South Africa’s power cuts are putting a lot of strain on both growers and consumers. Load shedding has increased the costs of commodity production and processing, and increased food security risks in South Africa. Data from Citrus Growers’ Association (CGA, 2022) shows that South Africa is the 12th largest producer of citrus in the world, contributing about R27.1 billion to the total South African gross value of agricultural production during the 2020/21 marketing season (DALRRD, 2022).
During the same period, the citrus industry contributed R 14 billion worth of citrus exports and this contributed about 40% of total fresh fruits exports. Locally, the industry is characterised by supply to fresh fruit markets and fruit processing. The local market has many players to supply such as fresh produce markets, hawkers, and supermarkets (FAO, 2021).
However, the rolling stage 6 blackouts have been a great concern for the citrus industry due to their threat to the 2023 citrus crop and export season. South Africans have been experiencing load shedding almost daily since the beginning of 2023. In January 2023 power cuts occurred more frequently than in the 12 months of 2019. The situation is not forecasted to improve soon with significant outages expected to continue until at least 2024.
Source: foodformzansi.co.za