On April 27, we celebrated Freedom Day, commemorating the first post-apartheid elections in South Africa. We are now roughly 31 years into South Africa’s democracy, and many have written extensively about the country’s progress since the dawn of democracy.
It is sufficient to say that, while daily challenges can often leave one feeling despondent, collectively, we have made significant progress in improving the country’s economic conditions.
As individuals, we are, on average, better off by roughly one and a half times in monetary terms.
Of course, the gains would have been much better had we not been hobbled by state capture, among other things.
The agricultural sector, which some have portrayed as a victim of the democratic transition in South Africa, has made enormous progress over time, contributing significantly to the country’s overall economic growth. The sector has more than doubled in value and volume terms since 1994.
This expansion was broadly shared across all major subsectors of the South African farming economy, including horticulture, field crops, and livestock. (For those interested in the details, my colleagues at the Bureau for Food and Agricultural Policy have done a neat analysis of the sector’s progress accessible here.)
Catalysts for South Africa’s agricultural growth
Amongst other interventions, there are two major catalysts behind the sector’s progress.
First, South Africa has adopted technological advancements in agriculture as a means to drive productivity. This entails improved genetics, seed cultivars, vaccines, agrochemicals and fertilisers, amongst other interventions. The better farming skills also help immensely.
Second, the growing emphasis on agricultural trade has been a key driver of progress. South Africa has seen growth in its agricultural exports over time, reaching a record US$13,7 billion in 2024. South Africa is now ranked the world’s 32nd largest agricultural exporter, the only African country in the top 40 in terms of value.
The boom in exports was facilitated by the range of trading agreements the South African government secured over the past decades, the most important ones being with African countries, Europe, the Americas and some Asian countries.
The African continent and Europe now account for approximately two-thirds of South Africa’s agricultural exports, while Asia is also becoming an increasingly important market.
Food security gains
The increase in agricultural output over time is also a major contributor to South Africa’s ranking of 59th out of 113 countries in the Global Food Security Index, making it the most food-secure country in Sub-Saharan Africa.
Admittedly, boasting about this ranking when millions of South Africans go to bed hungry every day may ring hollow. We have a serious food insecurity challenge at the household level in South Africa.
The lack of access to food that many South Africans face is primarily due to income poverty challenges, rather than a lack of availability resulting from low agricultural output, as is the case in other parts of Africa.
In essence, we need to ensure that there is employment and that households have sufficient income to purchase food, or implement various interventions to support them, while being cognizant of the fiscal constraints the country faces.
Robust employment
Even with the adoption of technology that catalyses agricultural productivity improvements, employment in South Africa’s agriculture has remained robust. For example, there were about 922,000 people employed in the industry in 1994, according to data from Stats SA, including seasonal and permanent labour.
While the share of seasonal and regular labour changed over time, broad employment conditions remained vibrant. As of the last quarter of 2024, approximately 924,000 people were employed in primary agriculture.
We have seen more encouraging employment conditions also within the value chain. Notably, the wages have also improved over time.
Inclusivity in South Africa’s agriculture
The agricultural progress of the last 31 years is admirable and provides a solid foundation for further expansion, with a clear focus on enhancing inclusivity. As I argued in my book, “A Country of Two Agricultures”,
“Nearly three decades after the dawn of democracy, SA has remained a country of ‘two agricultures’. On the one hand, we have a subsistence, primarily non-commercial and black farming segment; on the other, we have predominantly commercial and white farmers.”
The book adds that:
“The democratic government’s corrective policies and programmes to unify the sector and build an inclusive agricultural economy have suffered failures since 1994. The private sector has also not provided many successful partnership programmes to foster the inclusion of black farmers in commercial production at scale. It is no surprise that institutions such as the National Agricultural Marketing Council estimate that black farmers account for less than 10%, on average, of commercial agricultural production in SA.”
This lacklustre performance by black farmers in commercial agriculture cannot be blamed solely on historical legacies. The democratic government has a lot to account for in this failure.
Notably, black farmers account for approximately 10% of South Africa’s commercial agricultural output. Still, as I argued in the book;
“What we can also not ignore is the anecdotal evidence pointing to a rise of black farmers in some corners of SA. We see this in field crops, horticulture and livestock in provinces such as Free State, Western Cape, Eastern Cape and other regions.”
Concluding remarks
I have decided to revisit these points because, amid the current climate where some argue that the South African farming sector is under siege, it is easy to fall for such narratives and lose sight of the progress South Africa is making in this critical sector of the economy.
As I highlighted in my book, “A Country of Two Agricultures”, South Africa has great potential to increase the “agricultural pie” by bringing in more new entrant farmers, utilising, as a starting point, much of the government’s underutilised agricultural land of roughly 2.5 million hectares. This land would need to be released with titles to appropriately selected individuals. This can be paired with blended finance support and leaning on the training and support of commodity associations.
The expansion of agricultural activity would bring much-needed jobs in rural South Africa, while also improving the economic vitality and inclusivity. This could be an essential step for this decade to close the gap between the current two agricultural sectors in South Africa.
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