TEN YEARS IN AGRICULTURE: the winners and the losers

In 2010, the world was emerging from a global recession, and prospects for future growth looked rosy. South Africa’s economy was predicted to achieve a 5% annual growth rate, with a steady exchange rate of R11/ US$1 over the next decade. Agriculture was predicted to create at least 300 000 additional jobs by 2020.

‘WE ARE IN A FAR BETTER POSITION THAN 10 YEARS AGO’

In reality, the sector managed only a third of that. But far from all being doom and gloom, agriculture has much to celebrate in looking back over the past 10 years. While the country has managed an annual growth rate of less than 1%, agriculture has averaged 2% in real terms, a remarkable feat considering the string of problems it has faced. Despite enduring South Africa’s worst drought in 112 years, a listeriosis outbreak, and multiple cases of avian influenza, African swine flu and foot-and-mouth disease (FMD), to name only some of the challenges, the sector grew in line with other Southern Hemisphere countries such as Chile, Argentina and Australia. Moreover, although the rand did not