The Agricultural Business Chamber (Agbiz) yesterday said that going into the BRICS+ summit, focus should be on building on the spirit of its 2023 Johannesburg summit, which promoted the dialogue about deeper agricultural trade.
Agbiz chief economist, Wandile Sihlobo, said the message this year was even more urgent as the newly added BRICS+ members also presented an opportunity for widening agricultural exports.
“The South African authorities should lobby for a more pragmatic approach beyond the high-level talks so that businesses can see the full benefit of BRICS+ engagements,” Sihlobo said.
The BRICS+ summit is to be held in Kazan, Russia, in October.
Agbiz said what was very important in the near term was utilising the BRICS+ structure to push more ambitious trade matters, though this grouping was not a trade bloc.
It said the agricultural sector was one of the South African economic sectors that would benefit from deeper trade relations with the BRICS+ countries.
“As things stand, South African agriculture has not benefited much from trade with this grouping. Before adding other members to the 15th summit in Johannesburg in 2023, the original BRICS countries accounted, on average, for just 8% of South Africa’s agricultural exports. In comparison, the UK accounts for roughly 7% of South Africa’s agricultural exports,” he said.
Sihlobo said between 2019 and 2022, the original BRICS countries’ agricultural imports averaged $255 billion annually, according to Trade Map data.
China accounted for 71% of all the agricultural imports into the group, followed by India at 11%, Russia at 11%, Brazil at 4%, and South Africa at 3%.
“Despite these sizeable agricultural import figures, the intra-BRICS agricultural trade remained relatively low,” he said.
“Remarkably, the products these countries imported include soy beans, beef, maize, berries, wheat, palm oil, poultry meat, cotton, barley, dairy products, pork, apricots, and peaches, sugar, wool, sunflower seed, nuts, sorghum, goat meat, wine, grapes, bananas, avocados, mangos, guavas, and fruit juices, among other products.
“South Africa produces some of these products in abundance and has surplus export volumes. Thus, South Africa championed a need to deepen trade at the 2023 BRICS summit,” Sihlobo said.
Meanwhile, Kobus Janse van Rensburg, Santam’s agri head of sales and distribution, said the agriculture sector was integral to both the South African economy as well as food security.
According to the latest Santam Insurance Barometer report, the industry contributes around R400 billion to the economy each year, supports 870 000 jobs, and weighs in with $13bn in export revenue.
“It is due to the dedication and resilience of the country’s commercial farmers that South Africa has the highest food security status score in Africa, scoring 61.4 points on the 2022 Global Food Security Index Report,” Janse van Rensburg said.
The short-term insurer said both locally and globally, food security was under threat.
“On the local front, our domestic agriculture sector is more exposed to the systemic risk of climate change than any other sector. Drought, flood, hail, and wildfires can cause tremendous damage to both crops and farm infrastructure.
“Crop insurance is therefore vital in enhancing food security in South Africa. It ensures that agricultural growth is sustainable and resilient amid increasing climatic and weather-related risks,” he said.