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CHAPTER 7
GRAIN SA, AGRI SA,
PROVINCIAL UNIONS
AND OTHER INDUSTRY
ORGANISATIONS CAN WITH
GOOD REASON REGARD
THE FOOD SECURITY THAT
ALL SOUTH AFRICANS
ENJOY AS ONE OF THEIR
JOINT SUCCESSES. THE
CHEAPEST QUALITY
FOOD IN THE WORLD,
PRODUCED LOCALLY, CAN
BE ACCOMPLISHED SOLELY
THROUGH CO-OPERATION
THROUGHOUT THE FOOD
VALUE CHAIN, AND IS
ONLY NOW GAINING WIDE
RECOGNITION BECAUSE
OF THE REALITY OF THE
CURRENT DISASTER
SITUATION IN WHICH
SOUTHERN AFRICA
FINDS ITSELF.
–
Mr Louw Steytler
Chairperson’s message,
Grain SA Annual Report 2015
Protocol markets refer to countries with which formal agreements are concluded
and processes are put into place to ensure that certain health and quality require-
ments are met. These markets and agreements create long-term associations
and are approved at the highest political level. The protocol markets provide a
major advantage in terms of certainty and facilitate proper long-term planning.
Permit markets refer to markets with which agreements can be concluded on a
more ad hoc basis as opportunities arise from season to season. Many of these ex-
ports of agricultural products to African countries take place on the basis of permit
agreements because those countries produce grain themselves and their demand
for imported products is regularly affected by the size of their own crops.
Studies and analyses of long-term scenarios show that African countries are in-
creasingly becoming more self-sufficient with regard to grain. As this increases,
imports from South Africa will naturally decrease. South Africa will therefore have
to increasingly develop new markets to get rid of surplus production.
During the 2010/2011 financial year Grain SA was involved in the export of maize
to Mexico, Taiwan and Korea. The same markets were serviced in the following
year, and together with Japan absorbed most of South Africa’s exports that year.
The staff of Grain SA spend a lot of time liaising with the representatives of foreign
markets and from time to time visit embassies as well as role-players in countries
to which exports are made.
Asia and the Middle East provide good opportunities for the development of
export markets on a long-term basis – in other words protocol markets. During
December 2014 Grain SA visited the Middle East and held talks with a view to
marketing South African grain in Iran and Saudi Arabia.
The huge demand from the Chinese markets makes China a sought-after target
market worldwide and Grain SA delivered important inputs in the negotiations with
the Chinese government to be able to export agricultural products to them. The
Chairperson of Grain SA at the time, Mr Neels Ferreira, together with the Minister
of Agriculture, Ms Tina Joemat-Pettersson, talked to the Chinese government in
this regard as far back as 2011. These talks eventually bore fruit with the signing of
a phytosanitary protocol in December 2014 by the South African and Chinese gov-
ernments for the export of maize to China, making it possible for the local industry
to export surplus maize to China.
Graph 1: South Africa’s total maize exports during 2013/2014.
Japan
Zimbabwe
Namibia
Mexico
Taiwan
Botswana
South Korea
Mozambique
Swaziland
Lesotho
Nigeria
Madagascar
Angola
Cameroon
North Korea
Mr Louw Steytler
“
”