Farming in South Africa is being hobbled by power cuts and poor roads. Rural towns are being hit hardest

GUEST – Wandile Sihlobo is the Chief Economist of the Agricultural Business Chamber of South Africa (Agbiz)<br /> <br /> South Africa’s agriculture has had great consecutive seasons since 2019/20. The sector’s gross value added grew by 14.9% in 2020, 8.8% in 2021 and modestly by 0.3% in 2022 . This was primarily supported by favourable weather conditions. The current season is also likely to deliver solid growth for the sector, with variation across sub-sectors. We already see prospects of large crops across the country. Export performance is likely be robust, especially with a weaker rand exchange rate, which makes South African products more competitively priced in the global market. Still, the sector is not reaching its full potential. A number of factors stand in the way of even greater successes and greater participation of black farmers in commercial value chains. <a href="http://www.kayafm.co.za/">Kaya FM </a>