This week Sharon Bolel Chemical Marketing announced that was wholly acquired by CJP Chemicals on 11 November 2011.

The Technical Steering Committee of the Green Building Council of SA (GBCSA) announced its resolve to withdraw the Mat-7 PVC minimisation credit from the Green Star SA rating system towards the end of 2011.

Two Oceans wine has light-weighted its packaging to 350g glass bottles - 110g lighter than before - representing a saving of 120kg of carbon equivalent emissions for every 1,000 bottles produced.

A study published in the British Journal of Nutrition indicates that orange sweet potato (OSP) is effective in providing vitamin A to malnourished women and children in Mozambique, where the prevalence of vitamin A deficiency (VAD) is very high.

The Southern Africa Trade Hub (SATH) recently launched the Southern Africa Baobab Initiative - funded through a one-year USAID grant of $99,950 (R802,415) - which will allow it to work with PhytoTrade Africa, the southern African natural products trade association, to assist the baobab sector in penetrating the US market.

The National Agricultural Exports Development Board’s (NAEB’s) new strategy to increase the country’s revenue from tea exports includes establishing five tea factories (to be operational by 2014), and expanding the area under cultivation by 16,588ha by 2017.

The International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) recently released two new rice varieties - IR77713 and IR79511 - to boost production in lowland areas of the country (800-900 metres above sea level) and meet the rapidly growing demand in Burundi.

Groundnut farmers now have access to the National Semi-Arid Resource Research Institute Serere’s (Nassari’s) seven new varieties.

The SABMiller Brewery established near Juba in 2009 plans to build a new brewhouse and packaging line to accommodate its doubling of the production of beer, soft drinks and mineral water from 250,000 hectolitres to 500,000 hectolitres.

Dr Akinwumi Adesina, the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, recently told reporters that the federal government will complete construction of 14 rice mills with a processing capacity of 420,000t during 2012. He said that three of the mills - located in Ebonyi, Niger and Kebbi states - will have a processing capacity of 90,000t and be completed in February.

Nigeria’s Trade and Investment Minister, Olusegun Aganga recently announced that it his ministry had signed a N414bn (R20.54bn) agreement with local firm Global Biofuels Limited to build 15 integrated biofuel plants.

According to a new report by Markets and Markets, the food preservatives sector will experience a compound annual growth rate of 2.5% over the next five years, reaching $2.5bn (R20bn) by 2016.

A new report released by the University of Victoria ranks eco-labels intended to distinguish seafood produced with less damage to the environment.

Poultry prices are expected to increase by at least 10% this festive season due to increased demand.

Investec has reached an agreement with the European Investment Bank (EIB) to establish a 100m Euro (R1.07bn) renewable energy funding facility to promote clean energy generation and energy efficiency initiatives in line with the government’s recent Green Economy Accord.

In a demonstration of its commitment to increase bilateral trade and investment between the two countries, Brazil hosted a trade mission to SA from 28-30 November.

Nampak Divfood, a manufacturer of food cans, aluminium aerosols, general line cans and decorative tinware, recently won the SABS (South African Bureau of Standards) Chairperson’s Award for 2011.

Four herb and spice grinders containing Fairtrade-certified ingredients from India, which are mixed and packed in SA, are now being sold in Woolworths stores.

Namib Mills has officially opened its N$85m pasta plant in Windhoek, which can produce 700kg of short forms like macaroni and 400kg of long forms like spaghetti per hour.