Letters from Down Under (Part 2) — investment, innovation are critical for SA’s agricultural progress

Lessons in co-funding and scope for collaboration

9 September 2025, Wagga Wagga, Australia

We spent the day in Wagga Wagga in southeastern Australia, visiting experimental farms at Charles Sturt University’s AGRIPARK. They are doing industry-focused research on various value chains, including livestock, wine, grains and horticulture.

The focus of their work primarily responds to the needs of the industry, which helps with the application of the results. The research funding model has some similarities with that of South Africa. The farmers pay levies (as a percentage of the value or volume of their production). We see this in some commodities in South Africa. 

However, in Australia, the government ensures that every dollar raised by the government matches the amount raised by farmers. The objective is to continuously boost Australia’s agricultural productivity and strengthen the country’s standing in global food production and trade. Once the funds are raised, the government and industry share ideas on the research areas and build a common understanding of priorities.

In South Africa, we see agriculture as a sector that could drive our rural economic growth and job creation. This approach of research co-funding and permitting the industry to have a notable say in research priorities would benefit our objectives. Indeed, unlike Australia, we remain “A Country of Two Agricultures”, therefore, some consideration must be given to issues of inclusivity. Still, the co-funded research would be of benefit to both of these agricultures.

Beyond funding matters there is considerable scope for South Africa and Australia’s agriculture to collaborate, particularly on issues of digitisation, biosecurity and climate-smart agricultural practices. There are  advancements in these areas in South Africa that Australian farmers can learn from, and vice versa.

Our countries have similar climate and agricultural production conditions, and face roughly the same issues in global agriculture. This means that, through commodity associations in South Africa and the Department of Agriculture, we may need to explore additional ways to facilitate regular engagement.

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10 September 2025, Canberra, Australia

Private-public partnerships remain key to driving agricultural progress in South Africa

We are in Canberra today, Australia’s capital and a great city. Among many vital engagements we had, we managed to meet colleagues from the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry (DAFF). 

I am not a stranger to their work, as we in South Africa closely follow the agricultural policy and crop forecasting developments in Australia, partly due to their significant role in global grains production and exports, as well as the similarities in production conditions with South Africa. 

To demonstrate the relevance of this letter, I will highlight several key aspects of their work, including climate-smart agricultural practices, biosecurity, collaboration with the private sector on research, in-depth insights into agricultural trade, and commodity forecasting. These are all areas that apply to South Africa’s agriculture.

The DAFF equips farmers with sound research and pathways in reducing emissions and producing in more environmentally friendly ways. These are aspects that are also vital for global agricultural trade in today’s environment. Australia exports more than two-thirds of its agricultural produce; therefore compliance with the requirements of its key markets remains vital.  

Like Australia, South Africa is an export-oriented agricultural sector, although smaller in value terms (and roughly half of our agricultural products go to exports). The practices of supporting various climate-smart agricultural research, improving biosecurity and deepening trade research are areas in which South Africa should increase its focus. 

Fortunately, some of these matters are not far from our discussions at home. South Africa’s Agriculture and Agro-processing Master Plan already has some elements of such work. 

What remains missing is the focus on implementing the plan, along with the release of the 2.5 million hectares of government-owned land with title deeds, which could be key for inclusive growth. The biosecurity matter, which I discussed in my first letter, remains a running theme, but not just when it comes to animal health; it is also key for plant health. 

I mention the master plan because of its structure, which involves government and private sector participation. This is a strength of the Australian approach to agriculture, which we must focus on at home, ensuring there are resources and implementation in the many plans we have crafted. 

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11 September 2025, Adelaide, Australia

Agricultural development, trade and a path for collaboration

We are in Adelaide today, and we spent much of our time at the University of Adelaide, engaging with academics and researchers in agriculture, agribusiness and international trade matters.

On the agribusiness aspect, we met researchers at the Centre for Global Food and Resources, and today’s discussion had a different feel, since we were talking with researchers whose work is mainly focused on matters outside Australia. They cover issues of agricultural development in the Pacific region and Asia. The farmer development activities and value chain research in several of these regions closely resemble what is needed in certain areas of the African continent.

Indeed, South Africa’s agriculture is quite advanced. On the smallholding segment of our farming economy, we have pathways of support, such as the Agriculture and Agro-processing Master Plan, among other domestic strategies. But when considering the African continent, there remains room for improvement in agricultural productivity and progress.

Research by University of Adelaide colleagues in the Pacific region and certain regions of Asia provides valuable insights relevant to such cases.

On international trade, our conversation focused, among other things, on the changing global trade patterns by various countries in South East Asia and the Pacific region. This is of particular interest to us in South Africa as we are also embarking on export diversification for a range of our sectors.

The effort is motivated not only by our challenges in the US market, but also by a general growth path. Therefore, hearing what other countries are doing has been empowering.

One of the key observations that emerges is that many countries are looking at export diversification, and targeting relatively the same regions as key markets, mainly the Middle East, China and India, among other economies. This means that competitions in these markets may be even more challenging for us as we also look at them as potential export diversification regions. Again, what matters in such issues are the various export strategies of specific product markets.

The core insight is that there is much more to learn and collaborate on with institutions here in Australia and elsewhere as we continue to build resilient economies. DM

Read Letters from Down Under part one here.