There were 873 000 people employed in the primary agriculture sector in the third quarter of this year, up by 5% year-on-year, Agricultural Business Chamber chief economist Wandile Sihlobo said yesterday.
This was despite South Africa’s agricultural sector facing numerous challenges in the 2021/22 production season, which ranged from tough production conditions in grains and oilseeds, disease outbreaks in livestock, and trade barriers in horticulture.
“Notably, this is well above the long-term agricultural employment of 780 000. As with the previous quarter, the increased farm activity in some vegetables, fruits and field crops sustained robust employment,” Sihlobo said.
The picture was still not all rosy. “The livestock, animal husbandry, forestry and related services subsectors shaved jobs during this period under review. The decline in employment in livestock was expected as the subsector faces the spread of foot-and-mouth disease, which has led to a temporary suspension of exports and a reduction in activity in numerous businesses, thus weighing on farmers’ finances.
“Furthermore, the higher feed cost is an additional challenge for the livestock industry. This decline in agricultural jobs was mainly in the North West and Mpumalanga. Still, the reduction in the business activity in the subsectors mentioned above was compensated by the increasing work opportunities in horticulture and field crops. Thus, other provinces registered positive growth from the third quarter of 2021,” he said.
Sihlobo said the data for the last quarter of the year would likely present a roughly unchanged view from the third quarter primary agricultural jobs numbers.
The horticulture and field crops subsector probably would maintain the current workforce, although input costs had risen notably.
He said farmers were optimistic about the 2022/23 production season, and the rains since the start of the quarter were broadly positive for the sector, notwithstanding the planting delays in the grains and oilseeds regions and the destruction of some banana and macadamia fields in Mpumalanga because of excessive rains.
The business challenges that the Tongaat Hulett financial difficulties brought to the sugar-cane industry were possibly not reflected in the agricultural jobs numbers for now.
The agricultural organisation stressed that over and above the subsector specific issues, South Africa’s agriculture faced challenges around the inadequate functioning of network industries like roads, rail, ports, water and electricity as well as the poorly functioning municipalities, leading to an increase in the cost of doing business.
“Moreover, the challenging economic conditions in the country have, in some areas, led to labour unrest, which also requires close monitoring,” Sihlobo said.
BUSINESS REPORT