South Africa’s agricultural sector recorded significant decline in the first quarter

The Bureau for Food and Agricultural Policy (BFAP) has highlighted, in a brief report, that, while the total South African economy avoided a technical recession during the first quarter of this year, with national gross domestic product (GDP) rising by 0.4%, the same could not be said for the agriculture, forestry and fisheries sector. This sector experienced a year-on-year decline of 5.4% and, quarter-on-quarter, dropped 12.3%. As the detailed data on value-addition in each agricultural sub-sector was not published, disaggregated gross value of protection (GVP) data, which showed revenue contributions, had to be used as an indicator of relative performance. GVP is the price of an item multiplied by the quantity produced of that item. GVP data is compiled by the Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development.