South Africa’s twin deals with Brazil and Japan, signed on the sidelines of the G20 Agricultural Working Group on 18–19 September, suggest the country intends to diversify beyond its traditional markets and secure new avenues for growth. (Photo: Per-Anders Pettersson / Getty Images)
While agricultural representatives from around the world gathered in Somerset West for the G20’s Agricultural Working Group from 18–19 September, South Africa took the opportunity to secure two new Memoranda of Intent (MOIs), one with Brazil and another with Japan.
They are not binding treaties, but they do open doors to expanded trade, knowledge exchange and new technology.
Minister of Agriculture John Steenhuisen called the agreement with Brazil “a testament to our shared vision for a food-secure future". Of the deal with Japan, he said: “This Memorandum of Intent is more than just a document. It will enable us to tap into Japan’s technology and markets while positioning South African agricultural products more competitively.”
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The G20 Agricultural Ministerial meetings, ahead of November’s Leaders’ Summit, gave South Africa space to advance its strategy of trade diversification, particularly amid the “new volatility in the world trade environment” as Steenhuisen called it.
This proactive approach is seen as vital by industry leaders. “It’s high time. We need a trade crisis committee because unfortunately at the moment in trade there’s a lot of good people in academia, business, consultants etcetera. If we’re going to be proactive about diversification we need the arms and the legs to actually be able to do so,” Theo Boshoff, CEO of Agbiz, said at a recent side event of the G20 Agricultural Working Group during Nampo Cape week.
Powerful partner, uneven trade balance
South Africa’s agricultural trade with Brazil has increased from R5.4-billion in 2020 to R9.7-billion in 2024, according to the Department of Agriculture. In 2024, Brazil was also the leading supplier of poultry meat to the country. Key exports to Brazil include liqueurs and cordials, wine of fresh grapes, vegetable seed for sowing, and dried grapes.
However, this relationship is imbalanced. Imports from Brazil stood at R9.5-billion in 2024, while South Africa exported just R274.9-million worth of goods to Brazil.
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The MOI promises joint working groups, technical tours, conferences and a five-year action plan. The real prize seems to be Brazil’s experience. Steenhuisen pointed out that Brazil was recently certified as foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) free without vaccination by the World Organisation for Animal Health.
The minister said “a lot of learnings and expertise” could be transferred to South Africa’s beef industry, which has been struggling with FMD outbreaks.
/file/dailymaverick/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/image1.png "Russia and Brazil offer complementary seasonal access windows where counter-cyclical trade can be advantageous. Thus, South Africa’s high quality counter-seasonal produce positions it well to expand into these markets. (Graph: National Agricultural Marketing Council).")
High-value but guarded market
The agreement with Japan aims to boost agricultural trade and development, with a focus on smallholder farmers and food security. Current South African products in Japanese stores range from rooibos tea and Appletiser to citrus, avocados, butternut and maize.
The MOI sets out cooperation in grain supply, investment promotion and intellectual property for plant varieties, with the possibility of a Joint Agricultural Working Committee to oversee the three-year renewable partnership.
If one turns to stakeholders in the wine industry, they will tell you that Japan is not an easy market to crack. Wines from Europe, Australia and New Zealand flow tariff-free, while South Africa faces a 15% levy, said Christo Conradie, market access and policy manager of SA Wines. “We still need to pay a 15% tariff and we believe that’s something that we can address,” he said.
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Steenhuisen confirmed he would hand-deliver a letter to his Japanese counterpart, lobbying for change. “We’ve been given a lot of information from the industry about what we need to ask for and I’ll make a very good case in the letter about why it is important in world trade for us to be exempted from those tariffs,” he said. The MOI might be the first sign of success in that department.
Boshoff believes that Japan represents a pragmatic next step for diversification. He noted that while India and China have huge potential, their status as “industrial powerhouses” make comprehensive free trade agreements politically complicated. Countries such as Japan, South Korea, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia may not offer the same scale but are more realistic entry points for agriculture, he said.
/file/dailymaverick/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/image2.png "South Africa’s top exported agricultural products by value for 2024 include citrus, grapes, maize, apples and pears, wine, nuts, fruit juices and sugar, according to Agbiz. (Graph: Agbiz).")
Tractors instead of ox ploughs
Besides Brazil and Japan, Steenhuisen also had his sights set on strengthening ties with Italy at this G20. He praised the country as a “world leader in terms of mechanisation and precision farming” and wants Italian expertise to help modernise South Africa’s agricultural colleges.
“There is no use teaching somebody the complexities of an ox plough when the reality is when they hit the ground on a real farm, they’re going to be using very high-tech equipment,” Steenhuisen said. Italy’s Mattei Plan – a policy plan aimed at cooperation with and development of African nations is already active in countries such as Mozambique, Angola, Ghana and Senegal. This plan could be harnessed to bring technology and training to South Africa, Steenhuisen added.
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Senior agricultural economist at FNB, Paul Makube, stressed the urgency of adopting new technologies in a water-scarce country with limited land. He said research, mechanisation and skills development are key to increasing output and ensuring food safety as urbanisation and population growth drive up demand.
How this affects you
- Wine producers could get a fairer shot at the Japanese market if tariff talks succeed, which means more exports, jobs and tax revenue;
- Better farming technology from Brazil, Japan and Italy could eventually lower cost and improve food security;
- Stronger trade ties might boost smallholder farmers, who are included in the agreements, creating more opportunities; and
- If South Africa fails to fix its ports, roads and policies, consumers may see no benefit at all, and food prices could keep rising.
The real test: competitiveness at home
Experts agree that the new agreements mark progress, but say South Africa’s competitiveness remains the central obstacle. “Market access, I would say, is probably the foot in the door but it’s certainly not enough. That’s why I prefer the concept of market competitiveness,” Boshoff said.
Infrastructure is a glaring weakness for South Africa. Boshoff pointed out that it’s still cheaper to import soya beans into Cape Town from Argentina than to transport them from South Africa’s inland regions.
Makube said that decades of delayed investment in roads, rail and digital networks have left farmers at a disadvantage. He said fixing these systems could unlock investment in rural areas, boost local processing and expand export opportunities.
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Non-tariff barriers, such as sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) standards, are another challenge. Citrus Growers Association chair, Gerrit van der Merwe, said cooperation on “standards, certification. These things are absolutely vital because these are non-tariff barriers that we need to address.”
Steenhuisen noted that South Africa’s membership of the Southern African Customs Union (SACU) could hamper agility in trade deals, as the country must negotiate as a bloc. This complexity, combined with what Boshoff sees as a “fragmented industrial trade policy”, creates further challenges.
Read more: SA feels the squeeze in dispute with WTO over citrus regulatory measures
“If you look at the historical performance over the last three decades, agriculture has continuously outperformed the other sectors of the economy,” Makube said. He sees untapped potential in horticulture and agro-processing, which could drive exports and create jobs.
South Africa’s twin deals with Brazil and Japan are a sign of intent to diversify beyond its traditional markets and secure new avenues for growth. They also create opportunities for knowledge exchange and trade missions.
The real test will be at home, with the risk of infrastructure bottlenecks, rigid customs rules and fragmented trade policy undoing the gains. As Steenhuisen put it, the hope is that these MOIs will “result in a situation where we can streamline those processes so that we’re able to fast-track access to their markets”. DM