The Xchange Platform Agricultural Market Viewpoint with Wandile Sihlobo

South Africa’s agricultural outlook for 2026 remains positive

Loading player...
We are in another favourable agricultural season in South Africa, with favourable rains that enabled the farmers to plant and supported the grazing veld for the livestock industry. This builds on a better agricultural performance in 2025, a year of La Niña rains that supported the sector. The only significant risk at the moment is foot-and-mouth disease, which continues to weigh on South Africa’s cattle industry. The Department of Agriculture is undertaking a nationwide vaccination campaign against foot-and-mouth disease, and the success of this process remains vital to the sustainability of the sector.
Listen to the podcast for more information.
Richard Humphries and Sam Mkokeli produce this podcast.
10 Jan English South Africa Investing · Food

Other recent episodes

South Africa’s farming fortunes are positive at the start of 2026

The South African farming sector had a broadly positive start to 2026. This is notwithstanding the challenges posed by foot-and-mouth disease in cattle, African swine fever in the pig industry, and floods in the northeastern regions of South Africa at the start of the year. Still, higher economic activity across…
17 Jun 10 min

Recent floods are another headwind for South Africa’s agricultural growth

We are likely in another year of mixed fortunes in South Africa’s agriculture. At an aggregate level, we believe that the sector is likely to see some growth this year. However, the subsector view will show significant divergence, as various parts of the sector face an array of pressures. One…
20 May 7 min
All episodes