The main theme at this year’s Agri SA national congress was food certainty and panellists addressed issues that hinder the availability of food in the country. At the crux of the turmoil, the consumer is receiving the sharper end of the stick.
Minister of agriculture, land reform, and rural development Thoko Didiza addressed the congress and acknowledged that since 2019, the agricultural sector has performed well despite the challenging conditions mirrored by the Covid-19 pandemic, electricity issues, biosecurity threats, and weather-related constraints.
‘Celebrate success, but don’t get too comfortable’
Moreover, she believes the size of the agricultural economy is 25% larger than it was three years ago. Agricultural exports have expanded by R47 billion and the sector has generated 52 000 new jobs while the rest of the economy shed jobs.
“I am highlighting these points because, at times, our success is overshadowed by the negative sentiments and duality problem, a challenge we must address,” she said.
“As we celebrate the success, we must also prepare for the tough times ahead as we approach the El Niño weather cycle. We must also be cognisant that our present success should benefit most South Africans. It will be difficult to celebrate the agricultural sector when there are 13 million South Africans who are unable to afford or produce their own food,” she said.
Didiza told attendees that although the country has been plagued with social and economic ills, agriculture holds a special role in society and is expected to do more to contribute to the national agenda of food security, employment creation, and equality.
“To unlock the potential of agriculture, we need to work together as government, labour, industry, and communities to resolve inefficiencies and bottlenecks in our food system,” she added.
READ NEXT: Soil degradation: Conservation agriculture holds the key
Key areas of focus
Didiza highlighted that for the country to ensure food certainty, there were critical areas of focus which all stakeholders needed to focus on and ensure that a tangible plan was sought.
“From consultations we had with different stakeholders, it was clear that on the path toward sustainable agriculture, we need to support local production for local and export consumption, improve food safety and traceability on our plants and animals, reintroduce agricultural topics in our school curriculum.
“Build networks of resilience to vulnerabilities, shocks, and stresses, balancing interests in exports and local production, and address the food waste problem and invest in the informal sector transformed,” she said.
Didiza said organised agriculture needed to robustly discuss such matters to ensure that the sector grows and creates jobs but also give ideas on the current challenges.
“These are some of the measures that will enhance food certainty in our country. Public-private partnerships will then be a cornerstone in achieving these measures. I am certain that you will expand on these and dive deeper during the debates and discussions in the next few days,” she said.
ALSO READ: Adding flesh to the bone: Beef exports remain vital for growth
Plenty to be positive about
Meanwhile, president of Agri SA Jaco Minnaar believes the agricultural conditions in South Africa over the past few years have generally been favourable, and three consecutive years of the La Niña weather phenomenon have allowed for good production conditions, but also much-needed replenishment of surface and underground water sources.
“The good production conditions coupled with favourable prices, especially the grain farmers, experienced very good economic conditions.
“We see this clearly in the sales of tractors and implements which were the highest since 1984, but this can also be seen in the farmers’ balance sheets which have become much stronger, and therefore take up less debt. For the first time in history, South Africa also produced more soybeans than the local need, and South Africa had a surplus to export,” he said.
Minnaar highlighted that continuous challenges experienced by the sector limit and hinder food certainty, adding that rising input costs in all industries are a major concern.
“We have all been in agriculture long enough to know that agriculture is highly cyclical. Prices don’t stay high or low forever, they will turn around again. And with the turnarounds, that’s when we’re caught off guard. We must guard against it.
“When prices are too high, it attracts more production and supply and demand come together, which in turn stabilises prices. If supply is more than demand, again, it pushes the prices lower. When prices are too low, it is usually below production costs causing less to be produced, and then prices start to rise,” he said.
‘Food system is not delivering’
Echoing Minnaar’s sentiments was Pietermaritzburg Economic Justice & Dignity Group (PMBEJD) programmes coordinator Mervyn Abrahams who stressed the importance of the affordability of food for low-income South Africans.
“Our food system as seen from a consumer perspective, is not delivering because the foundational part of the food system is to be able to provide access to sufficient and nutritious food for the population. At this rate, it is not,” he said.
According to Abrahams, although farmers are doing their job and producing when looking at the household level and ordinary South Africa, their access is stifled.
The impact of undernutrition
The reason for this, he believes, is that the country is faced with a strategic and structural crisis and at the root of this problem is actually undernutrition. He said 30% of boy children and 25% of girl children were stunted currently.
“The basis rests in the inability to access nutritious food and affordability is a relationship between the price of the good and service I wish to procure and the amount of money available with to procure that,” he said.
ALSO READ: End of an era: Van der Rheede retires from Agri SA
Sign up for Mzansi Today: Your daily take on the news and happenings from the agriculture value chain.
