It said – in a written answer on a question tabled in parliament by DA MP Noko Masipa – that it had spent millions through its different programmes to buy pieces of land across the province – some of which were productive at the time of purchase. It has, however, not conducted any studies to determine the productivity of these farms, years later. The department is, however - through its Land Development Support programme - currently financing 146 of those farms.

Despite the agricultural confidence index showing an improvement in the third quarter of 2020, some sectors in the industry were severely affected. They are still feeling the brunt due to strict Covid-19 regulations put in place during the harsher lockdown period. This, as the tobacco and wine industry was brought to a complete halt when government banned the sale of these products. The Chief Economist at the Agricultural Business Chamber of South Africa (Agbiz), Wandile Sihlobo, says despite this, the agribusiness confidence index jumped from the 39-point mark in the second quarter to 51-points in the third quarter when more agribusinesses were given the green light to resume operations.

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Locusts are threatening another part of Africa, with up to 7 million people in the southern region facing further food insecurity, the United Nations said recently. The outbreaks of African migratory locusts in Botswana, Namibia, Zambia and Zimbabwe are not related to the huge outbreak of billions of desert locusts that has affected East Africa for months. DTN reports the U.N. agency said in a statement that while far smaller, the southern outbreaks need quick attention to prevent a wider problem as farmers and others already struggle to recover from a serious drought last year and the economic effects of the Covid-19 pandemic. Swarms of the voracious insects "can eat enough food for 2,500 people in a day," according to a separate Food and Agriculture Organisation document on the Southern Africa outbreaks.

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