Addressing the challenges of agri in southern Africa

There is a need in the agricultural sector for the diversification of the export markets to non-traditional regions while retaining the key markets such as the European Union. Other issues are the need to improve logistics – roads, rail and ports; expansion of agricultural finance, particularly developmental finance for new entrant farmers, and the strengthening of trust between government and the industry. Wandile Sihlobo, the chief economist of the Agricultural Business Chamber of South Africa spoke to In The Newsroom about how these challenges are relevant to SADC.