Agriculture Minister John Steenhuisen has called on Southern African Development Community (SADC) Member States to urgently accelerate regional cooperation on food security, fertiliser regulation, and animal disease control amid mounting economic and climate pressures across the region.
Addressing the SADC Joint Meeting of Ministers Responsible for Agriculture, Food Security, Fisheries and Aquaculture in Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe, on Friday, 29 May 2026, Steenhuisen warned that fragmented agricultural systems and delayed reforms were increasing the vulnerability of Southern African countries to global shocks.
The Minister noted that the meeting took place during a period of considerable geopolitical and economic volatility.
“Across the world, we are seeing disruptions to supply chains, rising input costs — particularly fertiliser prices — inflationary pressures, and growing competition over strategic resources. These global shocks are increasingly intersecting with climate-related disasters, including droughts, floods and disease outbreaks in ways that directly affect African agriculture and food systems,” Steenhuisen said.
Although regional assessments indicate some improvement in cereal production following last season’s severe drought, Steenhuisen said an estimated 58 million people across Southern African Development Community (SADC) Member States still face acute food insecurity due to issues around access and affordability.
“This reality demands urgency from all of us,” he said.
The three-day meeting, which started on 27 May 2026, is aimed at discussing regional issues to advance food and nutrition security, and the blue economy in the SADC region.
Steenhuisen was chairing the meeting, in his capacity as the Chairperson of the Joint Committee of SADC Ministers of Agriculture and Food Security, Fisheries and Aquaculture.
Steenhuisen emphasised that Harmonisation of the Fertiliser Regulatory Framework across SADC can no longer be delayed.
“We cannot continue entering each planting season fragmented by unharmonised standards, duplicative registration systems and regulatory bottlenecks that unnecessarily increase costs for farmers and slow regional trade,” he said.
Steenhuisen urged Member States to fast-track the proposed Memorandum of Understanding on the Harmonisation of Fertiliser Regulatory Frameworks.
“The proposed Memorandum of Understanding on the Harmonisation of Fertiliser Regulatory Frameworks is urgently needed and, in South Africa’s view, should be fast-tracked well before 2027. This is not simply a technical regulatory exercise, it is a food security imperative, a productivity imperative and increasingly a strategic resilience imperative for the entire region,” Steenhuisen said.
FMD posed major threat to livestock production
The Minister also warned that Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD) outbreaks across Southern Africa posed a major threat to livestock production, rural livelihoods, trade and regional food systems.
According to Steenhuisen, 11 SADC member states have reported outbreaks.
“The scale of the current FMD outbreaks across Southern Africa should concern every one of us. For many families across our region, livestock are not simply commercial assets. They are stores of wealth, sources of nutrition, draft power, school fees and household survival.
“When animal disease spreads unchecked, the impact reaches far beyond the farm gate. It affects food affordability, market access, export earnings and economic stability across the entire region,” the Minister said.
Steenhuisen said South Africa supported the development of a regional coordination framework for FMD control, including stronger surveillance systems, harmonised movement controls, improved information sharing and coordinated vaccination efforts.
He also supported proposals for the establishment of a SADC regional FMD vaccine bank, saying preparedness would be less costly than prolonged outbreaks and delayed responses.
“Animal diseases do not respect borders. A weakness in one part of the region quickly becomes a vulnerability for all of us,” he said.
The Minister further called for a stronger “One Health” approach that integrates animal health, human health, ecosystems and food systems into regional disease management strategies.
Steenhuisen said the broader transformation of African agriculture under the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP) and the Kampala Declaration must move beyond “reporting exercises” and focus on practical delivery.
“For SADC, this means moving beyond fragmented implementation towards practical regional delivery,” he said, citing the need for expanded agricultural trade, climate resilience, modernised sanitary and phytosanitary systems, irrigation investment and greater opportunities for women and young people.”
Steenhuisen reaffirmed South Africa’s commitment to working with SADC member states, regional institutions and international partners to strengthen agricultural resilience and food security across Southern Africa. – SAnews.gov.za
