Tough decisions needed to sustain agricultural growth

In the face of severe budget contraints in the public sector and more pressing priorities on National Treasury's plate, policy practitioners may need some innovative financial models

- Dr Sifiso Ntombela

Over the past three decades, South African agriculture has endured a series of policy and structural reforms that transformed it into a deregulated, liberalised, and export-oriented sector.

This journey has yielded a sector that is resilient and prosperous. It has also played a significant role in job creation and foreign earnings, contributing almost 6% to total employment in 2025.

The largest agriculture activity is livestock production, which contributes roughly 42% to total agricultural production value.

DISEASE OUTBREAKS

In the past decade, there has been an unprecedented number of disease outbreaks that has elevated the risk of producing animals and animal products.

Foot-and-mouth disease, which affects cloven-hoofed animals like cattle, sheep, and goats, now occurs in seven of the nine provinces in South Africa.

Avian influenza (bird flu) occurs in almost all the provinces and causes huge losses in the poultry industry.

Trade incentive instruments like import rebates were instituted to safeguard food security, and assist with stabilisation of local poultry meat prices.