Browse Data and Analysis

Senegal Marketing Year (MY) 2022/23 area and production levels are forecast to increase 1.6 percent and 7 percent at 1.23 million hectares (Mha) and 1.8 million tons (Mt), respectively, on expectations of a good farm gate price, typical weather conditions, and appropriate use of fertilizer. Post forecasts MY 2022/23 exports at 460,000 tons, increasing 15 percent compared to the previous year based on available supply and higher demand.

The current labor disputes at Transnet, South Africa’s state-owed port, rail and pipeline authority, have caused severe staff shortages at ports resulting in a significant slowdown of port operations and caused the company to declare fore majeure.

South Africa’s food service sector generated revenues valued at US$3.5 billion in 2021, an upsurge of almost 30 percent from 2020. The South Africa hotel, restaurant, and institutional industry was severely affected by the strict restrictions imposed by the South African government to control the COVID-19 pandemic from March 2020.

Post estimates that the South African sugar cane crop will grow by 7 percent to 18.4 million metric tons (MT) in the 2022/23 market year (MY), up from 17.2 million MT in the 2021/22 MY. This is based on a return to normal weather conditions, an improvement in yields, and industry efforts to increase production, especially for small-scale farmers.

South Africa has announced plans to transfer numerous governmental functions including agricultural inspections to the new Border Management Agency which currently falls under Home Affairs.

Post forecasts that chicken meat production will increase by two percent in 2023 as a result of economic recovery, normalization of feed costs, and increased investment by the industry due to anticipated high revenue from market year 2022.

For Marketing Year (MY) 2022/23 (August to July) harvested area for Mali, Burkina Faso, and Senegal is forecast to increase eight percent to 1.44 million hectares (MHA) compared to the previous year. This increase is largely due to significant...

South Africa has suspended anti-dumping duties on poultry from Brazil, Denmark, Ireland, Poland, and Spain for a period of twelve months, but the duties remain in place for U.S. poultry.

South Africa’s annual consumer price index inflation rate surged to a 13-year high of 7.4 percent in June 2022, driven mainly by a rise in food and fuel prices.

The enormous restraint on electricity generation and resulting power outages, locally known as load shedding, is emerging as a significant threat to South African agriculture. The cumulative hours of load shedding in the first seven months of 2022 already exceeds the annual record set in 2021.

The sharp upsurge in the cost of farming inputs for corn farmers in South Africa intensified the risk of production in a weather dependent industry, despite record-high commodity prices. As a result, Post forecasts that South Africa’s corn area will stay flat in marketing year 2022/23. However, South Africa should maintain its status as a net exporter of corn under normal weather conditions.

On June 14, 2022, a new biosecurity law was signed into effect, repealing the 2009 biosecurity law and establishing a process to allow the entry, research, and commercialization of genetically engineered (GE) products in Senegal. The functionality of the law will depend on the approval of 18 implementing decrees. A process has begun to consolidate the decrees to expedite their ratification.