When the Covid-19 pandemic hit, sub-Saharan Africa faced a potential rise in food insecurity, which was underpinned by the anticipated slowdown in economic activity, loss of income, and a ban on grain exports by major exporting countries such as India, Russia, Cambodia, and Vietnam had introduced.

 South Africa's agricultural sector remains a net exporter, with exportable volumes of various commodities growing each year, weather conditions permitting.

The department of agriculture, land reform & rural development, agribusinesses and various social partners have been hard at work for months crafting the agricultural and agro-processing master plan and, separately, blended finance instruments.

 South Africa's agricultural sector is currently in the process of finalising the sector Master Plan. The final consultations with constituencies of various social partners, comprising industry, government, labour and civil society, will soon begin, after which the Master Plan will be signed off. This document will serve as a guide for inclusive growth in the sector.

 The weather will be the main focus in South Africa's agriculture for both summer and winter crops, and to a lesser extent, horticulture in the near term.

Last week, the South African Crop Estimates Committee (CEC) mildly lifted its forecast for 2020/21 summer grain and oilseeds production from the previous month by 1% to 18,7 million tonnes (this compared with 17,6 million tonnes in 2019/20 production season).