South African Minister for Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development, Ms Thoko Didiza announced that South Africa will have sufficient staple grains supply in 2020/21 marketing year, which starts in May 2020 and ends in April 2021.
The data released by the department shows that this year’s summer grains harvest could amount to 17.5 million tonnes, which is a 31% increase from 2019 and the second biggest harvest in the history of this country. This is a testimony to the hard work and resilience of the South African farming community and investments made in the sector.
Amid the unprecedented uncertainty and our collective fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, we are assured of sufficient food supply for the country at reasonable price levels.
South Africa’s agriculture will also continue to export agricultural commodities and products, which are crucial for in generating much needed foreign exchange. There will be over 2.5 million tonnes of maize (white and yellow maize combined) for exports in the period between May 2020 and April 2021.
”We are committed to support export-led growth and will continue working with private sector in unblocking bottlenecks to support further space for enterprise development and growth. We do this, while continuously monitoring the food supplies for the country,” said Minister Didiza.
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