WANDILE SIHLOBO | Efficient logistics indispensable for a thriving agricultural sector

In an export-oriented sector, efficient logistics — ports, rails and roads — are everything.

The South African agricultural sector is one such export-focused sector of the economy, with about half of its produce, in value terms, going to export markets.

When one talks to growers of various fruits and producers of wine, grains and meat across the country, they are all focused on expanding export markets.

As we pursue new export markets, the one area that should remain a priority is improving port operations.

In the last week of May, we participated in the HORTGRO symposium in the Western Cape and, separately, attended the South African Table Grape Industry’s AGM in Paarl.

Listening to the growers and the various issues raised, nothing is more urgent for the sustainability and growth of the horticultural industry than efficient logistics.

This message was underlined by various speakers and in sideline conversations with growers as the table grape industry recently completed a particularly challenging export season.

In the 2025-26 season, table grape growers had an excellent harvest, benefiting from favourable weather conditions.

When we visited some growers in the Northern Cape towards the end of 2025, as they were preparing for the harvest, there was optimism about a bigger harvest and an excellent raisin season.

But soon a challenge arose when the crop had to be shipped to markets around the world.

There were particularly some inefficiencies in the Port of Cape Town, leading to losses in quality and ultimately the value that the growers sell their produce at in the various export markets.

The inefficiencies were a major challenge, forcing some growers and exporters to shift the volume of the crop they would typically export through the Port of Cape Town to the Eastern Cape ports.

Evidently, the trade data from the South African Table Grape Industry show that the proportion of table grape exports shipped through the Port of Cape Town declined from 91% in the previous season to 76% in the 2025-26 season.

Meanwhile, volumes shipped through Eastern Cape ports increased from 6% of total exports in 2024/25 to 21% this year.

While higher export activity is generally welcomed at the Eastern Cape ports, transporting these volumes from various grape-growing regions of our country to these ports adds cost for growers and exporters compared to doing so through the Port of Cape Town, which is closer to many of them.

Therefore, while overall agricultural export values for the first quarter of 2026 are solid, the financial conditions of some growers were negatively affected by difficulties at the Port of Cape Town.

SA’s agricultural exports totalled $3.7bn (R60.9bn) in the first quarter of 2026, up 11% from the same period a year ago.

Clearly, there is demand in the world market for South African produce, but this requires SA to deliver it promptly to importing regions.

The farmers can do their part by growing high-quality produce that meets international market specifications.

But they require that the entire value chain and logistics function efficiently, so they are rewarded fairly for their harvest across various markets.

Moreover, as a country, we have a desire to expand the South African agricultural production.

But as a country that already exports about half of what we produce, we can’t expand without placing more focus on improving logistics and ensuring the work of opening new markets continues.

These are all key prerequisites for a thriving agricultural system.

In our policy position and desire to boost transformation and bring new entrant farmers to commercial scale, not only in fruit but across various value chains, the major prerequisite for the success of our efforts is also the improvement of roads, rail and ports, as all these affect farmers.

The opening of new markets, so that there is flexibility in where products can be marketed, is another vital step.

Fortunately, there are ongoing conversations to improve the operations at the ports.

But more private sector involvement is essential to help combine efforts to drive efficiencies.

Transnet has been collaborating with organised agriculture and other stakeholders to minimise friction in future.

If we can improve logistical efficiency, the various agricultural industries, such as table grapes, would be far more profitable and create more needed jobs in the sector.

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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