The recent news that SA’s citrus will now have even wider access to the Indian market is a welcome development.
The negotiations for expanded access to India have lasted for nearly a decade.
Commenting after the approval of wider access, the Citrus Growers’ Association of Southern Africa (CGA) said: “India has approved the inclusion of additional treatment options for fresh citrus fruit from South Africa.
“The improved export conditions are a significant development for the industry.
”SA already exports citrus to India with various fruit fly treatments.
“The additional fruit fly cold treatment options that have now been approved will allow for the quality of the fruit in the market to improve, and it adds important logistical flexibility.”
For me, these steps to access India, following China, are part of a broader move for SA’s agriculture to gain deeper access to the Brics countries.
Of course, so far this has been through bilateral engagements.
In the case of China, it is the China-Africa Economic Partnership Agreement, which was signed at the beginning of May.
In the case of India, SA is pushing for improvements to the Southern African Customs Union (Sacu)–India Preferential Trade Agreement.
I am among those who have complained about the difficulties experienced by the SA farming sector in penetrating the Brics market.
But through these positive developments in citrus, we are moving towards a desired direction, where Brics can be a more notable agricultural trade partner than before.
It has always been troubling to see that the Brics market accounted for less of SA’s agricultural exports than the UK or Sacu.
For example, the original Brics countries, which are among the key importers, mainly India and China, account for less than 10% of SA’s agricultural exports.
By comparison, the Sacu countries account for about 20% of SA’s agricultural exports.
Remarkably, some Brics countries have far more favourable trade terms with non-Brics countries. This results in less intra-Brics agricultural trade.
The need to correct this trade misalignment is even more urgent with the expansion of the Brics grouping.
The new Brics members mean that the bloc’s agricultural market is even broader, holding potential economic benefits for its members.
I must state clearly that Brics is not a formal trade grouping.
But as the grouping matures politically, deepening regional economic integration and trade is the most logical step towards expanding the group’s ambitions, particularly in agriculture.
Notably, the original Brics members and the additional members account for about half of global agricultural imports and therefore have the capacity to import products from SA.
Considering this Brics context, what India has done is ease the phytosanitary barriers.
Such steps are necessary to increase agricultural exports, along with a reduction in tariffs.
The tariff revisions to zero are a courageous step that China recently offered for various goods from the African continent.
Such policy shifts will continue to help firm agricultural trade in this grouping of countries.
Citrus remains SA’s leading agricultural export, accounting for 17% of SA’s $15.1bn (R244.4bn) in agricultural exports in 2025.
SA’s citrus export markets are diverse and span the African continent, Asia, the UK, the Middle East, the Black Sea, Europe and the Americas, among other markets.
The ongoing conflict in the Middle East is causing significant difficulties for exports to that region, especially now as we anticipate increased competition from abundant citrus volumes from South America.
The higher fuel prices continue to pressure the industry during this harvesting period.
Overall, SA’s citrus industry’s access to a larger market of more than a billion people, such as India, is a notable step forward.
While this process has been under way for some time, with negotiations lasting nearly a decade, it builds on deepening trade among Brics members and on SA’s export diversification strategy.
This export-focused approach remains vital not only to the citrus industry but also to all of SA’s fruit, wine, grains, nuts and red meat industries.
The Middle East crisis reminds us of the value of having diverse export markets.
We need deeper access in Asia.
Indeed, the Middle East is not suddenly irrelevant; it remains vital, but for the long term.
Wandile Sihlobo is the presidential envoy on agriculture and land. He is also the chief economist of the Agricultural Business Chamber of South Africa, and a senior research fellow in the Department of Agricultural Economics at Stellenbosch University.
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