Are national fresh produce markets coming to an end?

National fresh produce markets are vital to food security in South Africa, providing a robust, transparent pricing system and a crucial service to buyers and sellers across the country. While widely successful in these aspects, fundamental problems in these markets are threatening the future of the industry, and they need to be addressed.

- Lindi Botha

The failings within the national fresh produce market system are serious and well-documented. They include ageing infrastructure, poor management, unhygienic practices, lack of security, and questionable finances. The question now is whether the success of the fresh produce industry as a whole is masking these problems, and how much longer the markets can stave off a collapse of the entire system.

Jaco Oosthuizen, CEO of RSA Group, is straightforward: he maintains that were it not for the strength of the industry as a whole, the country’s municipal market facilities might easily have gone the way of other struggling state-owned enterprises, which are currently paying a heavy price for a lack of upkeep.

“The country’s market network, despite its degradation, does a good job of servicing the needs of producers and buyers, which means the consumer has reliable access to fresh produce through retail and informal trade channels. South Africa’s markets also serve producers and buyers from neighbouring countries, and handle large volumes of imported produce in counter-seasons from countries like Spain, Morocco, Egypt and Israel. Our national fresh produce market system is therefore key to securing successful income for food producers.”

He adds that the markets also play a major role in national economic growth and development at both macro and micro levels, underpinning food security.

“These markets are of huge importance to all farmers, including back garden, weekend, rooftop, tunnel, one-hectare and mega farmers. They’re also the ideal mechanism to ensure that the country can distribute fresh produce to all its citizens, no matter where they live, at prices that are governed by supply and demand.”