Quick Comment on the Avian Flu in SA

The start of July presented three challenges whose impact will become clearer in the weeks ahead. Firstly, in the northern regions of South Africa, particularly in Limpopo, the potato crop has suffered losses because of frost after an unusually cold spell in the region. The most affected crops are the…

After a challenging El Niño induced drought season in 2023/24 summer, South Africa’s agriculture may get a relief in the upcoming 2024/25 summer season. Early indications of weather prospects are encouraging, showing a firm likelihood of a La Niña occurrence. The International Research Institute for Climate Change and Society at…

I view South Africa’s agricultural economic performance in the first half of 2024 as mixed. One can broadly categorise our farming economy into three subsectors: horticulture, livestock and field crops. Horticulture — fruits and vegetables — had a reasonably positive start to the year, benefiting from improved dam levels for…

South Africa's summer grains and oilseed harvest is in full swing nationwide, and some crops are nearly complete. Thus, the crop size estimates we have at hand are unlikely to change much and possibly represent an actual picture of the harvest. For example, this afternoon, the Crop Estimates Committee lifted…

The SA agriculture sector is not immune to politics. Agriculture is a vital sector of the economy. This explains why it earned special attention in the National Development Plan (NDP), with an entire chapter, Chapter Six, dedicated to it. Recently, there have also been pragmatic plans such as the Agriculture…