Agriculture Minister John Steenhuisen has called for urgent reforms to unlock investment in South Africa’s agricultural sector, warning that persistent constraints, including weak infrastructure, biosecurity failures, and policy uncertainty, are limiting the industry’s full growth potential.
The Minister was speaking during an Investment Opportunity Commission on Agritech and Food System Innovation moderated by the Presidential Envoy on Agriculture and Land, Wandile Sihlobo, on the sidelines of the South Africa Investment Conference (SAIC) on Tuesday.
Steenhuisen said the sector has shown strong recent performance but it requires targeted interventions to sustain momentum and drive job creation.
“The last four quarters have shown very clearly the growth potential of agriculture and agro-processing,” Steenhuisen said, citing a 17% contribution to Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and a 10% year-on-year increase in exports.
He highlighted high-performing subsectors such as the citrus, deciduous fruits, and nuts, but warned that logistical inefficiencies, particularly at ports, are constraining further expansion.
“These sectors could grow by up to 5% in the medium term if ports and rail systems are able to move products efficiently to markets.”
Steenhuisen also raised concern about deteriorating biosecurity, which has led to disease outbreaks such as Foot-and-Mouth Disease, restricting access to international markets for livestock producers.
“We are seeing the opposite trend in livestock, where markets are shrinking due to biosecurity challenges. We need to rebuild that ecosystem urgently.”
A key opportunity lies in agro-processing, which the Minister said remains underdeveloped despite its potential to significantly boost value addition and exports.
South Africa was exporting raw products when it could be adding value locally. “That is where the real opportunity lies,” he said.
Misunderstood
Adding an investment perspective, Director at PIC, Thabi Nkosi, said the sector remains misunderstood by investors, particularly in its diversity beyond primary agriculture.
“We still have a lot of work to do in positioning agriculture as a resilient and innovative sector,” Nkosi said, pointing to opportunities in climate-smart technologies and water innovation.
She identified policy uncertainty, infrastructure challenges, and regulatory barriers as major deterrents to investment.
“Investors need clarity on issues such as biofuels policy, land reform, and water rights. Without that certainty, capital will hesitate,” she said.
Building resilience
Global agribusiness leader Jai Shroff emphasised the need to build farmer resilience in the face of climate change, describing it as one of the most pressing challenges facing the sector.
“A resilient farmer can invest in better technologies, and climate change is a huge challenge for the sector. Today, we are really looking at different ways to be able to drive this transition, where we can really make farmers more resilient.
“We are competing with countries around the world which have a lot of money and can throw money at agriculture when they have challenges, but in developing countries like India, Africa, etc., it's a lot more difficult,” Shroff said.
Shroff added that sustainable practices such as carbon sequestration and biofuel production could unlock new income streams.
He argued that farmers should be incentivised for environmentally sustainable practices, which could be monetised and contribute to global decarbonisation efforts.
Steenhuisen said expanding export markets remains central to the sector’s growth strategy, particularly in Asia and the Middle East, where demand for South African agricultural products is rising.
“We have been staggered by the demand in markets like East and Southeast Asia,” the Minister said, noting progress in gaining access for products such as grapes, apples, and cherries.
READ | South Africa’s first table grapes shipment arrives in the Philippines
He added that export growth has a direct impact on employment, with increased revenues enabling farmers to expand operations and hire more workers.
The panel agreed that unlocking investment in agriculture will require a coordinated effort to address structural constraints, improve policy certainty, and scale up agro-processing, positioning the sector as a key driver of economic growth and job creation. – SAnews.gov.za
