April/May 1997
Glickman Tours U.S. Wheat
Training Facility in South Africa
Library
Home
E-Mail
Back
Prairie Grains is the
official publication of
the Minnesota
Association of
Wheat Growers,
North Dakota Grain
Growers Association,
South Dakota Wheat,
Inc., and the
Minnesota Barley
Growers Association.
Secretary of Agriculture Dan Glickman visited a U.S. Wheat Associates-sponsored training facility in South Africa recently. In the photo to the right, Glickman meets a bakery owner in Kayamandi Township near the city of Cape Town.
USDA Secretary Dan Glickman got a first-hand look at work being conducted by U.S. Wheat Associates (USW) to increase exports of U.S. wheat to South Africa during his recent visit to the country.
Glickman, who was in South Africa to participate in a U.S./South Africa binational committee meeting, toured a USW-sponsored bakers training facility located in one of the major township areas outside Cape Town. Township areas now account for 92 percent of South Africa's bread consumption. The facility is geared toward training personnel from small bakeries, who in the past have not had access to adequate training facilities and programs.
During the binational meeting, Glickman announced that negotiations with South African Agriculture Minister Derek Hanekom resulted in South Africa agreeing to accept wheat from Karnal bunt quarantine areas that pass two Karnal bunt tests with negative results. Following the discovery of Karnal bunt in Arizona in March of 1996, and the discovery that a shipment of wheat bound for South Africa contained Karnal bunt, South Africa announced a temporary ban on U.S. wheat imports.
USW then hosted a trade team of South Africa government and private officials to the U.S. to view the steps being taken to control Karnal bunt.
During Glickman's recent visit, USW also hosted a reception for Glickman attended by various U.S. and South African government officials as well as a visiting USW team of American wheat growers.
South Africa is an important and growing market for U.S. wheat, with wheat demand in the country expected to grow approximately 6% each year. In marketing year 1995-96, South Africa imported approximately 455,600 metric tons of U.S. wheat.
USW conducts export promotion activities in 130 countries and is supported in part by wheat checkoff dollars administered by the Minnesota Wheat Research and Promotion Council, North Dakota Wheat Commission, and South Dakota Wheat Commission.
OTHER U.S. WHEAT ASSOCIATES NEWS
USW Calls on Armenia
USW/Rotterdam Regional Vice President Vince Peterson and USW/Moscow Marketing Assistant Valentina Choustova recently traveled to Armenia to pay a first-time USW visit to the country. Armenia, a former Soviet Union (FSU) country, has struggled along with FSU countries, and has been forced to rely upon heavy doses of international assistance to support wheat deliveries. Domestic wheat production is small and the output is generally consumed locally, making the urban centers quite deficit in supply. The Armenian Ministry for Food and Agriculture has created a trade division "Armgrain" to handle wheat purchases, and USW will work closely with Armgrain to train and educate its staff.
Subway Shops Open in South Africa
When the first Subway sandwich shop opened in Cape Town, South Africa last year, it did so with a little help from USW/Cape Town Technical/Marketing Consultant Bennie Beretta, who assisted in the final formulation of the restaurant's bread rolls. Since its December opening, Subway has proved to be a great success in Cape Town. USW also provided assistance to Fifers Bakery and Hotbake Rich in Johannesburg, South Africa. The Rich factory is near completion and will produce a range of Rich's frozen bakery products. Beretta also is helping the South Africa Chamber of Baking in Pretoria, South Africa, form a Small Bakers Association to serve the needs of the 6,000 small bakeries in South Africa.
Baking Institute Opens in Sri Lanka
The Masterline Baking Institute recently opened in Sri Lanka with assistance from U.S. Wheat Associates (USW). USW assisted the Unilever Ceylon Company in designing the baking institute's layout, training curriculum and manuals and bakery training for its instructors. Sri Lanka was the tenth leading market for U.S. wheat in marketing year 1995-96, importing 28.6 million bushels of U.S. wheat.