Who are we?

The Africa Farm Management Association (AFMA) association is a society of people who are directly and indirectly involved in the agricultural sector. This includes individual and corporate producers, managers, advisors, researchers, teachers, policy-makers, suppliers, farming and marketing organizations and agribusiness companies associated with agriculture, horticulture and rural enterprise. The AFMA is organised and co-ordinated by a Council, with members drawn from around Africa. To date, AFMA has held over 12 international conferences across Africa over the years. The venues that hosted the most recent AFMA conferences are as follows;

Nairobi, Kenya (2012, 2021)

Abuja, Nigeria (2007, 2018)

Cape Town, South Africa (2014),

Pointe aux Piments, Mauritius (2016)

During the 12th AFMA Conference in Nairobi Kenya in November 2021, it was agreed that its 13th Conference will be held in South Africa in November 2023. The Eastern Cape Province was selected to host this year’s conference. That is how the AFMA executive committee came to approach us at Fort Hare and requested Sifiso Mdletshe (former HOD and Lecturer in the Department of Agricultural Economics and Extension) to chair the conference’s Local Organising Committee (LOC). He agreed to chair the committee because he strongly feels that the conference will benefit agricultural and tourism stakeholders in South Africa, but most importantly, in our province. This is because the conference will bring together all role players in agriculture, both local and international.

The objectives of AFMA are to:

  • Advance the knowledge and understanding of farm business management and to exchange ideas and information about farm management theory and practice throughout the continent of Africa and the world.
  • Improve cooperation among stakeholders in farm management with an interest in African issues at the regional and international levels.
  • Promote capacity building, research, policy dialogue and interest of Farm Management in Africa.
  • Contribute to the wider objective of agricultural productivity in effort to reduce poverty, enhance food security and sustainable use of farm resources in Africa.