We can view 2024 in South Africa's agriculture as a "mixed" year. Indeed, the GDP figures will show a sharp contraction in South Africa's agricultural fortunes in 2024. But a deep dive will illuminate a more nuanced picture of mixed performance. For example, the field crops and livestock subsectors had their fair share of challenges, while the horticulture subsector had a relatively better year.

First, the mid-summer drought led to a 23% decline in South Africa's 2023-24 summer grains and oilseeds to 15,40 million tonnes. Second, animal disease continued to be a major challenge for farmers. This is understandable because we have had various cases of foot-and-mouth disease in cattle, African swine fever in pigs, and avian influenza in poultry over the past three years.

Third, there were also positive developments in South Africa's agriculture this year. One such positive development, which is not necessarily agriculture-specific, is the improvement in electricity supply. This positively contributed to the sector and partly to the robust horticulture production. For example, when one considers the dependence of South Africa's agriculture on horticulture, it is always worth highlighting that all of South Africa's horticulture – fruits and vegetables depends on irrigation that needs an adequate power supply. In crucial field crops, roughly 20% of maize, 15% of soybean, 34% of sugarcane, and nearly half of wheat are produced under irrigation.

As we start 2025, the sector has renewed optimism regarding expected better rainfall and improvements in the animal disease control front. This year's focus should remain on the opening of export markets, improvement of the network industries, and improving municipality performance.

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Richard Humphries, Sam Mkokeli, and Amanda Murimba produce this podcast. Wandile Sihlobo website