Africa-Press – Botswana. South Africa is not likely to face a vegetable glut because of Botswana’s and Namibia’s import bans, as farmers in the country will be forced to plant fewer vegetables, a move that will hurt export revenue and lead to job losses in the sector.
“South Africa is not likely to face a problem with oversupply as farmers are alive to the threat this poses to their revenue. What is more likely is that farmers may decrease the hectarage planted,” Christo van der Rheede, Agri SA’s executive director, told Business Insider SA, speaking about the impact of the long-term bans.
Van der Rheede said South Africa can only absorb produce meant for Botswana and Namibia to a limited extent.
“In theory there are markets for South African products outside of [the] Southern African Customs Union (Sacu), both on the continent and beyond. What remains to be seen is whether this can be arranged timeously, and whether it would be economically viable to do so,” said Van der Rheede.
He said factors such as the condition of roads, rail, and ports must also be considered when factoring in whether other markets can viably absorb this season’s produce.
“It is disappointing that intraregional restrictions have put South African farmers in this precarious position when the purpose of Sacu is to foster open trade within the union,” he said.
Namibia and Botswana recently halted imports of certain produce from South Africa, including tomatoes, carrots, beetroot, potatoes, cabbage, lettuce, garlic, onions, ginger, turmeric, chilli peppers, butternut, watermelons, sweet peppers, green mealies, and fresh herbs.
The two countries imposed the bans to protect their local agricultural sectors and to boost their horticultural competitiveness.
Last week, Agri SA made a plea to South Africa’s minister of agriculture, land reform, and rural development, Thoko Didiza, requesting that the government urgently intervene to reverse the bans.Meanwhile, Namibian authorities have called Agri SA’s request to revoke the import restrictions emotional and unbalanced, The Namibian reported.
Namibian Agronomic Board (NAB) spokesperson Auguste Fabian argued that the restrictions were not against the Sacu agreement, citing they protect infant industries such as those in Namibia, the publication further reported.
The mechanisms facilitated by the NAB for open and closed border periods for certain primary agronomic and horticultural products are part of the agenda to develop the crop industry and protect our local farmers from cheap imports,” Fabian was quoted as saying.
She said South African farmers have a production cost advantage of almost 25%, because Namibian farmers have higher input costs and import nearly 100% of farming inputs from South Africa.
When Botswana placed the restrictions, it said its N$12 billion yearly spend on food imports was of major concern for the nation, and said the country needed the policy to make it more self-sufficient and protect and support local farmers.
The country said it would review its list of barred commodities every two years, and that it would expand rather than shorten it.
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