South African agriculture has already done much of the hard work. Now we need to support it and unlock it.
South Africa already has considerable agricultural capability.
Remgro is indirectly a substantial investor in the agricultural sector in South Africa through RCL FOODS (Sugar) and Rainbow Chicken. Through Remgro’s investments in businesses with significant exposure to agriculture and food production, I have had the opportunity to see this at close quarters.
Much of the conversation about South African agriculture starts with what is holding it back: Water constraints, logistics, failing municipal services, an underperforming Land & Agricultural Development Bank, regulation, biosecurity, market access and unfair competition.
These challenges are real and anyone investing in the sector needs to understand them but focusing only on the constraints risks missing another important part of the story. South African farmers compete remarkably well, often without the scale of producer support and subsidies available to their counterparts in some of the world’s major agricultural economies. What strikes me is that there is not a lack of ambition or willingness to invest. In many cases, the productive capacity, expertise and investment are already there.
The top 5 agricultural sectors are Poultry, Maize, Beef Cattle, Citrus and Deciduous Fruit. The combined export value of their products is about R84 billion. Together they employ roughly between 500 000 – 700 000 people.
Look at poultry. It is South Africa’s largest contributor to agricultural production, with gross production value of almost R72 billion in 2024. It supplies the country’s most widely consumed source of animal protein and supports significant employment across a value chain extending from grain and breeding through hatcheries, farming, processing and distribution.
It is also highly competitive. Recent international benchmarking places South Africa as the second most competitive poultry producer among the major producing countries studied, behind Brazil and ahead of the United States and European producers. South African producers have achieved this through sustained improvements in areas such as feed efficiency and production cycles.
That position has not happened by accident. Investment has continued, while measures to address unfairly dumped imports have provided greater stability to the domestic industry.
Industry slaughter capacity increased from 19.5 million birds per week in 2019 to 22.5 million by 2026. Current production is at 21.5 million per week and remains below that installed capacity, which means there is already room for further growth before new capacity is required.
If we look at sugar, it tells us another useful story. The first phase of the Sugar Industry Master Plan helped stabilise an industry facing considerable pressure. Local sugar sales increased from 1.25 million tonnes to 1.55 million tonnes. Local procurement increased, support was provided to thousands of small-scale growers, and significant funding was directed towards transformation. There are approximately 24,000 small-scale growers in South Africa with 48,120 hectares under cultivation.
South Africa’s Communal Farmers Are Becoming Employers
South African sugar is also internationally competitive, consistently ranking among the top 25 of approximately 120 sugar-producing countries worldwide.
Then there’s citrus. If you weren’t aware, South Africa is the world’s second-largest citrus exporter. The industry has built that position over decades through research, skills, cooperation between growers and a relentless focus on gaining and retaining access to international markets. South African citrus growers compete with one another every season but cooperate on the things that determine their collective competitiveness: research, logistics, market intelligence, skills and market access. Today the South African citrus industry reaches around 120 countries.
These examples tell us something important about South African agriculture. Its competitiveness has been earned, and its significance extends well beyond production statistics.
Agriculture remains one of South Africa’s important engines of employment, particularly in rural areas where alternative opportunities can be scarce. The sugar industry alone directly employs around 65,000 people and supports many more indirectly, with thousands of registered cane growers participating in the industry.
Poultry employs more than 130,000 people directly and indirectly; is the biggest user of maize after human consumption, and is the biggest user of local soya. It also supports an extensive ecosystem and across the value chain there are opportunities in breeding, hatcheries, growing and other parts of production, creating businesses and livelihoods around established agricultural networks.
That matters enormously in a country where unemployment remains one of our most difficult challenges.
It also reminds us that agricultural growth and inclusion do not have to be competing objectives. Done properly, expanding productive value chains creates room for both.
I find that there is an important lesson in all of this. That is that competitiveness is rarely the result of a single investment or policy decision. It is built by strengthening capabilities and institutions over time.
To capitalise on the next opportunity, we need to be more ambitious.
For poultry, Phase 2 of the industry Master Plan places greater emphasis on exports, with a target of exports reaching 3% to 5% of production by 2030 and 7% to 10% by 2035.
For sugar, the conversation is moving beyond stabilisation towards restructuring and diversification. Opportunities being considered include bioethanol, electricity cogeneration from bagasse, bioplastics and sustainable aviation fuel.
This matters because the next chapter of South African agriculture should not simply be about producing more. It should be about creating more value from what we produce, and capital alone cannot solve everything. Every day, South African farmers and agricultural businesses must work around constraints that have little to do with their ability to farm.
They need to get produce from farms to markets and ports despite weaknesses in road and rail infrastructure. They navigate regulatory processes and red tape. They manage water constraints and the consequences of unreliable infrastructure. Many have had to invest in their own energy resilience, and still they produce. They still invest and get products to customers in South Africa and around the world.
That resilience deserves greater recognition; however, resilience should not become an excuse for accepting avoidable inefficiency around the farmer.
The experience of poultry demonstrates how market-access processes, veterinary capacity, certification and regulatory coordination can determine whether productive capacity becomes economic growth.
Citrus shows the other side of that equation: sustained investment in research, technical capability and market access can turn agricultural strength at home into competitiveness abroad.
South Africa does not need lower standards. It needs efficient standards, implemented predictably and supported by infrastructure that allows competitive producers to compete. Businesses can invest in farms, processing facilities and productive capacity. They cannot individually solve national water, electricity, rail, road or port constraints.
These are difficult challenges. Positively, many of them are solvable and that is why I remain encouraged by what I see in South African agriculture.
We have world renowned producers and established value chains. We have examples of world-class competitiveness and entrepreneurs and small-scale farmers building businesses within those value chains. We have private capital willing to invest and increasingly, we have ambitions to compete in larger international markets.
Much of the hard work has already been done and the opportunity now is to remove more of the friction around those who are doing it.
For a country searching for food security, sustainable growth, exports, employment and greater economic inclusion, agriculture deserves to be firmly part of that conversation.
