I recently joined Peter Bruce for a wide-ranging conversation about South Africa’s Agriculture and Agro-processing Master Plan and the ANC’s policy views on agriculture and land.
The rising interest rates and various input costs imply that South African agriculture and agribusiness will, in the coming months, have to be focused on cost management even more than has been already been the case.
The world has been in a period of surging food prices for several reasons. These include drought in South America and Indonesia, rising demand for grains and oilseeds in China, and, more recently, the disruption of the global grains and oilseeds exports following the Russia-Ukraine war.
Rail and road network, water and electricity supply and the efficient functioning of municipalities need to be addressed to ensure South African agriculture’s sustainability.
In its third estimates for the 2021/22 season, the CEC lifted its maize and sunflower seed harvest estimates by 0,3% and 0,4%, respectively, from March figures to 14,72 million tonnes (down 10% y/y) and 963 000 tonnes (up 42% y/y). Meanwhile, the soybean harvest estimate was unchanged at 1,89 million tonnes (down 1% y/y).
Since the Russia-Ukraine war started on the 24th of February, the global grains and oilseed supplies have remained a major focus for countries across the globe. The prices of essential commodities such as maize, wheat, palm oil, sunflowers seed, and soybeans have increased notably over the past few months.
The months of April and October are critical periods in the seasonal cycle of SA’s agriculture. These months correspond with summer and winter crops’ planting and harvesting periods.
Poor biosecurity affects issues from land reform to maize marketing and beef exports.
Wandile Sihlobo is the Chief Economist of the Agricultural Business Chamber of South Africa (Agbiz) and the author of “Finding Common Ground: Land, Equity, and Agriculture.”
Sihlobo is Senior Lecturer Extraordinary at the Department of Agricultural Economics at Stellenbosch University.
He is also a Visiting Research Fellow at the Wits School of Governance, University of the Witwatersrand.
He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Agricultural Economics from the University of Fort Hare and a Master of Science degree in Agricultural Economics from Stellenbosch University.
Sihlobo was appointed as a member of President Cyril Ramaphosa’s Presidential Economic Advisory Council in 2019 after serving on the Presidential Expert Advisory Panel on Land Reform and Agriculture between 2018 and 2019.
He is also a member of the Council of Statistics of South Africa (Stats SA) and a Commissioner at the International Trade Administration Commission of South Africa (ITAC).
Sihlobo is a columnist for Business Day and Farmers Weekly magazine.