Browse Data and Analysis

The enormous restraint on electricity generation and resulting power outages, locally known as load shedding, is emerging as a significant threat to South African agriculture. The cumulative hours of load shedding in the first seven months of 2022 already exceeds the annual record set in 2021.

The sharp upsurge in the cost of farming inputs for corn farmers in South Africa intensified the risk of production in a weather dependent industry, despite record-high commodity prices. As a result, Post forecasts that South Africa’s corn area will stay flat in marketing year 2022/23. However, South Africa should maintain its status as a net exporter of corn under normal weather conditions.

The South African retail food sector is well-developed and continues to expand into other African countries. In 2021, South African retail food sales totaled $40 billion, a 0.2 percent increase from 2020 as the South African economy began to recover from the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Due to unfavorable weather conditions, Post estimates a 14 percent drop in commercial corn area planted for the 2018/19 MY in South Africa.

South Africa`s production of grapefruit, oranges, tangerines/mandarins and lemons/limes is forecast to continue its strong growth in the 2018/19 MY, based on the increase in area planted....

The production area of genetically engineered (GE) corn, soybean and cotton in South Africa is estimated at around 2.7 million hectares.