South Africa’s potato farmers have ended the year under immense pressure. And although industry players are optimistic about the industry’s future, it will be years before the industry recovers and farms return to previous levels of profitability. Currently, SA potato farmers are hardly turning any profits. This is mainly due to too many potatoes in the market, and the price farmers are getting for their potatoes is much less than what it should be. On top of this, the industry has to come up against persistent episodes of loadshedding, higher input costs and overpricing on potatoes.
Willie Jacobs, CEO of Potatoes South Africa: “The pressure does not seem to have a possible break shortly. The Russian-Ukrainian war still has a major impact on the availability of key inputs, and the current political turmoil acting in on the exchange rate, is not assisting things either.”
“Reduced planting should see an increase in profitability of the farmers that remain in the market,” Jacobs added. “But in the current circumstances, it will take the industry more than two years to recover. The impact of the current input cost is escalated by the lack of funding available to producers. It can only be turned around by an increase in product price and lower input cost.”
Source: foodformzansi.co.za
