Diversifying export markets applies to SA’s agriculture too

We do not emphasise enough the critical role of exports in driving SA’s agricultural growth. If one looks at the past three decades, this sector has more than doubled in value and volume.

- Wandile Sihlobo

The improvements in genetics and cultivars, among other interventions, are the primary catalysts that delivered this growth. But another critical catalyst is exports. We now export roughly half of what we produce in South Africa’s agriculture, which was nearly $14-billion in 2024.

We are not even at capacity in terms of agricultural production, since we have about 2.5 million hectares of government-owned land that was previously commercially farmed but is now suboptimally used. We also have capacity in the former homelands to increase agricultural output.

When this land in the underused government farms and the former homelands is finally released to deserving black farmers, with title deeds, paired with affordable finance and partnerships from commodity associations, we will be able to drive the agricultural output to new heights. But we won't be in a position to absorb that output in the domestic market.