The government is drafting a localisation strategy as part of measures underpinning  its economic reconstruction and recovery plan.

The government is drafting a localisation strategy as part of measures underpinning its economic reconstruction and recovery plan.

 Our first note for the year was sent out on 13 January 2020 and highlighted two threats that were imminent at the time in the sector, namely, drought and biosecurity (specifically foot-and-mouth disease and African swine fever).

I will use this last column for the year to reflect on an eventful yet positive 2020 for SA’s agriculture and provide a brief outlook for 2021.

You have argued that governments should use the post-COVID environment to think differently about agriculture. What should be done differently?

You have argued that governments should use the post-COVID environment to think differently about agriculture. What should be done differently?

I started writing for Business Day regularly in 2016. My intention at the time was to ensure that the developments in the SA agricultural economics don’t go unnoticed, especially events with broader implications on food prices, jobs, broader sustainability and growth of the agricultural sector.

SA does not have a shortage of farming skills. The country is among the world’s leading nations in producing several horticultural commodities and a continent leader growing field crops such as maize and soya beans.

We have seen a right mix of rain and sunshine in recent weeks across South Africa, which bodes well for all agricultural subsectors – field crops, horticulture and livestock.

SA’s agricultural sector is having an upbeat start to the year.

The higher grain prices and a decline in cattle slaughtering activity over the past few months have started to transmit into the prices of products consumers pay when doing their groceries.

At the start of the year, we expressed an optimistic view that South Africa's maize prices (and to an extent soybean and sunflower seed) could begin to soften from around the end of February 2021.

From the reconstruction and development programme of president Nelson Mandela to the accelerated and shared growth initiative of president Thabo Mbeki, the national development plan of president Jacob Zuma and most recently the economic reconstruction and recovery plan of President Cyril Ramaphosa, agriculture has long been tipped as a key generator of jobs and economic activity in rural SA.

From the Reconstruction and Development Programme of President Mandela to the Accelerated and Shared Growth Initiative of President Mbeki, the National Development Plan of President Zuma and recently the Reconstruction and Economic Recovery Plan of President Ramaphosa, agriculture has always been tipped as a key generator of jobs and economic activity in rural South Africa.

 The latest data in South Africa's agricultural sector reinforce the view that the 2020/21 production season could potentially deliver one of the largest harvests on record

One vital task in South Africa's quest to improve its poultry industry is booting soybean production, which is a crucial ingredient in poultry feed. Evidence shows that roughly 50-70% of broiler production costs in South Africa are attributed to the feed, 70–80% of which comes from maize and soybean costs.

Poultry imports and exports have dominated the headlines in the recent past. While such discussions are welcome when the subject is unfair trade, consideration of the sustainability of the SA poultry industry should also include input costs.

 We have been writing for a while about South Africa's agricultural performance in 2020, but with full-year trade data now available, we felt compelled to revisit the subject. South Africa's agricultural exports amounted to US$10,2 billion in 2020, which is a 3% increase from the previous year.

South Africa has been fortunate to have sufficient food supplies since the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The week ahead brings a flurry of critical data on the South African agricultural sector.