MUCH more effort was still required to create market inclusion and transformation within the fresh produce market industry, said the National Agricultural Marketing Council (Namc) in its Smallholder Market Access Estimates February 2022 report.
The council said yesterday that this could be done by establishing more black market agents and improving the tracking of actual sales from smallholder farmers.
According to the report, for last month the total mass traded from the fresh produce market system was 246 222 metric tons (MT), which generated a total revenue of R1.49 billion.
Namc said this indicated a 9 percent (19 494 MT) and 19 percent (R237 million) growth compared to the same month during the previous year.
The growth of revenue and mass was expected given the country’s rising population pushing the demand for fresh produce on a yearly-basis higher.
The council added that on the other hand, this was indicative of the important role of the fresh produce market system on the country’s food security.
Potatoes had a total mass of 89 192 MT, indicating an increase of 8 percent (6 554 MT) compared to the same month in the previous year. Their revenue also increased by 8 percent (R24 million) during the same period.
The total mass for onions also increased by 14 percent (3 869 MT) to reach 31 887 MT last month with the revenue also growing by 28 percent (R25m) to reach R115.5m. Tomatoes had a total mass of 15 821 MT, indicating an increase of 8 percent (translated as 1 149 MT) and this traded mass was matched by total revenue of R168m, indicating a 21 percent increase. Bananas showed a massive increase of 39 percent (6 103 MT) in mass traded and 22 percent (R34m) growth in revenue to reach R159m.
Other vegetables traded in the system recorded a slight increase of 8 percent in mass matched by an increase of 17 percent (R42m) in revenue. On the other hand, the other fruits recorded an increase of 12 percent (4 667 MT) to reach a total traded mass of 44 745 MT with the revenue of these fruits also growing by 22 percent (R81m).
The report said that 30 percent (smallholder share) of this was estimated at 73 867 MT matched by R449m. Potatoes commanded the largest share at 26 758 MT (R89m), followed by onions at 9 566 MT (R33m), tomatoes at 4 746 MT (R51m) and bananas at 6 502 MT (R47m). Other vegetables and fruits were at 14 869 MT (R75m) and 13 424 (R140m), respectively.
This report provides estimates of an ideal performance of smallholder farmers in the National Fresh Produce Markets (NFPMs) in South Africa.
This performance was estimated based on a recommendation of the Namc’s Section 7 committee report on fresh produce markets, which stated that “30 percent of the volume traded in fresh produce markets should be through black commission market agents”, starting from the year 2014.
The report covers 16 fresh produce markets spread across eight of South Africa’s provinces. The analysis was largely limited to potatoes, onions, tomatoes, bananas and other vegetables and fruits traded in the system. Monthly data for these commodities was obtained from the South African Union of Food Markets.
The ideal share (30 percent) of smallholder farmers in terms of mass and revenue was estimated at 73 867 MT and R449m, respectively.
A further analysis of this at the provincial level showed that Gauteng was leading at 49 214 MT matched by a revenue of R300m. This was followed by KwaZulu-Natal at 9 002 MT (R54m), Western Cape at 6 855 MT (R47m), Eastern Cape at 3 484 MT (R18m), Free State (FS) at 3 131 MT (R17m), North West at 1 697 MT (R8m) and Mpumalanga was at 334 MT (R1.48m). The Northern Cape had the lowest share of 150 MT (R862 461) from smallholder farmers over the period under review.
Namc said that the prices of agricultural products traded in the NFPM system fluctuated owing to a variety of variables. These determinants included, among other things, perishability, product replacement, consumer habits, per capita income, and climatic variance, which impact seasonal output and input-output prices.
Tomatoes commanded the highest price changes attributed to the heavy rains and pest attacks that led to reduced volumes to the market.
The council said the opposite was the case for bananas over the reported period. The Umtata Fresh Produce Market showed the most significant decline in prices. This market specialises in two key commodities (potatoes and onions) which indicated poor performance due to lack of product variety.
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