Addressing the Southern African Development Community (SADC) Joint Meeting of Ministers Responsible for Agriculture, Food Security, Fisheries and Aquaculture in Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe, on 29 May, Steenhuisen noted that agricultural resilience and food security in the region depend on stronger cross-border coordination and the practical implementation of agreed frameworks.
Speaking as chairperson of the Joint Committee of SADC Ministers of Agriculture and Food Security, Fisheries and Aquaculture, Steenhuisen warned that rising geopolitical instability, climate-related disasters, and supply chain disruptions are increasingly affecting African food systems.
“These global shocks are increasingly intersecting with climate-related disasters, droughts, floods, and disease outbreaks in ways that directly affect African agriculture and food systems,” he said.
While regional grain production and food security conditions have improved following the severe drought of the previous season, an estimated 58 million people across SADC member states still face severe food insecurity due to affordability and access constraints, he noted.
Steenhuisen added that one of the most urgent priorities is harmonising fertiliser regulations across the region to reduce supply disruptions, improve affordability, and remove regulatory bottlenecks.
He said fragmented registration systems and differing standards across countries continue to increase costs for farmers and reduce regional trade, adding that South Africa supports fast-tracking a proposed memorandum of understanding on harmonised fertiliser regulations before 2027.
“This is not simply a technical regulatory exercise. It is a food security imperative, a productivity imperative, and increasingly a strategic resilience imperative for the entire region,” Steenhuisen said.
However, animal health emerged as one of the strongest themes of his address, and he warned that the scale of FMD outbreaks across Southern Africa poses a growing threat to livestock production, trade, and rural livelihoods.
He noted that 11 SADC member states have reported FMD outbreaks, underlining the need for coordinated regional action.
“Animal diseases do not respect borders. A weakness in one part of the region quickly becomes a vulnerability for all of us,” he said.
He welcomed a decision by SADC ministers and technical committees to prioritise a regional coordination framework for FMD control, saying fragmented national responses were insufficient to contain transboundary livestock diseases.
Steenhuisen emphasised that the proposed framework should strengthen surveillance, information sharing, movement controls, traceability systems, laboratory cooperation, and coordinated vaccination capacity across borders.
He also backed discussion of a possible SADC regional FMD vaccine bank, describing preparedness as less costly than prolonged outbreaks and delayed responses.
Although governance, financing, and technical arrangements still require consideration, Steenhuisen suggested that there is increasing regional consensus that the status quo is unsustainable.
He stated that stronger veterinary systems and coordinated sanitary and phytosanitary measures will be essential if Southern Africa hopes to expand livestock exports, improve market access, and strengthen food security.
“A region that cannot effectively manage transboundary animal disease risks will struggle to unlock the full value of its livestock economy,” Steenhuisen warned.
He added that South Africa remains committed to working with SADC member states, regional institutions, and private-sector partners to develop practical regional solutions for food security, disease control, and agricultural growth.
