Breaking new ground South Africa’s agricultural sector is growing BY FIONA WAKELIN
Two years ago, the South African agriculture sector
had been shrinking for four consecutive quarters -
contracting by 7% in 2019. In
2020 in the first quarter it grew by 28% with good rains and
bumper crops. By August 2020 the National Crop Estimates
Committee (CEC) confirmed that SA’s total summer grain and
oilseed output (17.85 million
tons) was one of the largest on record– and 34% higher than
2019, with the total maize crop
of 15.54 million tons being 38% larger than 2019. The citrus
industry is also smiling, with
South Africa exporting around
2.15 million tonnes in 2020 - up 19% from the previous year.
Favourable weather conditions in South
level of the Agbiz/IDC ACI since the
that farmers have been able to plant
show that South Africa’s agricultural
Africa over the last year have meant
on time and increase area plantings for
various crops. Higher commodity prices have also improved bank balances,
second quarter of 2014. These results sector will, optimistically, experience another year of robust growth.
leading to improved sentiment
“In volume terms, South Africa’s
And, the sector is set to continue
19 percent since 2010. Encouragingly,
to improve with the support of
government policies, including the Master Plan on Agriculture and Agro-processing.
According to the Agricultural Business Chamber (Agbiz), the Agbiz/IDC
Agribusiness Confidence Index (ACI)
improved from 61 points in the fourth quarter of 2020 to 64 in the first
quarter of 2021. This is the highest
agricultural production has grown by
this expansion has occurred across all subsectors of agriculture and agro-
processing value, that is, horticulture (up 70 percent), animal products (up
43 percent), field crops (up 22 percent) and agro-processing (up 13 percent), according to data from the Bureau for Economic Research (BER) and
Bureau for Food and Agricultural Policy (BFAP).” - Wandile Sihlobo, Chief Economist, Agbiz
And from a citrus
perspective the news is just as good.
“The Citrus Growers
Association of Southern
Africa (CGA) is excited to announce that the South
African citrus industry will likely break all previous
export season records with an estimated 158.7 million cartons in 2021.
If the estimate is reached, it would represent a third consecutive season of
record export volumes,
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