Disease outbreaks and rising costs threaten South African agriculture

Agricultural Business Chamber of South Africa (Agbiz) said that South Africa’s agriculture had a mixed experience in the first quarter of 2026. South Africa’s agricultural sector has had a turbulent start to 2026, facing animal disease outbreaks, rising input costs, and global geopolitical tensions, according to the Agricultural Business Chamber (Agbiz). In its first-quarter review, Agbiz noted a mixed performance, highlighting both encouraging developments and significant challenges for farmers and agribusinesses.

A major concern remains the ongoing spread ofFoot-and-Mouth Disease(FMD), which has disrupted livestock farming and export markets. Wandile Sihlobo, chief economist at Agbiz, said the situation has been building for some time but escalated sharply following the government’s decision late last year, to vaccinate the entire national herd. Sihlobo added that at the start of the year South Africa had received vaccines, but the cost to farming businesses and family farms had been immense.

“It is only now that we are seeing that the vaccination momentum is gaining a bit more speed. We are seeing vaccinations in a number of regions in the country. The Department of Agriculture has had its challenges, but this is one of the key areas that it has been focusing on,” he said.

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“There are still a lot more vaccines that need to be imported. There are a number of farmers and farming businesses that are strained due to FMD.”

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