China temporarily suspends wool trade with South Africa
One of the less discussed, yet an important agricultural commodity is wool. But it has now surfaced as a key concern following the suspension of South Africa’s all greasy wool imports by the Chinese authorities because of the foot-and-mouth disease outbreak earlier in...
Troubling obsession about smallholders
There is a troubling obsession in our society of wanting to create a class of ‘smallholder farmers’ through the process of land reform. Why should land reform beneficiaries be smallholders, which by and large is peasantry, and not afforded an opportunity to run...
Changing weather patterns a challenge for South African farmers
Last month I painted a bleak picture of SA’s grain and oilseed crop conditions due to the dryness of the central and western parts of the country. So it is only fair that I present an update after good rains in the first two weeks of February. Crop conditions have...
South Africa’s peanut plantings at the lowest level in 83 years
Although I use peanut butter almost daily, for some reason I had not looked at its production pipeline in the past couple of months until today when I received a call from a Zambian trader looking to export peanuts (groundnuts) to South Africa. This prompted me to do...
Zimbabwe’s maize harvest not in good shape
It is always difficult to get a good handle of Zimbabwe’s maize production data. I tend to rely more on the International Grains Council and United States Department of Agriculture for a better picture of crop conditions there, as they have their people on the...
Who is the Cupid of Africa?
OK folks, it is Valentine’s Day! This means that chocolate will be on the cards across the world as a romantic gesture. Therefore, annual chocolate sales could partially inform us a bit about the ‘romantic’ status of each country. Before I prove my hypothesis, let’s...
Growing competition for land between agriculture and human settlement in rural South Africa
In December 2018 I set myself a goal to travel to a few places across the Eastern Cape so I could write articles about the province’s tourism prospects. The travel, however, led me to something I had been seeing but hadn’t really taken time to think about — the...
South Africa’s agricultural exports grew by 7% y/y in 2018
In 2018, South Africa’s agricultural exports grew by 7% y/y to US$10.6 billion, a record level in a dataset starting from 2001. This was underpinned by increased exports of oranges, grapes, wine, maize, apples, wool, lemons, mandarins and pears, amongst other products. Over the same period, imports increased marginally to US$6.7 billion. The key imported products were rice, wheat, offal, palm oil, whiskey, live cattle and oilcakes for animal feed. Overall, this subsequently led to a 21% y/y increase in South Africa’s agricultural trade balance to a record US$3.9 billion.
Untapped potential in agriculture in SA President’s crosshairs
Agriculture featured prominently in the State of the Nation Address (SONA) by President Cyril Ramaphosa on 07 February 2019. The focus was the sector’s ability to absorb labour, and also untapped opportunities to ensure inclusive, export-led growth. I have previously...