By Amy Musgrave
Black farmers must be included in commercial agriculture, which means that they need land, according to President Cyril Ramaphosa.
Writing in his weekly newsletter, the president said on Monday that the ongoing land reform process and release of government land would benefit emerging farmers and ensure that they too add to the growth of South Africa’s farming economy.
He said that this effort required multi-sectoral collaboration. The Land Bank and other commercial financiers would need to collaborate by providing capital, and organised agriculture could help by deploying the necessary training.
The president was writing on the importance of agriculture for the economy.
“The farming sector of South Africa is vital to our growth agenda. It has shown resilience in the past and will likely continue along this encouraging and promising path. It will, therefore, be critical that the sector embraces the onward march of transformation,” Ramaphosa said.
“It is in the interests of all South Africans that we have an agricultural sector that is representative and inclusive, that contributes to the growth of our economy and that produces the food our country needs.”
According to studies, black farmers produce between 5% and 10% of agricultural output in the country.
Ramaphosa said that the goods and services produced across the agricultural value chain underpinned the country’s food security and accounted for a significant portion of South Africa’s exports.
According to data from the Agbiz, South Africa’s agricultural exports reached a record $13.7 billion last year. These agricultural exports are diverse, with 44% of products exported to other African countries, 21% to Asia and the Middle East, 19% to the European Union and 6% to the Americas.
The value and volume of the farming sector has more than doubled since the dawn of democracy in 1994.
The president said this was testimony to the ongoing efforts of both government and industry to ensure that South Africa products accessed as many export markets as possible.
Beyond the role of expanded export markets, agricultural economists have attributed the sector’s growth to government embracing science, which allowed the private sector to register better seed cultivars and genetics to boost productivity.
He said the sector remained ripe for investment because of its recognised growth prospects. In addition, the revenue the state collected from agricultural enabled the government to provide services to improve the lives of our citizens.
It is also a major employer. By the end of 2024, approximately 924,000 people worked directly in agriculture and over 200,000 worked elsewhere in the agriculture value chain.
Ramaphosa highlighted that the health and growth of the farming sector was vital to supporting small towns and keeping rural South Africa vibrant.
Given the critical role of agriculture, the government was working with all stakeholders to ensure the survival, sustainability and growth of this sector.
In collaboration with partners in the industry, it had undertaken growth-enhancing measures, including the poultry and sugar master plans, which culminated in the Agriculture and Agro-processing Masterplan in 2022.
The Agriculture Department had launched a blended finance instrument in collaboration with the Land Bank to help farmers who required capital to continue growing the sector.
As this labour-intensive sector expanded, more work opportunities would be created in the most vulnerable areas of the country, particularly rural areas. This in turn would support their economic rejuvenation.
Agriculture, like other sectors, was affected by municipal service delivery challenges, and by the poor state of key infrastructure such as roads, rail and ports. This constrained the delivery of agricultural goods to markets.
Ramaphosa said there was progress towards addressing the port and rail challenges, and several road transport and bulk water infrastructure projects were underway that would boost agricultural growth.
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