South Africa's agricultural sector boasts impressive export figures and employment growth, yet farmers fear global instability, disease outbreaks and rising input costs.
The mood among South African farmers and agribusinesses remains sour. To some, this may be surprising, as the region has recently recorded positive economic performance.
For example, in the first quarter of 2026, South Africa's agricultural exports totaled $3.7 billion, up 11% from the same period a year earlier. The improved exports were the result of both higher export volumes and higher commodity prices across a variety of products.
We have favorable production conditions for field crops. For example, in the current 2025-26 production season, South Africa is expected to have a record summer grain and oilseed harvest of 21.1 million tonnes, up 3% year on year. This production figure includes maize, sunflower seeds, soybeans, peanuts, sorghum and dry beans.
What should I follow WhatsApp | Linkedin for latest headlines
The poultry industry is also performing well and benefiting from affordable feed (corn and soybean prices are 10%-30% lower than a year ago).
We are also seeing strong volumes in fruits and vegetables, although in the second quarter of the year, we saw little impact of the recent floods on this sector.
The most important thing is that the agriculture sector continues to show strong performance in the GDP data. Agricultural gross value-added increased quarter-on-quarter (seasonally adjusted) to 3.9% in the first quarter of 2026, up 0.4% from…