South African agricultural exports have shown steady growth over the past five years, according to Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Minister Senzeni Zokwana. And this despite drought, bouts of foot-and-mouth disease, and avian and swine flu.
He said that protocols had been signed with BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) member countries which had resulted in exponential export growth. “In addition the Japan market has grown by 46% and we have gained market access for new products in countries like the USA, China, India and the Philippines.”
The government’s aquaculture programme had also yielded positive results, he added.
“Since the launch of the Aquaculture Operation Phakisa Programme in 2014, Daff has registered 35 Phakisa projects and identified eight Aquaculture Development Zones (ADZ) throughout the country.
“In 2018, more than 4 000 tons were farmed by the 35 projects representing 1 943 jobs. The 2017/18 period saw a projected additional investment of R616 million, R236 million of which came from government and R379 million from the private sector,” Zokwana said.