South Africa

Opening the Nedbank Agri Webinar 2026 in Johannesburg on 28 January, which focused on the macro-economic climate, Daneel Rossouw, head of sales for agriculture at Nedbank Commercial Banking, said that global trade challenges in 2025 had a significant impact on local agriculture.

A recycling pilot project at Kruger National Park is successfully diverting significant volumes of waste from landfills and into South Africa’s circular economy, with lessons that could extend far beyond the park’s boundaries and into agricultural and rural settings.

The Department of Agriculture has confirmed that the Cabinet memorandum seeking a national state of disaster declaration over South Africa’s ongoing foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) outbreak has been drafted following a high-level meeting on 30 January.

As South Africa’s red meat industry faces mounting pressure from animal disease risks, climate volatility and shifting market requirements, role players are increasingly turning to research-led platforms to support better decision-making across the value chain.

UD Trucks Southern Africa is positioning itself as a long-term strategic partner to fleet operators navigating an increasingly complex and cost-pressured logistics environment, says Managing Director Filip Van den Heede.

Foot-and-mouth disease is destabilising South Africa’s meat supply chain, shutting down export markets, forcing the destruction of usable product, raising consumer prices, and threatening the beef industry with losses over R13  billion, while some dairy producers might be pushed out of production.

South Africa has resumed sending foot-and-mouth disease field virus strains to the UK’s Pirbright Institute for the first time in more than a decade, marking a critical step in boosting outbreak response and ensuring vaccines being procured remain effective.

The Gauteng Provincial Government has escalated its response to the ongoing foot-and-mouth disease outbreak, describing the situation as a ‘very serious disaster’ with far-reaching implications for food security, jobs, and economic stability.

The International Trade Administration Commission of South Africa has launched an investigation into the appropriate level of tariff protection against imported sugar, after the sugar industry asked government for a significant increase, while the beverage industry called for lower tariffs.

Livestock farmers around the foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) quarantine area near Gouda in the Western Cape are growing increasingly frustrated by delays in the release of a second round of laboratory test results, which could see the quarantine lifted if all samples test negative.

The future of South Africa’s beef industry took centre stage at the Red Meat Revolution Information Day in Pretoria on 21 January, where more than 260 producers, breeders, and specialists discussed practical ways to keep cattle farming sustainable and profitable.

Long-term thinking is critical to the survival of South Africa’s wine industry, as producers navigate accelerating technological change and steadily declining global wine consumption, agricultural economist Dr Jan Greyling told delegates at the Vinpro Nedbank Producer Information Day.

Consumer food price inflation held steady at 4,4% in December 2025, unchanged from November, according to Statistics South Africa (Stats SA), and while overall inflation for 2025 was the lowest in more than two decades, elevated meat prices continue to weigh on the country’s food basket.

South Africa’s strong festive-season tourism performance is increasingly being driven by domestic travellers, a trend that is giving agritourism enterprises around the country a significant boost.

Agri Skills Transfer provides aspiring agricultural professionals with a practical entry point into the sector while equipping employers with skilled graduates who offer far more than basic labour.

The North West Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (DARD) has retracted a circular titled ‘Foot and Mouth Disease Movement Protocol for Live Animals and Game into and within North West Province’, which was released on 14 January.

South Africa’s pork industry is facing growing pressure as confirmed cases of both African swine fever and foot-and-mouth disease in pigs trigger stricter biosecurity measures and renewed concerns over export viability.

Rolling bankruptcies in global vertical farming over the past five years have slowed the industry’s momentum but not its innovation. Instead, the collapse of several high-profile players has pushed operators and investors to shift focus from hype to viable economics.

Livestock industry leaders have expressed growing confidence in South Africa’s national foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) control strategy following the first meeting of the newly established FMD Industry Coordination Council on 21 January.

The organisers of the Bloem Show have taken the unprecedented step of excluding all cloven-hoofed animals from the 2026 event, citing ongoing foot-and-mouth disease outbreaks and the need to prevent the further spread in South Africa’s livestock industry.