South Africa’s primary agriculture sector accounts for nearly 3% of GDP and about 8% when considering the value of agro-processing. But it can contribute even more to economic growth that delivers benefits fairly across society and creates jobs.
This can’t happen, however, if new policies and plans keep getting introduced. Fortunately, the views of the new agricultural minister, John Steenhuisen, may not be far from the existing policy path. Steenhuisen is the leader of the Democratic Alliance, the second biggest party in parliament, which has joined a unity government with the African National Congress after the latter failed to win the majority vote.
The African National Congress has been governing under the vision of the National Development Plan, which was recently distilled into the Agriculture and Agro-processing Master Plan. The aim is to grow an inclusive and competitive agricultural economy by focusing on specific commodities and their value chains, as well as specific regions.
