Source: Jeandré van der Walt, Farmer’s Weekly, 12 February 2021, photo credit: Eat Drink Cape Town
The remarkable work of the agriculture sector amidst the economic damage caused by the COVID-19 pandemic was acknowledged during this year’s State of the Nation Address (SONA).
President Cyril Ramaphosa praised the South Africa citrus industry for becoming the second largest global exporter of citrus last year. He added that strong export growth in wine, maize, nuts, deciduous fruit and sugar cane was also recorded.
“The favourable weather conditions in 2020 and the beginning of 2021 means that agriculture is likely to [further] grow in the near future.”
According to Ramaphosa, land reform remained a priority and would be fast-tracked by establishing a Land and Agrarian Reform Agency.
“To date, government has redistributed over five million hectares of land, totaling around 5 500 farms, to more than 300 000 beneficiaries. This is in addition to the land restitution process, which has benefitted over two million land claimants and resulted in the transfer of around 2,7 million hectares.”
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The South African Pork Producers’ Organisation (SAPPO) coordinates industry interventions and collaboratively manages risks in the value chain to enable the sustainability and profitability of pork producers in South Africa.
