Sustainable Agriculture: Market Intelligence Report 2019

The report highlights the role of water scarcity and climate change as primary drivers for the adoption of agricultural technology (agtech) in South Africa. It identifies significant growth opportunities in precision agriculture, undercover farming, renewable energy, and conservation agriculture, particularly within the Western Cape's high-value export crop sector. The document also outlines the regulatory landscape, including water restrictions, carbon tax, and land reform policies, while providing a directory of green finance resources.

• Water scarcity, driven by drought, declining rainfall, and over-demand, is the primary catalyst for the adoption of sustainable agricultural technology in South Africa, which is ranked as the 30th driest country globally.
• The Western Cape experienced a significant increase in the production of high-value export crops between 2013 and 2018, with growth rates of 79% for nuts, 35% for citrus, 33% for berries, and 21% for sub-tropical fruits.
• The market for renewable energy in South African agriculture is estimated at 60 MW, representing a value between R630 million and R960 million, with a predicted annual growth rate of 10%.
• Conservation agriculture (CA) has low adoption rates in South Africa, with only 15% to 20% of commercial grain farmers and 5% of smallholder farmers using these practices. The market for no-till machinery is estimated between R136 million and R747 million.
• Precision agriculture via remote sensing is an emerging market in South Africa; the potential value for bespoke services based on high-value export fruit production is estimated at R131 million per season.
• Undercover farming (UF) has seen rapid growth in the Western Cape, with a 171% increase in shade netting production area and a 55% increase in tunnel structures over five years. The potential market for low-tech UF in South Africa is estimated at R38 billion.
• The South African government's Carbon Tax Bill will exempt agriculture, forestry, and other land use sectors from direct greenhouse gas emission taxation during Phase 1 (2020 to 2022), though they will be taxed indirectly for energy and fuel usage.
• The Western Cape drought from 2014/15 to 2017/18 caused overall agricultural losses of R5.9 billion and the loss of 30,000 jobs.

APA

GreenCape (2019). Sustainable Agriculture: Market Intelligence Report 2019. https://greencape.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/SUSTAINABLE-AGRICULTURE-MIR-2019-WEB-01-04-2019-3.pdf

Chicago

GreenCape. Sustainable Agriculture: Market Intelligence Report 2019. 2019. https://greencape.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/SUSTAINABLE-AGRICULTURE-MIR-2019-WEB-01-04-2019-3.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=GreenCape |title=Sustainable Agriculture: Market Intelligence Report 2019 |date=2019 |url=https://greencape.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/SUSTAINABLE-AGRICULTURE-MIR-2019-WEB-01-04-2019-3.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{greencape2019sustainable, author = {{GreenCape}}, title = {{Sustainable Agriculture: Market Intelligence Report 2019}}, institution = {GreenCape}, year = {2019}, url = {https://greencape.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/SUSTAINABLE-AGRICULTURE-MIR-2019-WEB-01-04-2019-3.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }