards inclusive strategy development and formulation.
Analytics, Modelling & Foresight
Team Lead: Tracy Davids
- We generate commodity market outlooks (foresight) using BFAP’s multi-market partial equilibrium (PE) simulation models, underpinned by macro-economic and commodity-specific demand- and supply dynamics.
- BFAP’s PE simulation model is integrated with BFAP Farm-level Financial models and Consumer models, enabling scenario analysis, not only at market and sector level, but also throughout the value chain: from farm (enterprise- and farm- profitability) to fork (retail prices and food affordability).
- We provide analysis, contextualisation and interpretation of agro-resources, production and farming systems and agricultural inputs, and integrate and interpret these into economic, finance and business context and insights. Focus areas include productivity and competitiveness and financial performance and sensitivity of agricultural commodity enterprises.
- We monitor food inflation and its impact on consumer livelihoods, food security and nutritional indicators.
- We conduct primary consumer research to provide insights into consumers’ food choices, purchasing behaviour, price sensitivity, knowledge and motivations.
- We offer spatial analytics and modelling (bio-physical crop modelling and resource – water and land-use, analytics to contextualise and spatially quantify risks and opportunities.
Value Chain Analytics
Team Lead: Louw Pienaar
- Our approach to providing solutions within the agricultural sector does not stop at the farm gate but extends beyond it to include well-known value chain frameworks.
- Although our base of empirical models is anchored in pragmatic ground-truthing we have long realised that the tentacles of agricultural value chains are spread throughout the rest of the economy such that factors affecting elements of inputs supply, transport, storage, retail, personal services, financial services, wholesale and accommodation, to name just a few, has significant bearing on the primary agricultural sector, jobs and affects businesses and consumers.
- Our end-to-end value chain approach consist of linking product flows and margins at farm, agro-processing and consumer nodes into sector and economy-wide models, enabling the evaluation of various scenarios, the potential for value chain upgrades, and optimisation outcomes.
- Our Value Chain Analytics will provide insights that incorporate the interconnectedness of agricultural industries within the broader economy and integrate the insights generated from other parts of our web of solutions to support clients in their decision making process.
Informing Investment Decisions
Team Lead: Divan Van Der Westhuizen
- Identification of value chain investment opportunities, underpinned by market-led analytics, while promoting inclusive agricultural transformation and growth.
- We develop product specific future scenarios in combination with model-based simulations to quantify risk and identify, evaluate and quantify investment opportunities and feasibility, while continuously considering interlinkages and cross-cutting value chain enabling drivers.
- We provide timely and relevant market intelligence with a short-term (1-2 years) and longer-term (+5 years) outlook of key outcomes such as commodity prices, input costs, production, consumption and trade and its respective impacts on value chain profitability.
- We conduct cost-benefit analysis of proposed policy- and investment interventions, and market segmentation and profiling to inform marketing decisions.
Programme Monitoring & Evaluation
Team Lead: Sandy Jackson
- We define and clarify the data processes and requirements for credible reporting (due diligence) and provide support in defining and standardising metrics to be tracked, to measure performance and impact.
- We facilitate the change management requirements regarding data and data processing after performing a strategic programme / process review, and customise and develop the data structures and functionality to enable accurate time series analysis.
- We follow socio-economic consumer & household demographics (e.g., age, gender, household size, education, income levels, urbanisation) and trends, and integrate them with our product solutions.
- We assist our clients in quantifying and contextualising the impact of their development programmes and track the progress and impacts of ‘Inclusive Agricultural Transformation’ in the South African agricultural sector.
Outreach, training, capacity building
Team Lead: Ferdi Meyer
- At BFAP we understand the importance of producing evidence based, independent research that is relevant and addresses the most pressing challenges of the public and private sector. Hence, BFAP analysts are continuously engaging private sector companies and industry and government organisations to ensure that our focus remains relevant and future oriented. This implies that our methodology and approaches, databases, tools and analytics are constantly updated and evolving to remain cutting edge. Â Â
- We are partnering with various universities, research centres, private sector and international organisations on a wide range of outreach initiatives, training and capacity building. These include Stellenbosch University and University of Pretoria in South Africa, the Food and Agricultural Policy Research Institute (FAPRI) at the University of Missouri, the Thünen Institute in Germany, the Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO) and the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
- Under a Memorandum of Understanding, we are supporting post-graduate studies at Stellenbosch University through bursaries, internships, supervision of post-graduate students and guest lectures. BFAP is also hosting interns under the SASOL Trust internship programme and over the past five years, BFAP has offered industrial engineering students at the University of Pretoria the opportunity to complete their final-year assignment by joining the BFAP team on the delivery of actual projects. Â Â Â
- BFAP has conducted formal training courses on amongst others value chain analysis, partial equilibrium modelling, investments and strategy design, GIS analytics, and more recently a comprehensive formal training programme in collaboration with IFPRI on the Policy Prioritisation through Value Chain analysis (PPVC) approach to assist governments and private sector with the prioritisation of policies and investments. BFAP and IFPRI are supporting the implementation of the PPVC approach in ANAPRI (Africa Network of Agricultural Policy Research Institutes).
- Our outreach activities also include various initiatives to publish insights in the public domain to stimulate debate, sharpen policy choices and shape future investments in agriculture and agro-processing. These include the publication of a 10-year outlook of the agricultural sector in the annual BFAP Baseline, monthly newsletters, peer-reviewed journal publications, articles in popular magazines, public presentations at conferences, and radio and TV interviews.
Data and systems technology solutions
Team Lead: Albert van Niekerk
- We generate insights by integrating BFAP’s data and modelling outputs with client data.
- Through systems-thinking and solutions we track and trace impact along the value chain and across various linked and dependent processes.
- We facilitate data capturing, analysis and reporting in various data formats and input types (e.g. spatial data points, bulk data templates, specific customised inputs)
- Our spatial and business intelligence solutions enable impact visualisation of policies, climate and trends.
- https://ivis.africa
Let us help you find the right solution for your business
In an ever-changing world, we are here to help you navigate and lead in Africa’s agricultural,
agro-processing and food sectors.
We engage in multiple spheres
Public Sector
BFAP has been well positioned to contribute to various strategic policy documents and initiatives in South Africa’s agricultural sector as an objective data, modelling and information provider. BFAP’s suit of models has been repeatedly used in goal setting and impact analysis work
Private Sector
BFAP offers a wide range of offerings and services in varying combinations to private company clients, depending on the needs and problem statements at hand, in the form of contracted and proprietary work. BFAP has built up long-term relationships with multiple clients but also offers vast experience in quick turn-around scenario- and analytics work.
International Development- & Donor Organisations
BFAP has experience in leading donor-funded projects on the African content providing technical rigour and subject-matter expertise. Projects have included value chain analyses and trade- and general policy work as well as methodology development, roll-out and skills transfer.
We have worked with:
- World Bank
- Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
- WWF
- FAO
- EU Commission
Our Partners & Collaborators
BFAP is one of the founding members of ANAPRI (formerly ReNAPRI) and collaborates closely with its other members on the African content in the form of capacity building and skills development, as well as partnering with institutes on specific projects. Other institutes that BFAP collaborated with over the years include The Monitoring and Analysing Food and Agricultural Policies (MAFAP) programme of the FAO, AGRA and the Ethiopian Institute for Agricultural Research (EIAR).
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BFAP has a wide network of collaborators in South Africa including industry and commodity organisations and associations, co-operatives, agri-businesses, financial institutions and research- & academic institutions. The collaborations and partnerships take on various forms i.e. information and data sharing, formal contracted work, research collaboration and skills transfer.
Furthermore, a number of BFAP’s researchers are appointed as research fellows at Stellenbosch University under an MoU between the two institutions.
