web-2025-sustainable-agriculture-mir-6933d86aaf20da70.pdf

The 2025 Sustainable Agriculture Market Intelligence Report by GreenCape identifies investment opportunities in smart farming and undercover farming within the Western Cape, South Africa. It emphasizes the need for resource-efficient technologies to mitigate rising input costs, water scarcity, and new European Union sustainability regulations.

• The Western Cape's agricultural sector reached a value of R25.6 billion in 2023, with an average annual growth rate of 2.5% over the last 5 years and 2.7% over the last 10 years. The Cape Winelands is the largest contributor to provincial agricultural income at 33.4%, followed by the West Coast at 24.8%.
• Agricultural producers in the Western Cape face pressure from rising input costs for energy and labour, which have increased more than the consumer price index (CPI). Additionally, new EU regulations, specifically the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) and the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CS3D), will require exporters to report on environmental and social risks across their supply chains.
• Precision-spraying via drones is identified as a key smart farming opportunity with a projected Western Cape market size of R156 million per season for grain and R50.9 million per season for tree crops. While not the most cost-competitive per hectare compared to manned aircraft, drones offer savings through targeted chemical application; one instance showed a 20% reduction in fertiliser and ameliorant inputs and a 9% increase in yield.
• Undercover farming, specifically shade netting and tunnels, represents a significant market opportunity in the Western Cape valued between R5.4 billion and R8.6 billion. The area under shade netting increased by 329% between 2018 and 2023, reaching 12,083 hectares. Berries have the highest adoption rate of undercover farming at 68%, followed by citrus fruit at 32%.
• Undercover farming significantly improves yields and quality compared to open-field farming. A case study on tomato production showed that using a trellis tunnel increased yield by nearly 300%, and combining a trellis tunnel with a hydroponic system increased yield by almost 560%, with a potential payback period of approximately 2 years.
• There is a market opportunity for local manufacturing of undercover farming materials. While some shade netting is produced locally, it is supplemented by imports from China. All plastic for tunnel systems is currently imported, primarily from the Netherlands and China, as South African companies are assumed to lack the capacity to meet required technical specifications.

APA

-1, Maseko, S., & Mence, M. (2025). web-2025-sustainable-agriculture-mir-6933d86aaf20da70.pdf. GreenCape. https://greencape.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/WEB-2025-Sustainable-Agriculture-MIR.pdf

Chicago

-1, Sibusisiwe Maseko, and Mpho Mence. web-2025-sustainable-agriculture-mir-6933d86aaf20da70.pdf. GreenCape, 2025. https://greencape.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/WEB-2025-Sustainable-Agriculture-MIR.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=-1 |last2=Maseko |first2=Sibusisiwe |last3=Mence |first3=Mpho |title=web-2025-sustainable-agriculture-mir-6933d86aaf20da70.pdf |publisher=GreenCape |date=2025 |url=https://greencape.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/WEB-2025-Sustainable-Agriculture-MIR.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{12025web2025sustainableagriculturemir6933d86aaf20da70pdf, author = {-1 and Maseko, Sibusisiwe and Mence, Mpho}, title = {{web-2025-sustainable-agriculture-mir-6933d86aaf20da70.pdf}}, institution = {GreenCape}, year = {2025}, url = {https://greencape.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/WEB-2025-Sustainable-Agriculture-MIR.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }