South Africa’s cumulative trade deficit was R71.4-billion [USD 6.2-billion] in 2013. A year later, according to the South African Revenue Service (Sars), it was R95.3-billion [USD 8.3-billion].
We’re going in the wrong direction.
So a slight feeling of relief then at the news that in the month of December 2014 the country recorded a trade surplus of R6.9-billion [exports of R87.5-billion and imports of R80.5-billion].
Agriculture does not only feed us; does not only release the rest of the country’s citizen’s to pursue other jobs (since they can now buy food at the nearest shop); does not only provide fibre for processing and provide for jobs upstream and downstream; does not only provide stability in rural areas; it is also an important earner of foreign exchange.
Included in South Africa’s major agricultural exports is citrus fruit, deciduous fruit, wine, subtropical fruit, wool, corn, sunflower seed and oil and raisins.
A toast to agriculture!
Click on the hyperlinked words above to find the overviews of those sectors in The Agri Handbook.
