Browse Data and Analysis

The regional harvested area for Marketing Year (MY) 2024/25 is forecast to rise 17 percent at 1.38 million hectares (MHA) compared to the previous year based on expectations of good farm gate prices and improved security and stability in many cotton-growing areas.

South Africa’s corn crop in marketing year 2023/24 has been affected by an El Niño induced mid-summer drought, resulting in an expected drop of more than 15 percent in crop volume.

The South African ports have been overwhelmed with challenges in the past few years, causing delays in operations and financial losses. In 2022, the Container Port Performance Index by the World Bank ranked the port of Durban 341 out of 348 ports in the world and the Port of Cape Town was ranked 344.

Ghana continues to demonstrate its conviction that proven science-based advanced technologies remain viable options in the global efforts to achieve food security in the face of various production constraints like climate change.

FAS Nairobi forecasts Kenya's corn production will remain unchanged year-on-year in marketing year (MY) 2024/25 at 3.7 million metric tons (MT) due to similar growing conditions, area harvested, and input availability.

On February 21, 2024, The Government of Rwanda (GoR) published a new biosafety law providing requirements for the transit and utilization of living modified organisms (LMOs) produced through modern biotechnology techniques. This law enters effect immediately.

Due to rising insecurity in grain producing regions and higher input costs affecting planting decisions, corn and rice production is expected to decline in marketing year (MY) 2024/25.

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.

Marketing year (MY) 2021/22 production and exports are forecast to hold steady from MY 2020/21 as farmers take old trees out of production via stumping.

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.

In May 2021, President Muhammadu Buhari signed into law the Plant Variety Protection Act 2021 to create a functioning regime protecting plant varieties in Nigeria.

Nigeria’s oil palm sector contributes to economic development at all levels – national and state. Currently, the country's demand for palm oil outweighs its supply.