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South Africa’s red meat industry, government, research institutions, universities, financiers, and technology providers will come together for the Agri X Fusion Red Meat Value Chain Collaboration Summit. The summit will take place in Pretoria on 15 and 16 September 2026.
Hosted at Silver Lakes Golf Club in Pretoria, the summit is the first initiative under the Agri X Fusion Industry-Academia Collaboration Event Series. This platform was established to better connect the considerable research, expertise, technology, and investment resources available in South Africa with the practical challenges and opportunities facing agricultural value chains.
From conversation to collaboration
Koos Nel, CEO of Agri X Group, says the objective is deliberately different from that of a conventional agricultural conference. “South Africa has exceptional industry expertise, universities, researchers, technology providers, and financial resources. The challenge is not necessarily the absence of capability. It is how we align these resources more effectively with the real priorities of our agricultural value chains.”
“The purpose of Agri X Fusion is therefore not simply to discuss the challenges. We want industry leaders to articulate their needs, bring the appropriate expertise and resources into the conversation and then create opportunities for the parties to collaborate on practical solutions.” The red meat value chain was selected as the first focus area because of its importance to South Africa’s food security, rural economy, employment, transformation, and export ambitions.
The economic environment
Dr Roelof Botha, renowned economist, will provide a macroeconomic overview of South Africa’s current economic environment. His address will highlight its relevance to the agricultural sector, as well as the opportunities and challenges shaping its future.
The summit comes at an important time for the agricultural sector, as stakeholders recognise that challenges such as biosecurity, competitiveness, market access, infrastructure, climate resilience, financing and technology adoption cannot be addressed effectively by individual organisations working in isolation.
A programme built around the industry’s priorities
Dewald Olivier, CEO of Red Meat Industry Services, will provide an industry perspective on the future state of the South African red meat value chain. He will outline the key priorities and challenges that need to be addressed.
The first day will then explore three interconnected areas that are critical to the future of the sector:
- Competitiveness, biosecurity and industry preparedness: Examining the industry’s ability to respond to animal health threats, improve resilience, and strengthen productivity.
- Market access, export growth, trade competitiveness and inclusive growth: Exploring what is required to expand domestic and international market opportunities and enable broader participation across the value chain.
- Financing growth, infrastructure and managing risk: Bringing financiers, development institutions, and industry leaders together to examine funding, investment, infrastructure, risk-management, and climate finance requirements.
These discussions will be complemented by an innovation, research and investment showcase. It will provide universities, research institutions, technology companies, and industry innovators with an opportunity to demonstrate capabilities and explore collaboration around identified industry needs. The day concludes with the Agri X Fusion collaboration platform, followed by an executive networking reception and dinner.
An opportunity to strengthen collaboration
The second day shifts the focus from identifying challenges to implementing strategies and solutions to combat them. The programme will be opened by Wandile Sihlobo, agricultural economist and the presidential envoy for agriculture and land, under the theme “From collaboration to implementation”. After Sihlobo’s presentation, sessions showcasing solutions, financing approaches, and practical collaboration opportunities to align on a project basis and implement will follow.
A central feature will be curated business matchmaking and collaboration sessions connecting participants with:
- Research partnerships.
- University–industry collaboration.
- Sponsor and commercial partnerships.
- Investment opportunities.
- Technology and innovation.
- Practical agricultural development initiatives.
Participants will be able to use the new Agri X Fusion digital collaboration platform to arrange one-on-one meetings and continue engagements beyond the summit. “This is an important distinction,” Nel says. “Success for us is not how many people attend or how many presentations are delivered. It is what happens afterwards, the research collaboration initiated, investment unlocked, technology adopted, partnerships created and ultimately the impact achieved in the value chain.”
An invitation to academia and research institutions
Agri X Fusion invites South African universities, research institutions, and researchers to participate. Research teams will have an opportunity to hear directly from industry role-players about their priorities, showcase relevant research and innovations, identify potential commercialisation opportunities, and establish relationships with industry leaders. Likewise, industry role-players will be able to raise challenges for which research, technology or specialist expertise may provide solutions.
The long-term strategy is to create a more effective interface in which industry demand can inform research priorities and existing research capabilities can be readily identified, accessed, and applied.
Industry participation and sponsorship
Agri X is also inviting producer organisations, agribusinesses, financial institutions, insurers, technology companies, logistics businesses, input suppliers, and other organisations operating across the agricultural value chain to participate. Organisations can engage as delegates, exhibitors, strategic partners, or sponsors. A limited number of partnership opportunities are available, ranging from platinum industry partner to exhibition packages, as well as customised opportunities aligned with particular areas of interest.
Sponsors will gain more than just event visibility. The intention is to involve partners in the broader collaboration process, providing opportunities to contribute expertise, engage directly with industry decision-makers, and participate in initiatives emerging from the summit.
Registration information
The Agri X Fusion Red Meat Value Chain Collaboration Summit takes place from 15 to 16 September 2026 at Silver Lakes Golf Club, Pretoria. Registration opens on 29 July 2026. Visit https://agrix-fusion.com to register. Registration costs R2 250 per person.
Interested participants are encouraged to register early, especially organisations that want to participate in the curated one-on-one collaboration and matchmaking sessions. For enquiries, registration and partnership opportunities, contact Jennifer Booth on 082 817 9184 or email at jennifer@jrpr.co.za. – Press release, Agri X Fusion
