While there may not be a lot to get excited about in the Department of Statistics South Africa’s (Stats SA) recently released Gross Domestic Product (GDP) figures (see article headlined “Biggest fall in economic activity since 1946”), the agri-industry is chuffed with its performance, having recorded 5.9% growth in the fourth quarter, and 13.1% for the full year.
“Agriculture was the shining star,” says AgriSa.
“The impressive performance can be attributed to a few factors, which include favourable weather conditions (as we have seen the La Niña climatic event play out) and, to a large degree, the classification of the sector as an essential service from the initial lockdown restrictions.
“That allowed for production to continue as most of the economy came to a halt.”
There was also the good performance across sub-sectors, says the organisation, from the second-largest grain harvest and impressive performance of horticulture, led by citrus exports, to the recovery in the livestock industry. “However, there were challenges in some sub-sectors, particularly alcohol and tobacco, which were battered by the restriction on sales and consumption of these products at various stages of the lockdown.”
Based on its “stellar” performance, the industry believes that it deserves more than the limited budget it is allocated in the national budget. “When compared to other emerging markets (EMs), SA’s national budget allocation has remained well below 2% over a number of years, where other EMs spend around 6% on this sector.”
