As South Africa continues to grapple with its unemployment crisis, recent data from Statistics South Africa shows a slight decline in joblessness. While the agricultural sector has seen some encouraging wins, farmers and industry leaders caution that lasting change will take sustained effort over many years.
Noko Masipa, member of the provincial parliament in the Western Cape and chairperson of the portfolio committee on agriculture, economic development and tourism, said the creation of 93 000 jobs in the province during the fourth quarter of 2025 is a significant achievement.
“Our unemployment rate remains substantially below the national average at 18.1%, and more people are participating in the labour market here than in any other province in the country.
“Employment gains in the Western Cape were broad-based. Agriculture added 25 000 jobs this quarter. Growth across productive and service sectors reflects the resilience and diversification of the provincial economy,” he said.
Harvest boom drives agricultural employment
Agbiz chief economist Wandile Sihlobo said South Africa’s agriculture experienced a relatively positive year in 2025, although challenges persisted in the livestock industry.
“We observe that improved agricultural performance is also reflected in the employment data. For example, the number of farm jobs in South Africa increased by 3% year-on-year in the last quarter of 2025 to 950k, according to Quarterly Labour Force Survey data from Statistics South Africa.
“This is the highest level since the third quarter of 2023. We observed improved job performance, primarily in field crops and horticulture. The increase in jobs in these sub-sectors reflects the optimism generated by the abundant harvest, which we have highlighted on numerous occasions,” he said.
Related stories
- 99 High-demand jobs: Vocational training can open doors
- Spekboom revival: Thicket restoration creates thousands of jobs
- Sugar crisis as Tongaat Hulett files for provisional liquidation
- The abalone crisis: Why SA’s coastal war never ends
Farmers struggle to hire more workers
Sihlobo said, notably, the 950 000 jobs are far above the long-term average of 799 000 jobs, signalling that, while the sector faces challenges such as animal diseases, wage pressures in some industries, and inept municipal service delivery, among other issues, employment conditions remain encouraging.
Nqobile Khumalo, a poultry farmer in Warrenton in the Northern Cape, said, for an emerging farmer like herself, creating jobs remains a dream as she is still fighting for access to markets five years into operations.
“It is great that the sector is creating jobs; however, I want to believe that for us to see the real impact of job creation, all of us who have operations should be able to hire our people. However, at the level I am I cannot afford it – only temporaries that I take during the peak months.
“I yearn to hire people but affordability becomes a burden, which leads to me being an all-rounder in my operations,” she said.
Gregory Modise, a livestock farmer in Hectorspruit, Mpumalanga, said he can only afford one herdsman to care for his livestock.
“At the entry level at which we are, it is extremely difficult to hire people. We work from hand to mouth, and at times, we cannot even care for ourselves. The industry has a long way to go to be at a level of genuine job creation, not seasonal work.
“I have been farming for over a decade now, with different livestock; however, I have not had more than one person working for me. The economy and industry are not making it possible for me to do that. I have a registered company, but it ends there,” he said.
READ NEXT: Beyond sugar: How SA’s farmers are crushing it with diversification
