The Agbiz Congress 2024, held from 5 – 7 June at Sun City, offered a pivotal platform for reflections on domestic and global challenges impacting businesses within the agricultural sector. With the main theme "Sustaining Growth in a Changing Global Landscape," the Congress delved into pressing issues ranging from political uncertainty to emerging geopolitical tensions and ways to expand agricultural markets. Wandile Sihlobo, Chief Economist of Agbiz, remarked, "The selection of speakers and subject focus of various sessions mirrored the challenges of the day, including political uncertainty, rising geopolitical tensions, a desire to expand agricultural markets, economic conditions, and ways of improving the efficiency of network industries." "The Agbiz Congress has become a key event in the agricultural calendar," stated Theo Boshoff, CEO of Agbiz. "Under the theme 'Sustaining Growth in a Changing Global Landscape,' delegates gained critical insights into navigating emerging trends such as geopolitical uncertainty and trade protectionism, as well as unlocking sustainable finance and addressing activist campaigns." Click here to read full report by Agbiz Communication Officer Temba Msiza. Click here to access all images from congress.

At the annual Agbiz Congress, considerable attention was dedicated to the critical role of the country’s infrastructure. Discussions highlighted how the efficiency and functionality can either drive sectoral and economic growth or bring it to its knees. Delegates from agriculture, business, and the government gathered for the two-day congress at Sun City in North West, to digest how collaboration can shape the sector and create jobs. Infrastructure development is critically important for South Africa due to several interrelated factors that contribute to the country’s economic growth, social development, and overall well-being. Xolani Zwane, the deputy director on regulations and compliance from the department of water and sanitation, said there is an appetite from the government to build new dams, however, funding is the biggest challenge the state is facing. Click here to read full article by Tiisetso Manoko for foodformzansi.co.za.

While the political future of South Africa remains uncertain, Agbiz’s leadership is ready to face the storm resiliently. This message was reiterated during the first day of the Agbiz Congress, held on 6 and 7 June, at Sun City. Antois van der Westhuizen, the newly elected vice chairperson of Agbiz, said he recently spoke to a support personnel member of John Deere Financial Services (JDF), who assisted the South African JDF team in war-torn Ukraine. “It was incredible to hear her story of how they survive and find food and clothing. It is through their support structures.” Van der Westhuizen, also the managing director of JDF, added that this same spirit of circumventing change through networks is also something that South Africa’s agricultural sector excels at. “South Africa does have a lot of challenges, but we also had problems ten years ago and yet we were able to grow despite those challenges. The collective minds in this room can weather any storm.” Click here to read full article by Susan Marais for AgriOrbit.com.

It is time for the master plan for agriculture and agricultural processing to be properly implemented, says Sean Walsh, the new chairman of Agbiz. He told Landbou.com at the organisation's congress that this is one of the things he hopes the new government will do to promote agriculture. He also hopes the Department of Agriculture, Land Reform, and Rural Development's top official will remain in his position. The Agbiz Congress takes place this week, with this year's theme not only deliberately tackling the changing global landscape but also emphasising sustainable growth in an uncertain environment. Click here to read full article by Carien Kruger for landbou.com.

Despite the ongoing uncertainty surrounding the formation of the new government after last month’s historic national and provincial elections, African National Congress veteran and farmer Matthews Phosa said farmers should not expect any drastic policy changes by the incoming administration. Phosa was speaking during the last day of the Agbiz Congress at Sun City in North West as the Agricultural Development Agency (Agda) board chairperson. “I can assure you that there will not be a change in Section 25 of the Constitution; there will be no land expropriation without compensation. The president asked me to lead a team of lawyers to guide him on this matter and we resolved that to protect the agricultural sector, that section of the Constitution must not be amended,” he explained. Click here to read full article by Tiisetso Manoko for foodformzansi.co.za. 

The Agbiz Congress took place last week, with this year's theme not only deliberately addressing the changing global landscape, tackle, but also emphasises sustainable growth in this uncertain environment. Antois van der Westhuizen, managing director of John Deere Financial, says the discussions held with the agricultural sector at the Agbiz conference offer a lot of value. "We also get the opportunity to catch up here with friends we haven't seen in a long time." Van der Westhuizen says that there have been good discussions about bottlenecks that the sector has but also about solutions to tackle them. One of the congress' highlights for him is the students, who were also given the opportunity to participate in discussions. "For me as a veteran in the industry, these students give hope for the future of agriculture, which will only be better with them." He also mentions why Agbiz fulfils such an important role as a mouthpiece for the agricultural sector and its secondary sectors. Click here to read full article derived from landbou.com.

Dollar dominance—the outsized role of the US dollar in the world economy—has been brought into focus recently as the robustness of the US economy, tighter monetary policy and heightened geopolitical risk have contributed to a higher greenback valuation. At the same time, economic fragmentation and the potential reorganization of global economic and financial activity into separate, nonoverlapping blocs could encourage some countries to use and hold other international and reserve currencies. Recent data from the IMF’s Currency Composition of Official Foreign Exchange Reserves (COFER) point to an ongoing gradual decline in the dollar’s share of allocated foreign reserves of central banks and governments. Strikingly, the reduced role of the US dollar over the last two decades has not been matched by increases in the shares of the other “big four” currencies—the euro, yen, and pound. Click here to read full article first published in IMF Blog.

The Real Economy Bulletin by TIPS reviews quarterly trends and data in the real economy, focusing on manufacturing and key statistics. In Q1 2024, South Africa's GDP shrank by 0.1%, highlighting increased volatility since the COVID-19 pandemic began in 2020. Over the past three years, GDP declined in five quarters, compared to nine from 1994 to 2018. This volatility is partly due to fluctuations in global mining prices and infrastructure shortfalls. The inability of Transnet and Eskom to meet demand has accelerated private-sector growth. For the four quarters to 2024, GDP grew by 0.7%, down from 2.5% annually in the previous three years. Despite this, GDP in Q1 2024 was 1.2% higher than in Q1 2020, pre-pandemic. Click here to read full The Real Economy Bulletin: trends, developments and data - First Quarter 2024 by tips.org.za.

South Africa’s central bank chief said the next government will need to accept it has limited resources or risk having to go to the International Monetary Fund for a bailout. The African National Congress is weighing options from partnering with the centrist Democratic Alliance to leftist parties to forming a government of national unity, after losing its outright majority in May 29 elections. Both the Economic Freedom Fighters and former President Jacob Zuma’s uMkhonto weSizwe Party in their manifestos said they want to nationalize mines and banks. The parties might say that want to nationalize banks, but until that becomes government policy we will not have to respond, Governor Lesetja Kganyago told an event in Johannesburg for the release of the biannual Financial Stability Review last Wednesday. Click here to read full article derived from dailyinvestor.com.

“The cannabis sector in South Africa is evolving rapidly, with significant legislative changes and growing investment opportunities. The country has made substantial strides towards integrating cannabis into its economy, particularly in the medicinal sphere. This article delves into the current state of the cannabis industry in South Africa, the regulatory framework, and the potential for investment, drawing insights from the comprehensive report by Wesgro on "Investing in Cannabis in South Africa.’’ The journey towards the legalisation of cannabis in South Africa has been marked by three pivotal events since 2017. Firstly, in 2017, the Department of Health introduced a licensing framework for the domestic cultivation and manufacture of medicinal cannabis. This was followed by a landmark decision by the Constitutional Court in 2018, which decriminalised the private use and cultivation of cannabis based on the right to privacy. Click here to read full report by Agbiz Agricultural economist and policy analyst Thapelo Machaba.

Zambia’s maize production in the 2023/24 season is down by more than 50% to an estimated harvest of 1.6 million tonnes because of the intense heatwave and mid-summer drought. The country must now import about a million tonnes of maize to meet its domestic annual needs. The government has encouraged the private sector in the country to ramp up its effort to import maize. However, the challenge is that it wants only non-genetically modified maize. Zambia still prohibits cultivating and importing genetically modified maize (GMO maize). It is already difficult to find white maize in the world market regardless of whether it is GMO or GMO-free, as the major producers are the southern African region (South Africa specifically) and Mexico. Most of the world’s maize is yellow maize for animal feed. Click here to read full article by Agbiz Chief Economist Wandile Sihlobo for dailymaverick.co.za.

The poor and slow implementation of land reform, inefficient government decisions and support systems, poorly structured financial support, bureaucratic delays, drought and diseases have all entrenched the divide between commercial agriculture (mainly white) and subsistence farming (mainly black). On the sunny morning of 5 April 2021, when the Covid-19 pandemic had provided a breather following a sharp wave of infection, I drove from my office at the Agricultural Business Chamber of South Africa in Pretoria to a farm in Bronkhorstspruit. Bronkhorstspruit is a small town of roughly 3,720 people, located 50 kilometres east of Pretoria in the Gauteng province of South Africa. I was on a visit to Gift Mafuleka’s farm. Gift is a young, black commercial farmer who hails from the Esikhawini region of Richards Bay in KwaZulu-Natal. Click here to read full article by Agbiz Chief Economist Wandile Sihlobo for dailymaverick.co.za. 

The South African agriculture sector is not immune to politics. Agriculture is a vital sector of the economy. This explains why it earned special attention in the National Development Plan (NDP), with an entire chapter, Chapter Six, dedicated to it. Recently, there have also been pragmatic plans such as the Agriculture and Agro-processing Master Plan (AAMP) that set out practical steps to realize a vision to grow the sector and bolster its global competitiveness while achieving inclusion and transformation. The sector must not be a casualty of politics. It is a force for good in growing the South African economy and advancing the country's place on the global map. As various political parties deliberate on the future Government of National Unity, they must keep the agricultural sector uppermost in their mind. This is a sector that should offer an avenue of convergence across the political spectrum: it is crucial for rural development, food security, and employment creation. Click here to read full article by Wandile Sihlobo.

I appreciate that the minds of many South Africans are on the election outcome matters, but food matters remain vital. Reflecting on the Crop Estimates Committee’s forecasts released at the end of May for the 2023/24 summer crop production season is valuable. This is a fourth production estimate for the season, and the harvest is under way across South Africa so we may put more weight on the accuracy of this figure than our tentative view in the previous estimates. The Crop Estimates Committee places South Africa’s 2023/24 total summer grains and oilseed production forecast at 15.9 million tonnes, down by 0.5% from the previous month’s forecast and 21% lower than last season’s harvest. A closer look at the data shows that the white and yellow maize harvest could be 6.4 million tonnes (down by 0.9% m/m) and 6.9 million tonnes (down by 0.3% m/m). Click here to read full article by Wandile Sihlobo for dailymaverick.co.za.

Agriculture master plan should remain the primary programme for the new administration. With votes counted and the ANC’s support having fallen sharply to only 40%, some form of coalition government is likely to govern SA. The nature of such an arrangement is likely to emerge in coming days and weeks. As with any coalition negotiations, trade-offs are likely to be made involving several government functions and policies. The question that should be addressed in the agriculture sector is: what are the implications for potential changes in government functions on agriculture and land reform policy? Click here to read full article by Wandile Sihlobo for businesslive.co.za.

After publishing a sharp contraction of -12,2% year-on-year in 2023 of the agricultural gross value-added performance, Statistics South Africa revised the figures to a mild contraction of -4,8% year-on-year. This revised figure is roughly in line with the expectations of various researchers, most notably the Bureau for Food and Agricultural Policy (BFAP). Importantly, South Africa's agricultural gross value added grew by 13,5% quarter-on-quarter (seasonally adjusted) in the first quarter of 2024. This improvement is based on the robust production conditions of various horticulture products, the livestock and poultry industry recovery after a few challenging months of animal diseases that weighed on production, and the base effects. Click here to listen to full podcast – Agricultural Market Viewpoint with Wandile Sihlobo.

State-owned transportation group, Transnet is not looking to bring in an outside party to run its container operations at the Port of Cape Town. The Western Cape Government and the City of Cape Town have called on Transnet to speed up the participation of the private sector in the running of the Port of Cape Town. Though Transnet has issued a tender to run the port’s liquid bulk terminal, it said there were no plans to bring in an outside partner to run its container operations. Transnet, under its Recovery Plan, is implementing its Private Sector Participation (PSP) strategy, which sees it turning to private companies to help turnaround its underperforming operations. This strategy has seen it grant a tender to Philippine based International Container Terminal Services, Incorporated (ICTSI) to run its Durban Container Terminal Pier 2 for 25 years. Click here to read full article derived from cbn.co.za.

This week's supply chain update shows a significant drop in commercial port activity, with daily container handling down to 5,737 from 8,244 due to adverse weather and equipment breakdowns. The Port of Durban experienced closures, while the Cape Town and Eastern Cape ports faced operational disruptions. Transnet awarded a tender for a 20 MW solar PV plant, advancing its Renewable Energy Purchase programme. Global container shipping faces intensified capacity shortages, with freight rates rising for nine consecutive weeks. Despite adding over 280,000 TEU of new capacity, demand remains unmet. In the air market, imports saw a 9% increase, while exports dropped by 16% at ORTIA. Regionally, cross-border road freight trade saw increased queue times and transit delays, averaging 12.1 hours at South African borders. Significant developments include Zimbabwe's E-Manifest compliance and Zambia's cross-border payments via Korridor. South Africa's logistics network remains under pressure, as highlighted by the World Bank ranking the country's ports poorly. Efforts to improve trade, transport, and logistics are essential for economic growth. Read the full update in the latest BUSA Cargo Movement Update.

Global cotton consumption is forecast to rise by 3.5 million bales to 116.9 million bales, the highest level in four years. This increase follows stagnation since the 2020/21 record of 124.3 million bales. Greater cotton supplies and low global inventories are expected to boost future use, with 3.0% year-over-year growth, double the long-term average of 1.6%. However, competition from man-made fibres continues to challenge cotton use. Lower inventories in the cotton supply chain are anticipated to drive higher consumption in 2024/25. Global production remains dominated by countries like India, China, the United States, Pakistan, and Brazil, with technological advancements boosting yields. Despite progress, climate change poses significant challenges, affecting yields due to erratic weather and droughts. Innovations in biotechnology and regenerative agriculture aim to enhance sustainability. The digitalization of agriculture, using big data and blockchain technology, is transforming cotton farming. The price forecast for the 2023–24 season ranges from 90.00 to 102.00 cents per pound, with a midpoint of 95.00 cents per pound. Click here to read full Cotton Market Report May 2024 by Cotton SA.

The Citrus Growers' Association of Southern Africa (CGA), shares the latest news in the citrus industry in its weekly update, From the desk of the CEO. Please click here to peruse. 

Discover the latest updates from Fruit SA’s newsletter! Delve into essential information, highlights, and upcoming events shaping the fruit industry. Don't miss out – click here to explore the newsletter.

In the latest edition of Keeping it Fresh, the Fresh Produce Exporter's Forum (FPEF)'s newsletter, you will get a summary of the most pertinent information as well as reminders of important upcoming events. Please click here to peruse.

• Agbiz is the only organisation that serves the broader and common over-arching business interests of agribusinesses in South Africa.
• Agbiz addresses the legislative and policy environment on the many fronts that it impacts on the agribusiness environment.
• Agbiz facilitates considerable top-level networking opportunities so that South African agribusinesses can play an active and creative role within the local and international organised business environment.
• Agbiz research provides sector-specific information for informed decision-making.
• Agbiz newsletter publishes members' press releases and member product announcements.