A New, Post-Pandemic Equilibrium For Agriculture

Due to agriculture being declared an essential service during the COVID-19 outbreak, it should not suffer the same level of trade disruptions as other sectors. However, according to Dr Sifiso Ntombela, chief economist at the National Agricultural Marketing Council, the impact of the pandemic will be exacerbated by the fact that agricullture was already posting negative growth before the outbreak.

- Dr Sifiso Ntombela

For every South African, surviving the coronavirus disease (COVID- 19) pandemic is the only agenda item in the short term. COVID-19 is affecting every part of our society, including the country’s health, education, social and economic systems, thus threatening all livelihoods.

Within the agricultural fraternity, there is growing uncertainty about how the COVID- 19 crisis will affect the structure of the sector and whether the distribution of food will remain normal. Despite South Africa being a net exporter of agricultural products, about 14,8 million of its citizens go to bed hungry every day, which weakens the capacity of their immune systems to cope with COVID- 19.

The disease has placed the importance of saving human lives at the center of top-level decision-making in the country.

Farmers and farmworkers, who produce food, have received essential recognition status similar to that of health practitioners, indicating a renewed interest in the sustainability and inclusivity of food production, processing, and distribution in South Africa.

The Tipping Point?