Improving Agricultural Market Performance:
Creation and Development of Market Institutions
152
US$5.6 billion, and employs 300,000 people, making it the largest formal employer in the
agricultural sector. South Africa exported some US$616 million worth of wine in 2016.475
Table 8 – South African (RSA)/World agricultural production and exports, selected
commodities
2016 Production (‘000 MT) 2016 Exports (‘000 MT) Imports
(‘000 MT)
RSA World RSA % RSA World RSA %
Pears 430 25,345 1.7% 250 1,775 14.3%
Citrus 2,514 91,289 2.75% 1,700 9,498 26.5%
Apples 933 77,141 1.2% 515 6,556 7.9%
Fruit Juice 45 1,969 2.3% 36 1,442 2.5%
Maize 12,500 1,031,864 1.21% 1,700 152,912 1.1% 100
Wheat 1,750 739,533 0.24% 200 178,550 0.1% 1,800
Beef & veal 885 61,583 1.44% 50 9,641 .52% 40
Pork 227 110,727 .21% 14 8,750 .26% 32
Poultry 1,395 89,470 1.56% 75 11,163 .67% 560
Sugar* 1,607 170,814 0.9% 250 57,769 0.04% 645
Wine
(million
litres)
968 22,460 4.0% 428.5 9,540 4.5%
* Centrifugal raw sugar
Source: USDA Foreign Agricultural Service (2017), Giokos (2016), and Wines of South Africa (2017)
Unlike many other sub-Saharan African countries, in which 50% or more of the population is
engaged in agriculture, South Africa has a highly developed industrial sector which, combined
with highly productive mechanized agriculture, makes for a much lower proportion of the
population directly engaged in agriculture. In 2014, an estimated 4.6% of the work force was
engaged in agriculture, with 23.5% in industry and 71.9% in services. By comparison,
agriculture 476 employs 85% of Zambia’s population, 81% of Mozambique’s, 80% of Sudan’s,
75% of Rwanda’s, 72% of Uganda’s, 70% of Nigeria’s, and 67% of Tanzania’s. Even in North
African countries, agricultural employment is significantly higher than in South Africa: 39% in
Morocco, 31% in Algeria, 29% in Egypt, 17% in Libya, and 15% in Tunisia.477
Again, in contrast to much of the rest of Africa, most – 71% - of South Africa’s agricultural work
force consists of wage laborers on commercial farms. Some 47% of these workers, however,
are seasonal, though in recent years seasonal labor has fallen from 50% of the total and the
proportion of agricultural workers in permanent employment has risen by a corresponding
amount. Agriculture-related activities such as food processing/manufacturing and trade
employ nearly as many people as agriculture itself: 540,000 versus 613,000 (2013 figures).478
Agricultural production (gross farm income) represented US$16.15 billion in 2015/16, or
about 5.85% of GDP. Value added in the sector (gross farm income less expenditure on
475 Workman, D. (2017), Wine Exports by Country, available a
[Accessed July 2017].
476 Including both formal and informal employment.
477 Central Intelligence Agency (2016), The World Factbook, available a
[Accessed June 2017].
478 Liebenberg, F. & Kirsten, J. (2013), Statistics on Farm Labour in South Africa, University of Pretoria, October 8, available at
Accessed June 2017].