The Xchange Platform Agricultural Market Viewpoint with Wandile Sihlobo

There is rising optimism in South Africa’s agriculture

--:--
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 English South Africa Investing · Food

Other recent episodes

South Africa expects an ample grain harvest this year

On April 30, we had essential data on South Africa's agriculture. The Crop Estimates Committee (CEC) released its third production forecast for South Africa's 2024-25 summer crop production season. There are seven more monthly estimates to come. But on the third estimate, we begin to have some comfort about the…
3 May 11 min

The excessive rains present some challenges for South Africa's agriculture

We are beginning to be concerned about the impact of these excessive rains on agriculture, particularly summer grains and oilseed regions. The crop has matured in most areas, and some planted earlier are now ready to harvest. However, with these excessive rains, it may prove impossible to access the fields…
26 Apr 12 min

Remain focused on domestic matters that are key to SA's agricultural growth

In political economy, there is something called "flooding the zone". Roughly explained, this is when a deluge of information takes people's attention away from what should be a priority. In South Africa's agriculture, we are fortunately not under such an attack through the flood of information. Still, we must continuously…
22 Apr 14 min

SA must work to diversify its agricultural export markets

South Africa was not spared of the "Liberation Day" tariffs announced by US President Trump against various countries. South Africa will face tariffs between 10% and 31% in the US for all products. The specificity of by-products is not yet clear. We know now that a baseline tariff of 10%…
7 Apr 12 min
All episodes