Mzansi’s agricultural value chain has witnessed a few tough moments in 2023. John Hudson, head of agriculture at Nedbank Commercial Banking, underlines the sector’s resilience and gives an idea of what 2024 will likely look like.
In this episode, Hudson warns about looming agricultural uncertainty and recommends making proactive efforts to prepare for a tough 2024.
Hudson kicked off with some of the highlights of 2023, sharing his perspective on the positive and negative trajectories throughout the agricultural industry.
Clear strategies needed
“It’s a tricky year and that’s what I started saying. We must navigate this year very carefully. It wasn’t just plain sailing; you must have a clear strategy. You need to know where the pressure is in your business and risk drivers and how to mitigate that risk,” he added.
Hudson further said major concerns for Mzansi’s agricultural value chain are around our infrastructure, port efficiency, increasing interest rates, and roads. The greatest threat to growing the country’s export value chain is market access. However, according to Hudson, there are opportunities for agriculture in Mzansi.
“We need to access more markets, there are some positive moves in that regard. We are exporting maize to China and beef to Saudi Arabia, these are great markets for us but we need more markets,” he explained.
In this episode, he also discusses:
- Climate change impact;
- Risk drivers and more.
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