https://www.businesslive.co.za/fm/features/cover-story/2022-02-03-sa-farming-is-back–but-is-the-ride-about-to-end/
2020 was one of the best years yet for SA agriculture, thanks to above-average rainfall. Exports, largely powered by citrus, fruit, maize, nuts and sugar, hit $10.2bn — second only to 2018, when they reached a peak of $10.6bn.
The performance was all the more remarkable because that was the year in which Covid struck, and the lockdowns caused SA’s economy to shrink by 6.4%.
Though production in 2021 was down, the Bureau for Food & Agricultural Policy (BFAP) estimates local agriculture still grew by 7.6%, thanks to a bumper harvest of summer crops and strong prices.