Browse Data and Analysis

The area under apple, pears, and table grape cultivation in South Africa has grown steadily over the past decade, driven by ongoing investments into the deciduous fruit sector on relatively high earnings from export markets. However, the expansion in apple, pears, and table grape production is expected to alleviate in marketing year (MY) 2022/23, despite the production of record crops in MY 2021/22.

The current labor disputes at Transnet, South Africa’s state-owed port, rail and pipeline authority, have caused severe staff shortages at ports resulting in a significant slowdown of port operations and caused the company to declare fore majeure.

South Africa’s food service sector generated revenues valued at US$3.5 billion in 2021, an upsurge of almost 30 percent from 2020. The South Africa hotel, restaurant, and institutional industry was severely affected by the strict restrictions imposed by the South African government to control the COVID-19 pandemic from March 2020.

Post estimates that the South African sugar cane crop will grow by 7 percent to 18.4 million metric tons (MT) in the 2022/23 market year (MY), up from 17.2 million MT in the 2021/22 MY. This is based on a return to normal weather conditions, an improvement in yields, and industry efforts to increase production, especially for small-scale farmers.

South Africa has announced plans to transfer numerous governmental functions including agricultural inspections to the new Border Management Agency which currently falls under Home Affairs.

On May 28, 2021, the Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development (DALRRD) announced a foot and mouth disease outbreak in the KwaZulu-Natal province.

The South African sugar industry has always publicly lamented the negative impact of the Health Promotion Levy (HPL) that was introduced in 2018 to the already distressed sector.

The production of South African citrus, mainly soft citrus, new orange varieties, lemons and limes is estimated to continue its strong growth in the 2020/21 Marketing Year (MY), based on the increase in area planted, improved yields, high level of...

South Africa’s production and imports of dry beans have been declining over the past decade, but dry beans will continue to be a small but important niche market.