b'PARTNER CONTENTHow South Africa Weatheredits COVID StormThanks to the efforts of their national seed organization, 118 member companies ensured farmers got the seed they needed even as the country went into lockdown.R iaan Roselt remembers well what ithelped in so many ways, Roselt adds.was like to be in Cape Town, SouthOne way in which SANSOR aided its Africa, helping plan the Interna- members was through ensuring South tional Seed Federations 2020 World SeedAfrican seed companies registered Congress. themselves as essential businesses so At the timethis was last March they could function during the national we didnt know if COVID-19 would affectlockdown, which began March 23 and was South Africa or not. It was a difficult deci- one of the worlds earliest and strictest sion. Should we plan on going ahead, orlockdowns.not? Hindsight is always 20/20, of course,So long as you were registered as an and looking back, postponing it wasessential business, your agronomists and the only decision the national organiz- sales representatives were able to travel ing committee could make, says Roselt,by road and ensure the farmers got their managing director for South Africas DLFseed. If you got stopped at a roadblock, all Seeds and chairman of the South Africanyou had to do was show your paperwork, National Seed Organization (SANSOR). which told the authorities that you were Fast-forward to today, and South Africacleared to travel, Roselt says.is an example to the world of how resilientLukeshni Chetty, general manager a countrys seed sector can be, especiallyfor SANSOR, led the organizations staff when it has the backing of a resourcefulin helping member companies navigate and effective national seed association. those early days of the pandemic. SANSORRiaan Roselt is managing director for South When COVID-19 hit South Africa, weissued its member companies a simpleAfricas DLF Seeds and chairman of the were right on the doorstep of plantingtemplate they could fill out and utilize toSouth African National Seed Organization season. At that stage, farmers were gettingensure they could function as an essential(SANSOR).ready for sowing cool season crops andbusiness.needed seed to be delivered to farms. WeOnce the lockdown went into force, weon going forward. As the South African were very worried that the distribution ofimmediately started to communicate witheconomy struggles to recover from this, seed could be disrupted due to restrictionsmembers. one focus area should be encouraging being imposed to combat the spread of theWe had as many as three emails goinglocal buying and producing more seed lo-virus, Roselt says.out every day saying, This is where we arecally, Roselt says. Thankfully, DLF Seeds had SANSOR toat, this is the discussion that is happen- Since 1989, SANSOR has been the na-fall back on, as did 80 other seed companies. ing, she says.tional designated authority to manage and SANSOR has served the needs of theWe guided anyone and everyoneexecute all functions pertaining to seed South African seed industry for 32 years.whichever way we could, which was reallycertification on behalf of government. Today, it supports its 118 members ingood for our standing in the communityThat means it is in the perfect position various ways: from maintaining local andand our reputation at an internationalto help guide our industry through the international seed certification standards,level. crucial months and years to come, Roselt to ensuring that seed is produced, multi- While South Africa eased its lockdownadds. We are fortunate that the national plied and marketed according to legislatedrestrictions this fall, like many other coun- crop could be established successfully, standards and systems. tries around the world, it continues to dealand favourable climatic conditions have There was so much fake news out there,with the effects of the novel coronavirus.resulted in South Africa expecting a record nobody really knew how the seed businessThe pandemic has really opened ourharvest in the midst of this crisis.would be affected by COVID-19. SANSOReyes to what our industry needs to focusFor more information visit www.sansor.org.DECEMBER 2020SEEDWORLD.COM /57'