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The news section of Farmer’s Weekly this week reports on the possibility of a potential sugar shortage in South Africa. According to Ryan, both the South African Sugar Convert Association and the Association of Southern African Sugar Importers recently released statements that indicate that South Africa is facing a looming sugar crisis.

The chairperson of the Association of Southern Africa Sugar Importers (Asasi), Chris Engelbrecht, told Farmer’s Weekly that South Africa’s carryover stock had been depleted because the 2021/22 harvest had been below expectations. Ryan adds that the situation was worsened by at least a month-long delay in crushing at sugar mills that were affected by the recent floods in KwaZulu-Natal.

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However, the South African Sugar Association says the society is unaware of any acute sugar shortages in South Africa.

Another news story takes a look at South African producers starting to export citrus through the port of Maputo in Mozambique from May. Ryan says that previous exports by the port had come to an end in 2015 with various unsuccessful attempts to get it to operate again.

Also, blueberry farmers in South Africa are facing delays in their return on investment (ROI). Ryan explains that this can largely be contributed to global prices of the fruit decreasing. South Africa’s 2021/22 crop was up 60% (around 31 000 tons) from the previous season. However, export prices were down 14% from those of 2020.

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Pieter Greeff, a consultant to the blueberry industry, told Farmer’s Weekly that prices had plummeted from R140 per kg to between R35 and R60 per kg over the past six years. But, many blueberry growers have continued to base their ROI calculations on R140 per kg. Greeff further added that farmers are not getting the income they expected. Thus losing their farms to creditors.

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