Agricultural Policy Monitoring and Evaluation 2026

25. South Africa

Main findings

Support to agriculture

South Africa’s Producer Support Estimate (PSE) amounted to 3.1% of gross farm receipts in 2023-25, down from 7.4% in 2000-02. Market Price Support (MPS) and support for variable input use without constraints are the largest components of producer support, with 97% of support provided in forms considered potentially most-distorting in 2023-25.

Overall, domestic prices for most commodities align with border reference prices. Sugar is an exception, mainly due to import tariffs, leading to support worth 27% of gross receipts for sugar. Milk also benefits from market price support. Most direct payments are provided as input subsidies (fuel tax refund) or as investment subsidies directed towards small-scale farming.

Support for general services to the sector has declined relative to the size of the sector. The General Service Support Estimate (GSSE) averaged 1% of the value of agricultural production during 2023-25, below the 3.9% observed in the early 2000s, and less than half of the average of the 56 countries covered in this report. Most payments to general services go to the agricultural knowledge and innovation system and to infrastructure, mainly related to land reforms, irrigation and other infrastructure. Support in these categories targets an enabling environment for small-scale farming, which became a priority following land reforms. Expenditures for inspection and control are also an important element, accounting for about 24.5% of the GSSE.

Total support to the sector fell in relative terms from an average 0.6% of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in 2000-02 to 0.3% in 2023-25, with more than three-quarters of the support transferred to individual producers.

Key policy changes in 2025-26

The National Policy on Comprehensive Producer Development Support that began in April 2025 moved into its larger, national-scale implementation phase in 2026. The policy underpins support services given to different categories of farms, from household and smallholder to commercial and corporate producers.

The Agricultural Product Standards Amendment Act came into force in August 2025 with the aim to strengthen quality assurance, consumer protection and regulatory governance within agricultural markets. The amendments formalise the auditing of management control systems to ensure that production method claims, such as organic or free-range, are verifiable and compliant with prescribed standards.

In response to the rapid spread of Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD), a 10-year strategy to contain and eradicate FMD and to restore South Africa‘s FMD-free status was launched in January 2026. Phase one of the strategy, spanning two years, involves a proactive vaccination programme with the goal of vaccinating 80% of the national cattle herd by December 2026 and reducing outbreak incidents by at least 70%.

Implementation of the revised Raw Water Pricing Strategy began in 2026. The strategy aims to ensure equitable, efficient and sustainable water management in line with the National Water Resource Strategy. For South Africa’s commercial agricultural sector, the new framework is likely to translate into higher raw water tariffs, stricter cost-recovery for infrastructure, and charges linked to environmental management and resource protection (AgriSA, 2026[1]).

Assessment and recommendations

• Redirect support to be less market distorting, more efficient and more sustainable. Overall support is low but MPS for sugar remains high. The government should reduce import duties on sugar by gradually lowering the dollar-based reference price (DBRP). This reform should be accompanied by targeted investment support for small-scale sugar producers to facilitate modernisation and improve competitiveness.

• Phase out the diesel rebate as it accounts for a large share of budgetary support. It could be repurposed to investment in rural infrastructure that would help connect farmers to markets.

• Improve transparency on the use of the Agricultural Land Holding Account, the fund for the state to acquire land, to enable better monitoring of progress and strengthen public confidence in the land reform process. Furthermore, land reform should be linked to developing an enabling environment for its beneficiaries, including education, training, infrastructure, access to modern farming equipment, finance and markets.

• Facilitate public-private partnerships and industry associations to strengthen programmes and services offered by public authorities and support the transfer of know-how to new entrant farmers. If support programmes are to help emerging entrepreneurs become commercial producers, they must draw upon the experiences of successful commercial farmers.

• Leverage the capacity in the private sector and learning and training institutions to revitalise public extension services. Upskilling public extension officers and providing them with resources to service rural communities and emerging commercial producers is essential. International experience, such as the Netherlands’ voucher-based system for farmers to access independent, impartial advice, may offer relevant lessons if carefully adapted to the South African context.

• Enhance the coordination of government–private action to scale foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) vaccination coverage, deploy a functional national traceability system, restore frontline veterinary services and enforce compliance in high‑risk areas. This will be essential to avoid highly costly temporary closures of export markets and help achieve South Africa’s ambition of expanding its livestock exports and establishing itself as a reliable supplier in world markets.

• Develop robust and accurate estimation methods to monitor and verify GHG emissions from agriculture, forestry and other land use (AFOLU) activities. This would be the first step to possibly reconsider the exemption of the AFOLU sector to the carbon tax. Furthermore, the processes currently underway to establish sectoral emission targets (SETs), as mandated under the Climate Change Act, and to develop the Greenhouse Gas Emission Reduction Plan (ERP) for South Africa’s agriculture sector, should be prioritised and concluded without undue delay.

Key indicators on agricultural support

Table 25.1. South Africa: Estimates of support to agriculture

Million USD

	2000-02	2023-25	2023	2024	2025p
Total value of production (at farm gate)	6 819	24 576	22 744	23 960	27 024
of which: share of MPS commodities (%)	74.75	74.97	74.73	75.46	74.72
Total value of consumption (at farm gate)	5 995	22 186	20 925	21 608	24 027
Producer Support Estimate (PSE)	480	776	356	934	1 038
Support based on commodity output	440	602	198	764	845
Market price support¹	440	602	198	764	845
Positive market price support	452	602	198	764	845
Negative market price support	-12	0	0	0	0
Payments based on output	0	0	0	0	0
Payments based on input use	36	174	157	170	193
Based on variable input use	25	150	134	149	167
with input constraints	0	0	0	0	0
Based on fixed capital formation	11	23	22	21	25
with input constraints	-0	-0	0	0	0
Based on on-farm services	1	0	0	0	0
with input constraints	0	0	0	0	0
Payments based on current A/An/R/I, production required	3	-0	0	0	0
Based on Receipts / Income	3	-0	0	0	0
Based on Area planted / Animal numbers	-0	-0	0	0	0
with input constraints	0	0	0	0	0
Payments based on non-current A/An/R/I, production required	0	0	0	0	0
Payments based on non-current A/An/R/I, production not required	0	0	0	0	0
With variable payment rates	0	0	0	0	0
with commodity exceptions	0	0	0	0	0
With fixed payment rates	0	0	0	0	0
with commodity exceptions	0	0	0	0	0
Payments based on non-commodity criteria	0	0	0	0	0
Based on long-term resource retirement	0	0	0	0	0
Based on a specific non-commodity output	0	0	0	0	0
Based on other non-commodity criteria	0	0	0	0	0
Miscellaneous payments	0	0	0	0	0
Percentage PSE (%)	7.36	3.13	1.55	3.87	3.82
Producer NPC (coeff.)	1.08	1.02	1.01	1.03	1.03
Producer NAC (coeff.)	1.08	1.03	1.02	1.04	1.04
General Services Support Estimate (GSSE)	264	245	257	225	253
Agricultural knowledge and innovation system	146	94	94	86	102
Inspection and control	39	60	82	48	49
Development and maintenance of infrastructure	78	74	64	76	82
Marketing and promotion	0	17	17	16	19
Cost of public stockholding	0	0	0	0	0
Miscellaneous	0	0	0	0	0
Percentage GSSE (% of TSE)	34.05	24.05	41.92	19.41	19.57
Consumer Support Estimate (CSE)	-353	-520	-211	-672	-677
Transfers to producers from consumers	-350	-514	-198	-666	-677
Other transfers from consumers	-17	-6	-12	-6	0
Transfers to consumers from taxpayers	0	0	0	0	0
Excess feed cost	14	-0	0	0	0
Percentage CSE (%)	-6.08	-2.34	-1.01	-3.11	-2.82
Consumer NPC (coeff.)	1.07	1.02	1.01	1.03	1.03
Consumer NAC (coeff.)	1.06	1.02	1.01	1.03	1.03
Total Support Estimate (TSE)	744	1 021	612	1 159	1 291
Transfers from consumers	367	520	211	672	677
Transfers from taxpayers	394	507	414	493	614
Budget revenues	-17	-6	-12	-6	0
Percentage TSE (% of GDP)	0.56	0.25	0.16	0.29	0.30
Total Budgetary Support Estimate (TBSE)	304	418	414	395	446
Percentage TBSE (% of GDP)	0.22	0.10	0.11	0.10	0.10
GDP deflator (2000-02 = 100)	100	384	371	386	395
Exchange rate (national currency per USD)	8.70	18.22	18.45	18.33	17.89

Note: p: provisional. NPC: Nominal Protection Coefficient. NAC: Nominal Assistance Coefficient. A/An/R/I: Area planted/Animal numbers/Receipts/Income. 1. Market Price Support (MPS) is net of producer levies and excess feed cost. MPS commodities for South Africa are: wheat, maize, sunflower, sugar, milk, beef and veal, pig meat, sheep meat, poultry, eggs, groundnuts, grapes, oranges and apples.

Source: OECD (2026), “Producer and Consumer Support Estimates”, OECD Agricultural policy monitoring (database), https://data-explorer.oecd.org/.

Policy landscape

South Africa’s National Development Plan 2030 is a key national framework offering a comprehensive and forward-looking strategy to provide all sectors with a roadmap to address social, economic, and political challenges by 2030. For the agricultural sector, Chapter 6 of the plan outlines the vision to contribute to an integrated and inclusive economy through the expansion of agricultural activity, effective land reform and sustainable rural development.

The Agriculture and Agro-processing Masterplan (AAMP), approved in May 2022, identified six pillars of agricultural policy:

• Resolving policy ambiguities and creating an investment-friendly environment

• Investing in and maintaining enabling infrastructure critical to industry

• Providing comprehensive farmer assistance, development finance, R&D and extension services

• Improving food security, increasing production and employment and ensuring decency and inclusivity

• Facilitating market expansion and promoting trade

• Increasing local food production, reducing reliance on imports and expanding agro-processing exports.

The Preservation and Development of Agricultural Land Act ensures that the country’s agricultural land is available to support food production goals and the agriculture sector’s contribution to the economy. The act, passed on 28 January 2025, includes provisions for agro-ecosystem management and outlines a guiding framework to establish and manage a national agro-ecological information system.

The Communal Property Associations Act defines the governance of agricultural land held in communal tenure, particularly in rural areas where communal land is often used for agricultural purposes. It makes provisions for the establishment of a communal associations office and the appointment of a registrar of communal property associations. These institutional improvements are expected to enhance security of tenure and decision-making around land use.

The Expropriation Act allows the government to acquire property for public purposes or in the public interest, which includes for the purposes of land reform. Compensation is made based on land use, history, market value, state investment, and purpose, with provisions for little or no compensation in cases when land is unused and held for speculative purposes, owned by a government entity with no intended use, abandoned by the owner, or where state investment in the land exceeds its market value.

The Agricultural Land Holding Account (ALHA) allows the state to acquire land using public funds to meet the demand for land to build sustainable rural livelihoods. Over the medium term, the ALHA aims to acquire 115 467 ha of strategically located land, of which 50% is set to be allocated to women, 40% to young people and 10% to people with disabilities (GCIS, 2023[2]). The ALHA will also provide financial and technical support to farmers at an estimated cost of ZAR 3.1 billion (USD 173 million) and ensure that farms with high commercial capacity are equipped with adequate infrastructure to realise their potential. The ALHA revenue is expected to be ZAR 1.1 billion (USD 61 million) in 2025/26. The majority (79.5%) of this revenue comes from transfers from the Department of Land Reform and Rural Development. The remainder of the revenue is from lease income and other minor sources.

The Comprehensive Agricultural Support Programme (CASP) provides conditional grants to land reform beneficiaries, smallholder producers, subsistence farmers or involved in agri-processing enterprises. Women, youth, people with disabilities and new agro-industries receive priority consideration. CASP provides one-off grants that do not commit the government to recurrent funding. In 2025/26, the total CASP allocation amounted to ZAR 1.69 billion (USD 95 million). The CASP priority areas include on- and off-farm infrastructure and production inputs; training and capacity building; information and knowledge management; marketing and business development support; technical and advisory services; and financial services, including access to micro-agricultural finance through the Micro-Agricultural Financial Institution of South Africa (MAFISA) for production credit and input financing.

MAFISA is the financial services arm of the CASP that targets smallholders in the agriculture, forestry and fisheries sector. The scheme addresses the financial services needs of smallholders via production loans, savings facilitation and capacity building. Services are accessed through a network of institutions accredited by the DALRRD as retail intermediaries. To date, most of the loans have been given to livestock, sugar cane, vegetables and grain crops.

Complementing CASP, the Ilima/Letsema conditional grant (ZAR 677 million – USD 38 million for 2025/26) assists vulnerable farming communities to increase agricultural production and invest in infrastructure. It targets grain, livestock, horticulture and aquaculture production areas. The main goal is reducing poverty through increased food production in communal rural areas, targeting vulnerable households, small-scale producers and subsistence farmers with inputs and support.

The Climate Change Act provides a comprehensive framework for South Africa’s climate change response across sectors including agriculture, energy, water and transport (DFFE, 2025[3]). The act requires the development of an adaptation strategy for the agricultural sector that is aligned with the National Adaptation Plan and Strategy. The Climate Change Act also regulates the agricultural sector’s obligation to publish sectoral emissions targets (SETs). The agricultural sector has a draft cumulative SET allocation to reduce emissions by 3.4 MtCO₂eq over the period from 2025 to 2030. However, carbon taxes in place since January 2022 under the Carbon Tax Act have not been applied to agriculture.

South Africa is a founding member of the Southern African Customs Union (SACU), a full customs union with a common external tariff.1 Border measures applied on SACU common borders (comprised of specific and ad valorem tariffs) are the only price support policy. The average applied Most Favoured Nation (MFN) tariff for agricultural products is 8.3%, which is higher than the average applied MFN tariff for non-agricultural products of 7.4% (WTO, 2025[4]). Tariff rate quotas (TRQs) granted to trading partners by SACU exist for a range of agricultural products under the WTO minimum market access commitments.2 A zero import-tariff for maize applies since 2007. Beef and sheep meat are subject to tariff rate quotas with outside-quota tariffs of 40% or ZAR 2.40/kg (USD 0.13/kg) for beef, and 40% or ZAR 2.00/kg (USD 0.11/kg) for sheep meat, whichever is higher. For pork meat the outside-quota tariff is 15% or ZAR 1.30/kg (USD 0.07/kg), except for ribs, which are not subject to tariffs. Poultry products have import tariffs ranging from zero to 82%.

South Africa applies the dollar-based reference price (DBRP) mechanism to ensure that the price importers pay for imported sugar (inclusive of the duty) cannot fall below a fixed DBRP level, currently set at USD 680 per tonne. If import prices are lower than the DBRP, an import duty is applicable, whereas if import prices are higher than the DBRP, no import duty is owed (USDA, 2024[5]).3

South Africa is also a member of the Southern African Development Community (SADC).4 Trade between South Africa and the European Union takes place under the SADC-EU Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) regime. This is a free trade agreement between the SADC EPA States (comprised of all SACU Member States plus Mozambique) and the European Union. The most important benefit for South Africa is the enhanced market access for agricultural products such as sugar, wine, some dairy products, flowers, fruits and nuts as well as their preparations.

Other free trade agreements relevant to agriculture include the SACU-EFTA FTA, a free trade agreement between members of the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) and the SACU which came into force in 2008, and the SACU and Mercosur Preferential Trade Agreement (PTA) which came into force in 2016. Trade between South Africa and the United Kingdom is governed by the SACUM-UK EPA,5 which is a replica of the SADC-EU EPA in terms of market access commitments with the exception of a few provisions that were modified during negotiations. The agreement provides important benefits for South Africa, including enhanced market access for wines and sugar into the United Kingdom.

South Africa is also a beneficiary of the US African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), a non-reciprocal trade preference programme that grants eligible Sub-Saharan African countries duty-free, quota-free (DFQF) access to the United States for selected export products. South Africa’s major agricultural export products benefiting from AGOA are mandarins, oranges, macadamia nuts and wine. AGOA was originally enacted in 2000 for eight years and has since been extended on three occasions. The most recent extension was signed into law on 3 February 2026, enacting a one-year extension ending in December 2026.

Recent policy developments

Domestic policy developments in 2025-26

Implementation of the National Policy on Comprehensive Producer Development Support began in April 2025. The policy guides and regulates support to different types of farmers and covers the role of stakeholders involved in delivering farmer support services (e.g. from the private sector, civil society and development partners).6 The policy is designed to promote the social and economic prosperity of producers, with different funding limits imposed for each producer category. The larger scale nationwide rollout phase began in 2026. Implementation of the policy is delegated to provinces, who are the competent authorities for such support.

The CASP grant programme was merged with the Ilima/Letsema grant programme in 2026. For the 2025/26 financial year, CASP had a total budget allocation of ZAR 1.69 billion (USD 94 million), of which ZAR 1.14 billion (USD 63 million) was used to support subsistence and smallholder farmers with infrastructure, training, mentorship and market access. For the 2025/26 financial year, the Ilima/Letsema programme was allocated ZAR 677.40 million (USD 37.9 million).

The Agricultural Product Standards Amendment Act (Act No. 12 of 2023), in force since August 2025, strengthens quality assurance, consumer protection and regulatory governance within agricultural markets. The amendments formalise the auditing of management control systems to ensure that production method claims, such as organic or free-range, are verifiable and compliant with prescribed standards, thereby enhancing consumer confidence and product integrity. The act strengthens governance safeguards, including conflict-of-interest requirements for assignees, institutionalises transparent cost-recovery-based fee mechanisms for inspection, grading, and classification services, and expands regulatory oversight to imported agricultural products. It further broadens the Minister’s regulatory powers in respect of audit and management control systems and aligns statutory terminology with current governmental structures. Collectively, the amendments signal a shift toward a more system-based regulatory oversight model centred on audit compliance, credible production claims and structured financial accountability.

The Plant Improvement Act (Act No. 11 of 2018) came into operation in December 2025. The Act regulates the registration of businesses dealing with plants and propagating material for cultivation and sale, sets quality standards and sales conditions, oversees the national listing and evaluation of plant varieties, and imports and exports controls on plants and propagating material in South Africa.

The rapid spread of Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD) prompted a review of legislation and draft amendments to the Animal Diseases Act of 1984 and the Animal Identification Act to enable phased mandatory electronic identification using commercial traceability platforms (Naude, 2026[6]). In January 2026, the Minister of Agriculture outlined a 10-year strategy, consisting of four phases. The strategy aims to contain and eradicate FMD and to restore South Africa’s FMD-free status, which was lost in 2019. Phase 1, spanning two years, involves a proactive FMD vaccination programme with a goal of vaccinating 80% of the national cattle herd by December 2026 and reducing outbreak incidents by at least 70%. The vaccination programme will also target 100% of herds for export (Naude, 2026[6]). Importantly, South Africa must comply with the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH) rules and guidelines on the treatment of FMD and adhere to its vaccine guidelines (Sihlobo and Kirsten, 2026[7]). In February 2026, the Agricultural Research Council in Pretoria finalised the first batch of locally produced, multi-strain FMD vaccines (12 900 doses), marking the first domestic production of FMD vaccines in South Africa in 20 years (Capa, 2026[8]).

Effective 1 April 2026, primary sector claimants conducting on-land operations will qualify for a refund on 100% of eligible diesel consumed in qualifying farming, forestry and mining activities. This is an increase from the previous regime, where tax relief was limited to 80% of purchases. To claim the refund, farmers must be registered for VAT purposes and are required to maintain records of purchase invoices, sales invoices and logbooks.

Implementation of the revised Raw Water Pricing Strategy began in 2026. For the commercial agricultural sector, the new pricing strategy is likely to translate into higher raw water tariffs, stricter cost-recovery for infrastructure, and charges linked to environmental management and resource protection (AgriSA, 2026[1]). Water charges for resource-poor farmers will be phased in over ten years from the date of registration of water use, with no charges in the first five years and incremental increases of 20% annually thereafter until full charges apply in year 10. Subsistence farming and animal watering are exempt from water use charges.

Trade policy developments in 2025-26

South Africa’s sugar import tariff fluctuated under the variable tariff formula, rising from ZAR 2 349 (USD 131) per tonne on 4 April 2025 to ZAR 3 774 (USD 211) per tonne on 11 April 2025, then temporarily decreasing to ZAR 2 829 (USD 158) per tonne on 9 May 2025. On 1 August 2025 the trigger level rose to ZAR 3 647 (USD 204) per tonne. Thereafter, it increased again, reaching ZAR 4 364 (USD 244) per tonne on 5 December 2025 (SARS, 2026[9]).

On 4 April 2025, the wheat import tariff was reduced to ZAR 183.50 (USD 10.26) per tonne, before increasing to ZAR 549.50 (USD 30.72) per tonne on 17 April 2025. The tariff was subsequently raised to ZAR 851.50 (USD 47.60) per tonne on 11 July 2025, before being reduced to ZAR 619.00 (USD 34.60) on 13 February 2026 (SARS, 2026[9]).

Recently signed agreements opened several Asian markets to South African agricultural produce. The stone fruit trade protocol signed on 15 October 2025 opens the Chinese market for South African apricots, peaches, nectarines, plums and prunes, marking a major diversification of export opportunities with expected job creation and export growth. Apple exports to Thailand started during the 2025 season following phytosanitary market access agreed in December 2024, ending a 16-year ban. In January 2026, South Africa gained phytosanitary market access for table grapes to Korea after a 20-year technical exchange.

On 21 November 2025, South Africa and Viet Nam concluded a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to strengthen bilateral relations and co-operation between the two countries in agriculture. The agreement enhances South Africa’s strategic access to one of Asia’s fastest-growing agricultural import markets, creating expanded export opportunities for citrus, maize, apples, pears, grapes and high-value niche products such as game meat. In addition, the MoU promotes closer collaboration in plant health, veterinary services, research, and technology transfer, thereby facilitating market access, reducing non-tariff barriers and improving regulatory certainty. The MoU secured expanded market access for table grapes with updated protocols. This follows the establishment of the bilateral protocol opening the Vietnamese market to South African oranges in 2024, which saw orange exports rise significantly.

Policy context

Key economic and agricultural statistics

South Africa has the largest economy on the African continent when measured by nominal GDP. With a GNI per capita of USD 6 110 in 2024, South Africa ranks as an upper middle-income country. However, sluggish economic growth has been outpaced by a rising population, resulting in falling GDP per capita over the past decade. While its economy is highly industrialised and diversified, income inequality is high and widespread poverty persists.

Agriculture represents a small share of the economy, at just 3.1% of GDP and 5.4% of employment7 (Table 25.2). South Africa has abundant agricultural land, but only 12.5% of it is arable, while the remaining agricultural area is mostly semi-arid pastures. South Africa’s main agricultural products include grain crops (maize, wheat and barley), oilseeds, sugar, fruit (deciduous, citrus and subtropical) and vegetables, and wine. Extensive livestock farming is vast, appropriating four‑fifths of the agricultural land in the country. The farm structure in South Africa is highly dualistic, with a well-developed and market-oriented sector of large-scale commercial farms and a large number of smallholder farms.

Table 25.2. South Africa: Contextual indicators

	South Africa		International comparison
	2000*	2024*	2000*	2024*
Economic context			Share in total of all countries
GDP (billion USD in PPPs)	382	989	0.9%	0.6%
Population (million)	44	64	1.0%	1.2%
Land area (thousand km2)	1 213	1 213	1.4%	1.4%
Agricultural area (AA) (thousand ha)	98 125	96 341	3.2%	3.3%
			All countries1
Population density (inhabitants/km2)	39	52	52	64
GDP per capita (USD in PPPs)	8 095	15 456	9 508	31 740
Trade as % of GDP	17.5	26.3	12.3	15.0
Agriculture in the economy			All countries1
Agriculture in GDP (%)	2.8	3.1	3.0	3.6
Agriculture share in employment (%)	8.5	5.4	-	-
Agro-food exports (% of total exports)	8.5	12.5	6.4	8.3
Agro-food imports (% of total imports)	5.2	7.3	6.1	7.5
Characteristics of the agricultural sector			All countries1
Crop in total agricultural production (%)	55.6	53.4	62.1	60.4
Livestock in total agricultural production (%)	44.4	46.6	37.9	39.6
Share of arable land in AA (%)	14.1	12.5	33.0	34.0

Note: *or closest available year.

1. Average of all countries covered in this report.

Sources: OECD statistical databases; International Labour Organisation (ILO); UN Comtrade; World Bank, WDI; FAO database and national data.

Economic growth has been subdued over the past decade although GDP growth increased marginally in 2025, reaching 1.1%, up from a low of 0.5% in 2024 (Figure 25.4). Unemployment remains high (32.4%) and on a rising trend. South Africa’s unemployment rate is among the highest in the world. Inflation has continued to fall since its recent high of 7% in 2022 and stood at 3.3% in 2025, easing price pressures and edging closer to the central bank’s target of 3%.

South Africa has consistently been a net exporter of agro-food products (Figure 25.5). In 2024, the share of agrifood exports in total exports was 12.5%, while the share of agro-food imports was 7.3% (Table 25.2). The majority (55%) of agro-food exports are primary agricultural products, whereas nearly three-quarters of agro-food imports are processed products (Figure 25.5). The African continent was South Africa’s largest agricultural export market, followed by Europe and Asia.

Agricultural output growth was slightly below the global average over the 2014‑23 period and driven predominantly by increased use of intermediate inputs (Figure 25.6). This was not the case in the 1990s, when annual TFP growth averaged 1.6%, only marginally below the worldwide average. TFP growth has slowed significantly since then. While the TFP growth rate worldwide averaged 0.8% between 2014-23, in South Africa it was substantially lower at 0.1% over the same period (Table 25.3).

Phosphorus and nitrogen balances are negative and well below the OECD average. South Africa’s water resources are increasingly under strain. Agriculture uses most (54%) abstracted water, although only 1.7% of agricultural land is irrigated, mainly in the west of the country where water resources are limited (Table 25.3). Agriculture’s share in total energy use has increased to 3.2% and remains above the OECD average of 2.0%. Agriculture’s share and absolute levels of GHG emissions have declined since 2000 as livestock numbers have fallen. The agriculture sector represented 11% of GHG emissions in 2024.

Table 25.3. South Africa: Productivity and environmental indicators

	South Africa		International comparison
	1991-2000	2014-23	1991-2000	2014-23
			World
TFP annual growth rate (%)	1.6%	0.1%	1.8%	0.8%
			OECD average
Environmental indicators	2000*	2024*	2000*	2024*
Nitrogen balance, kg/ha	-6.3	-5.0	32.3	29.0
Phosphorus balance, kg/ha	0.2	-0.1	3.3	2.3
Agriculture share of total energy use (%)	2.7	3.2	1.7	2.0
Agriculture share of GHG emissions (%)	11.9	11.1	8.7	10.3
Share of irrigated land in AA (%)	1.6	1.7	-	-
Share of agriculture in water abstractions (%)	70.6	54.4	46.1	47.7
Water stress indicator	33.7	69.0	..	..

Note: * or closest available year.

Sources: USDA Economic Research Service, Agricultural Productivity database; OECD statistical databases; FAO database and national data.

Historical trends in agricultural policies

Widespread support, regulation, and price and production control within a closed economy characterised agricultural policy in South Africa under the apartheid regime between 1955 and 1990.

Post-apartheid, quick and substantial reforms in the mid-1990s reduced state intervention in agricultural markets and led to more market-oriented commercial farming. Domestic marketing of agricultural products was deregulated, and barriers to agricultural trade were reduced by replacing direct import controls with tariffs, removing state controls over exports, and eliminating export subsidies. These reforms reduced market price support and budgetary support to commercial farming.

As stated in the White Paper on Land Policy of 1997, land reform aimed to redress past injustices, foster reconciliation and stability, support economic growth, improve household welfare and alleviate poverty. Key elements of the land reform included land restitution, land redistribution and land-tenure reform. The land reform process is ongoing, and further legislative regulations have been submitted to facilitate the acceleration of the land reform process. As of 2024, 19.3 million ha (or 25% of freehold farmland in South Africa) had been restored, redistributed to black South Africans, or transferred to state ownership (Kirsten and Sihlobo, 2024[10]). Of this, 3.17 million ha has been acquired by the state, 11.55 million ha have been transferred to black owners through land restitution or redistribution, and at least 1.9 million ha of farmland were acquired by black South Africans without assistance from the state. In several instances, communities elected to receive financial compensation where land was successfully identified for restitution (2.68 million ha in addition to the transferred land). Since it started, the land reform has been accompanied by agricultural support targeting black smallholders and emerging producers who were previously excluded from support by the apartheid government. Mainly provided within the Comprehensive Agricultural Support Programme, these measures include subsidies for variable and fixed input credit and financial support, extension, marketing, and training services (Table 25.4).

Table 25.4. South Africa: Agricultural policy trends

Period	Framework	Changes in agricultural policies
Prior to mid-1990s	Closed economy under the apartheid regime	Large subsidies for commercial agricultural producers Import controls; export subsidies for agricultural products Price and production controls under the Agricultural Marketing Act of 1937
Mid-1990s-present	Post-apartheid period; democratic government; market deregulation and trade liberalisation Land redistribution; emphasis on black small-scale producers’ development	Marketing of Agricultural Products Act (1996) brings market deregulation and trade liberalisation WTO accession Agricultural tariffs replace import controls Import tariffs applied to sugar and livestock products (except eggs), with tariff-free imports of maize (since 2007) Land restitution and redistribution Land reform-related programmes supporting black smallholder farmers: - Increased spending to finance the land reform process - Direct support targeting black smallholders

Support to farmers decreased as a share of gross farm receipts (with some year-to-year variation) during the period from 1995 to 2007 due to policy reforms and deregulation of the market. Since then, support continued to trend downwards, reaching a record low of 1.6% of gross farm receipts in 2023 (Figure 25.7). Budgetary support to producers, mostly input subsidies, is targeted to black smallholders. Budgetary expenditures on general services to the sector are spent mainly on knowledge transfer and infrastructure.

References

[1] AgriSA (2026), Policy Outlook 2026 - Stability, Reform, and Competitiveness in a Constrained Economy, https://www.linkedin.com/posts/agrisa1904_agrisas-policy-outlook-2026-activity-7422217265523150848-3nFs/.

[8] Capa, S. (2026), SA rolls out first locally made foot-and-mouth disease vaccines in 20 years, https://www.news24.com/politics/sa-rolls-out-first-locally-made-foot-and-mouth-disease-vaccines-in-20-years-20260206-0778 (accessed on 3 March  2026).

[3] DFFE (2025), Minister George announces proclamation and implementation of the Climate Change Act, 2024 (Act No. 22 of 2024). Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment (DFFE)., https://www.dffe.gov.za/mediarelease/george_climatechangeact.

[2] GCIS (2023), “Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development”, Official Guide to South Africa 2022/23, https://www.gcis.gov.za/sites/default/files/docs/07%20Agricultture%2C%20Land%20Reform%20and%20Rural%20Development.pdf (accessed on 15 April 2025).

[10] Kirsten, J. and W. Sihlobo (2024), , This is how President Ramaphosa got to the 25% figure of progress in land reform in South Africa”, The Conversation, https://theconversation.com/this-is-how-president-ramaphosa-got-to-the-25-figure-of-progress-in-land-reform-in-south-africa-226135 (accessed on 13 March 2026).

[6] Naude, H. (2026), Steenhuisen sets out stringent 10-year strategy to contain FMD, https://www.farmersweekly.co.za/agri-news/south-africa/steenhuisen-sets-out-stringent-10-year-strategy-to-contain-and-eradicate-fmd/.

[9] SARS (2026), Tariff Amendments. South African Revenue Service (SARS)., https://www.sars.gov.za/legal-counsel/secondary-legislation/tariff-amendments/tariff-amendments-2026/.

[7] Sihlobo, W. and J. Kirsten (2026), Making sense of the hysteria around the Foot and Mouth Disease outbreak in South Africa’s livestock industry, https://wandile.substack.com/p/making-sense-of-the-hysteria-around (accessed on 3 March 2026).

[5] USDA (2024), “South Africa: Sugar Annual”, Global Agricultural Information Network (GAIN), https://fas.usda.gov/data/south-africa-sugar-annual-8 (accessed on 6 June 2024).

[4] WTO (2025), Tariff profiles - South Africa, https://www.wto.org/english/res_e/statis_e/daily_update_e/tariff_profiles/ZA_e.pdf.

Notes

← 1.  The SACU members are Botswana, Kingdom of Eswatini (hereafter, Eswatini), Lesotho, Namibia and South Africa.

← 2.  TRQs are allocated based on historical trade as specified under each TRQ. If the TRQs are unused by 1 September each year, then unused TRQs are available to other member states. The establishment of a permanent TRQ Management System at the SACU level is still in progress.

← 3.  Adjustments to the level of protection granted are made when the 20-trading day moving average of the London No. 5 settlement price shows a variance of more than USD 20 per tonne from the previous trigger level for 20 consecutive trading days. The resulting Dollar duty is then converted to Rand, based on the Rand/Dollar exchange rate prevailing on the day that the adjustment is triggered, and subsequently adjusted with the latest available Real Effective Exchange Rate as published by the South African Reserve Bank.

← 4.  The SADC member countries are Angola, Botswana, Democratic Republic of Congo, Eswatini, Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Seychelles, South Africa, Tanzania, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.

← 5.  The Economic Partnership Agreement between the SACU Member States (Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Namibia and South Africa) and Mozambique on the one part, and the United Kingdom on the other part (SACUM-UK EPA) entered into force on 1 January 2021.

← 6.  Producers are categorised into the following six distinct groups: (1) Household Producer (Vulnerable); (2) Household Producer (Subsistence); (3) Smallholder Producer; (4) Medium Scale Commercial Producer; (5) Large Scale Commercial Producer; and (6) Mega/Corporate Producer.

← 7.  The methodology used by the ILO to estimate the agricultural share of employment in South Africa has been revised since the previous edition of this report, resulting in a lower estimate. The difference between the 2024 figure reported in the previous edition and the 2025 figure presented here largely reflects this methodological change.