Local agricultural organisation Agri SA said yesterday it was distressed by the decrease of 12000 jobs in the agricultural sector.
The comment came after Statistics South Africa’s (StatsSA) reported the Quarterly Labour Force Survey (QLFS) for the last quarter of last year.
Johan Wege, the chairperson of Agri SA's Centre of Excellence for Labour, said although the loss of jobs was marginal for now, it pointed to the increasingly challenging environment in which farmers operated.
“The sector has shown itself to be remarkably resilient and was counted among the best performing sectors even at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic. But the tide is turning for one of the country’s most labour-intensive sectors-rising input costs, endemic load shedding, and crumbling infrastructure is placing severe strain on the agricultural sector,” Wege said.
However, Agricultural Business Chamber chief economist Wandile Sihlobo said the data released painted a broadly comforting picture, showing that in the last quarter of last year, there were about 860 000 people employed in primary agriculture, which was well above the long-term agricultural employment of 780 000.
“Admittedly, some of the factors we mentioned did weigh on the sector as employment fell by 1% yearly and roughly the same rate from the third quarter of the year. Except for summer crops and forestry, the decline in employment was in all sub-sectors with a significant decline in the livestock sector, which underscores the animal disease challenge.
“Furthermore, the higher feed cost was, and remains, an additional challenge for the livestock industry, along with a decline in red meat prices, all of which add pressure on farming businesses,” Sihlobo said.
From a regional perspective, except for the Western Cape, Northern Cape and Free State, all provinces registered a mild decline in agricultural employment in the last quarter of last year compared with the corresponding period in 2021.
Agbiz said the employment outlook of the agricultural sector remained uncertain.
Farming business was challenged by persistent load shedding, which had increased input costs as some sought various means of energy generation that required extra capital.
“Moreover, the recent increases in minimum wages are a concern, specifically for the fruit industry. The farming input costs, such as fertilisers and agrochemicals, although having moderated somewhat from levels we saw in much of last year, remain fairly higher. All these will be added pressures on the farmers that could weigh on employment conditions,” Agbiz said.
Furthermore, Wege said that the commitments made by te President Cyril Ramaphosa in the recent State of the Nation Address needed to be an immediate priority to help save jobs and guarantee the nation’s food security.
Clarity was also needed on the regulations published for the State of Disaster on the energy crisis by the Minister for Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma.
“While food production and storage have been included as essential infrastructure, detail is needed as to what this entails and what relief it will provide for farmers,” he said.
Moreover, the extension of the diesel levy rebate must be accompanied by the fast-tracking of the processing of claims and a reduction in the onerous red tape currently hampering the system. It said that this was the only way to alleviate the ongoing burden of load shedding on farmers, preserving critical rural jobs.
“Urgent action is needed to protect this sector and Agri SA remains committed to ensuring support for the sector so we can continue to provide both food security and livelihoods at this challenging time for South Africans,” the organisation said.
South Africa's agricultural sector has had a broadly better-than-expected performance in 2022. Its exports reached a record $12.8 billion (R233bn), and agricultural machinery sales, such as tractors, were at the highest level in 40 years.
This despite the range of challenges that faced the sector, such as excessive rains at the start of the 2021/22 summer crop season, disease outbreaks in the livestock industry, trade barriers in fruits and wool, and logistical challenges at the country’s ports, particularly in the first half of last year.
BUSINESS REPORT