OPINION: Essentially, what is brewing for agriculture is a perfect storm that threatens food certainty and our very ability to continue to grow locally into the future, writes Jaco Minnaar.
By Jaco Minnaar
THE AGRICULTURAL sector is facing a moment of significant peril – one perhaps not seen in recent history. And the decisions and actions (or inactions) of different stakeholders in the short- to medium-term will have serious repercussions for all South Africans, not just farmers and farming communities.
This is because the importance of the agricultural sector for our country cannot be overstated. The ability to grow local is central to keeping South Africans fed – and farming and its backward and forward value chain linkages are also vital employers in a country that needs employment opportunities desperately.
Yet the sector now faces a moment where numerous factors and pressures, some of which have been simmering for many years, as well as geopolitical realities and disasters beyond our control, have combined to put the sector and its constituents under immense pressure. Essentially, what is brewing for agriculture is a perfect storm that threatens food certainty and our very ability to continue to grow locally into the future.
Long neglected infrastructure – including roads, rail, port, water, rural policing and the electricity grid – have continued to decay with many reaching critical levels of failure in parts of the country. Continued policy uncertainty over inter alia expropriation without compensation has driven both lower levels of investment in the sector (because in farming your investment life is 10 to 15 years typically) and a loss of skilled farmers out of the sector – and neither of these negative consequences will contribute to greater inclusivity in agriculture, which remains a challenge.
Flooding in KwaZulu-Natal in April highlighted just how important environmental sustainability is, and together with the severe locust season also shined a light on the lack of knowledge, capacity, and resources to manage disasters properly.
The conflict in the Ukraine has seen input costs rise dramatically for fertiliser and fuel – this in a climate of generally higher overall input costs after the Covid-19 pandemic and the chaos it caused with global supply chains. Delving below the surface of this one challenge alone illustrates the complexity of the terrain today’s farmer’s operate in.
The 2022 BFAP Baseline Report notes that South Africa continues to be a net importer of fertiliser and given that among the most significant exporters of fertiliser are Russia and ally Belarus – both subject to sanctions. Couple with this the fact that China (the second biggest exporter of fertiliser) continues to experience supply chain disruptions related to its zero-tolerance policy towards Covid-19, one begins to understand the price and supply pressures facing South African farmers looking for this input. For each of challenges mentioned there is a similarly complex set of background factors which need to be navigated.
To ensure food certainty for South Africans, we will require growth in the sector that will see more people in employment, which means they too can access this food, and promote inclusion, because only growth can achieve this goal. The agricultural sector is ready to meet this moment, but we must urge our stakeholders across other sectors and the government to move rapidly to do the same..
The Agriculture and Agro-processing Masterplan has done well to identify key challenges to the sector. Its signing earlier this year is no doubt an achievement in terms of getting key role-players moving in the same direction toward more inclusive, competitive agricultural growth in South Africa. The Masterplan represents a comprehensive analysis of the issues facing the sector – as well as a vision for where to from here.
However, as AgriSA has noted before, Masterplans are not self-executing. The plan cannot be executed by one group or commodity alone – it’s going to take significant co-operation and agreement on core deliverables with implementation, planning and commitments.
Ultimately, all the sector’s stakeholders need to come together and co-operate to discuss the way forward – this is particularly pertinent given where the sector finds itself now. This is why AgriSA’s upcoming Congress, to be held on October 13-14, is a vital opportunity for the sector.
The congress, which will be held under the theme of “Growing Local”, will bring together a diverse set of stakeholders from within the sector.
Again, while the Masterplan has provided much of the diagnostic work, we are hopeful that the congress will be an arena for primary producers and other stakeholders to craft solutions together for the sector’s most pressing challenges.
Food certainty is vital not just for our generation, but must also be secured for our children. Given the constraints facing farmers, the upcoming congress is an opportunity to reach consensus and take action to secure this future.
* Jaco Minnaar is the president of AgriSA.
– BUSINESS REPORT
