There is rising optimism in South Africa’s agriculture

Loading player...
We have a challenging year like this one where there remains discomfort about the Expropriation Act in some sections of South Africa and rising geopolitical tensions; we were pleasantly surprised to see rising optimism in South Africa’s agriculture.

The Agbiz/IDC Agribusiness Confidence Index (ACI) – a sentiment indicator in South Africa’s agriculture -- increased 11 points from Q4 2024 to 70 in Q1 2025. This is the third consecutive improvement, placing the ACI at its highest level since Q4 2021, a year of La Niña rainfall that boosted agricultural output.

The current level of the ACI implies that South African agribusinesses remain optimistic about business conditions in the country. This optimism is a result of a combination of factors, including La Niña rains that support the 2024-25 agricultural season, improvements in port efficiency that supported exports in 2024, and the progress in controlling animal diseases.

This survey was conducted in the third week of February, covering various agribusinesses operating in all agricultural subsectors across South Africa.

Listen to the podcast for more insights.

Richard Humphries and Sam Mkokeli produce this podcast.
24 Mar 2025 English South Africa Investing · Food

Other recent episodes

Canola production in South Africa may reach a fresh high in 2026-27

Many agricultural crops and value chains have shown dramatic progress in recent years. They should serve as an inspiration for further growth of this sector. I often write about South Africa's soybean success story, whose production increased from 67,700 tonnes in the 1993-94 production season to an expected record harvest…
28 Apr 5 min

Will the current rains distort grain quality in South Africa?

We are late in the 2025-26 summer grains and oilseed season. Farmers in some regions have already started harvesting the crop. South Africa is set to have its largest grain harvest on record, about 20.8 million tonnes. But will the recent rains not cause quality issues? Or will they help…
27 Apr 8 min

Are cooling agricultural equipment sales in South Africa a temporary blip?

Last week, the South African Agricultural Machinery Association released its monthly agricultural machinery sales report for March 2026. To some observers of the South African agricultural sector, the report signalled a change from the long period of strong tractor and combine harvesters sales to a much slower pace. Tractor sales…
12 Apr 7 min