Gauteng Business 2017-18 edition

OVERVIEW
Agriculture
Good rains bring good news for Gauteng farmers.
The Fresh Produce Market in Johannesburg is South Africa’s biggest
market. The region’s other two metropolitan areas, Tshwane
and Ekurhuleni, also have large markets to cater for the region’s
large population. The Springs Fresh Produce Market accounts
for 3% of South African market share which it intends increasing as it
expands its facilities.
Gauteng has a small landmass but in the agricultural sector, as in
many other sectors, it punches above its weight. The province is home
to some of South Africa’s largest agricultural companies, including
AFGRI, a listed agriculture services and foods company, which specialises
in animal feed production. Africa’s largest feedlot for cattle is
located in Heidelberg: Karan Beef’s facility can accommodate 120 000
cattle. The feedmill processes 1 400 tons per day and the associated
abattoir in Balfour in neighbouring Mpumalanga sometimes deals with
1 800 head of cattle per day. The 2 330ha Karan estate also includes a
game farm and an eco-development.
The Kanhym Agrimill in Vereeniging is one of three in the company’s
portfolio, which collectively processes 250 000 tons of animal
feed annually. Kanhym Estates is the largest producer of pigs in the
country and the company’s Middelburg farm in Mpumalanga is geared
to supply the Gauteng market.
Gauteng’s agricultural sector is largely concentrated on producing
vegetables for the huge cities that dominate the region. There is
commercial farming in the southern sector of the province (part of
South Africa’s maize triangle) and the farming of cotton, groundnuts
and sorghum is undertaken in areas near Bronkhorstspruit (east) and
Heidelberg (in the south).
Fruit, dairy products, eggs, maize and grain are also produced in
large volumes within the province.
As the most populous region of South Africa, Gauteng consumes
huge quantities of food. And South Africans eat more chickens than
anything else. Poultry farm and production facilities abound in
Gauteng. Astral Foods, RCL Foods and Daybreak Farms are among
the biggest companies in the province.
The poultry industry in South Africa has been in the spotlight
with a change in the arrangements relating to import duties from
the US. Cheaper imports from other areas such as the EU and Brazil
SECTOR INSIGHT
Woolworths and Massmart
have small-grower support
programmes
• Maize crops are expected
to top 15-million tons.
were already putting pressure
on local producers, but the decision
in 2016 to allow a potential
65 000 tons from the US into South
Africa has led to several thousand
workers being laid off.
Good rains in the interior have
decisively ended the drought in
areas such as Gauteng. Farmers
are expecting a bumper maize
crop in 2017 of about 15-million
tons, which will be enough to
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