The growth of the citrus industry can be credited to strong global demand, increased investment, and more land being planted with citrus. According to Wandile Sihlobo, chief economist of the Agricultural Business Chamber of South Africa (Agbiz), a key figure in this success is Justin Chadwick, the outgoing CEO of the Citrus Growers’ Association of Southern Africa (CGA).
When one examines South Africa’s agriculture production and export data today, citrus typically ranks first. The country’s production of oranges, grapefruit, mandarins, and lemons has increased significantly over time.
But it was not always the case. About three decades ago, the industries at the top of the list were mainly maize, poultry, dairy, deciduous fruit, and other livestock production. In export data, maize, wool, wine, and various fruits were primarily on the top, and citrus didn’t feature prominently.
However, the citrus industry has seen tremendous growth in recent years. This growth is due to robust global demand (roughly half of total citrus production is exported), which led to an increase in investment and the expansion of the area planted. This process created more jobs on the farms and value chain and boosted the economies of small towns. The industry accounts for over 100 000 jobs in rural South Africa.
Breaking barriers
Many people were part of this progress and transformative period in the South African citrus industry. However, few have served for as long and with as much dedication as Justin Chadwick, the outgoing CEO of the Citrus Growers’ Association of Southern Africa (CGA).
Justin will retire in 2025 after a quarter of a century of service building the robust citrus industry that South Africans pride themselves on today. The credit also goes to the CGA staff and growers, who continue to support Justin in leading the organisation.
Justin also values regional agricultural cooperation. This is evident through the expansion of the South African citrus industry, which includes many countries in the region and forms a well-organised industry across Southern Africa. For example, in recent years, we have seen CGA expand its reach to include growers from Zimbabwe and others in neighbouring countries in South Africa.
The skills and technology that South African growers perfected were shared with growers in the region to build.
Justin continues to nurture young talent, and CGA ensures that young people are well-equipped to serve growers and build a robust citrus industry. He also supports transformation and inclusiveness, exemplified through various initiatives at CGA and its development arm. For example, the CGA has a Vision 260 initiative, which aims to increase the volumes of citrus exported by South Africa and ensure that black farmers have a notable share of the exports.
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Defending South Africa’s citrus exports
When we experience challenges in various export markets, Justin rigorously works collaboratively with the government and organised agriculture to ensure South Africa has access to multiple aspects of markets. A recent example is South Africa’s citrus export challenges in the EU. The EU used non-tariff barriers by alleging a “false codling moth“, a citrus pest, in South Africa and requiring citrus products to be kept at certain temperatures before accessing the EU market.
This happens while South Africa has already treated the products to eliminate the chances of such pest occurrence. This was a subtle form of protecting Spanish farmers, who are also major citrus producers within the EU market.
The CGA and South African government continue to work to ensure South Africa has fair trade with the EU in citrus. They also inform the EU officials how much South Africa values its relationship with the region.
As Justin retries this year, I am looking at the recent South African agricultural exports data for the first three quarters of the 2024 calendar year. The cumulative export value for the first three quarters of 2024 is up 4% from the same period in 2023, at US$10.55 billion. And you guessed it right, the top exported products by value include citrus (the top product), then nuts, maize, apples and pears, wine, fruit juices, sugar, dates, figs, avocados and mangos, berries, and grapes, amongst other products.
Ultimately, one can conclude that Justin is passionate about the citrus industry and agriculture, driven by a big vision for its growth, and over the years, he has pushed everyone hard to show results – traits some could easily misread as brashness. He has had tough conversations with government officials when necessary.
Still, no one could doubt that he is a patriot committed to the growth and transformation of the industry.
- Wandile Sihlobo is the chief agricultural economist at Agbiz. The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of Food For Mzansi.
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