Agricultural Business Chamber
Agriculture in Pretoria

Agbiz Profile, Agbiz objectives, What does Agbiz do, Who is Agbiz, Agbiz Strategy and Values.

The organisation was established in 1946 as the Co-operative Council to represent the interests of agricultural co-operatives. In 1995, after the deregulation of agriculture in South Africa, the organisation adopted the name Agricultural Co-operative Business (ACB) to address the changing needs of agribusinesses. The move to a fully autonomous and independent association in 2010 was an exceptional milestone for the Agricultural Business Chamber. The incorporation of Grain Silo Industry (GSI) enhances the vision of expanding the client base of commercial grain storage owners, increasing membership, reducing member costs and growth opportunities. In a step towards enhancing collaboration with government, the South African wine and brandy industry launched the WineBiz desk, in Its main focus is strengthening relationships with various national government departments and related stakeholders on key issues such as water and land reform, transformation, trade facilitation and market access, while promoting the image of the South African wine and brandy industry. The core focus of Agbiz is to create an open, competitive and macro-economically sound environment within which its members can operate successfully and prosper. Agbiz facilitates considerable networking opportunities so that South African agribusinesses can play an active and creative role within the local and international organized business environment. Agbiz is an affiliate of Business Unity South Africa (BUSA) and associated with various international organisations such as the Business and Industry Advisory Committee to the OECD (BIAC), and the International Food and Agribusiness Management Association (IFAMA). Agbiz has an effective administrative structure and dynamic personnel complement. This calculated figure will stand for three years, each financial year only increasing with council meeting accepted inflation percentage. At the end of the third year, all members will be requested to submit their new three year turnover figures so that a re-calculation could be done in order to determine if they qualify to move up to corporate membership level, which will be above the corporate membership fee amount as agreed upon for that financial year. When joining as a member during the financial year, membership fees payable are pro rata for the remaining part of the year. Agribusiness is a broad concept that covers input suppliers, agro-processors, traders, exporters and retailers. Agricultural input industry for increasing agricultural productivity, such as agricultural machinery, equipment and tools, fertilisers, pesticides, insecticides; irrigation systems and related equipment. Agro-industry: Food and beverages, tobacco products, leather and leather products, textile, footwear and garment, wood and wood products, rubber products, as well as construction industry products based on agricultural materials. Equipment for processing agricultural raw materials, including machinery, tools, storage facilities, cooling technology and spare parts. Various services, financing, marketing and distribution firms, including storage, transport, ICTs, packaging materials and design for better marketing and distribution.