Agriculture & Agri-processing

The western cape’s 13 million hectares of agricultural land produces between 55 and 60% of South Africa’s exports and more than 20% of South Africa’s total agricultural output.

The province’s climatic regions vary from a Mediterranean one around Cape Town and on the coast (where rainfall can be 2 000mm at places) to the drier regions of the inland Karoo districts, where annual rainfall figures can be below 150mm. Just over three million hectares of the province is cultivated and 270 000 hectares are under irrigation. The sector supports almost 10 000 farms and employs a quarter of a million people.

By late 2009, the lack of rain in the Southern Cape region of the Western Cape had reached crisis proportions, with some analysts describing conditions as the driest in 132 years. Where this coastal area normally receives over 1 000mm annually, rainfall in 2008 amounted to 570mm and, by the middle of October 2009, only 350mm of rain had fallen. Farmers producing Brussel sprouts and celery were struggling and livestock farmers were having to buy in feed.

Berries have been cultivated in the province for many years, especially in the George area, where strawberries do well. The Stellenbosch district is also good for berries and several farmers are branching out into raspberries and blueberries. The latter berry is difficult to grow but gets good returns on the European market as fresh fruit.

Fruit and vegetables
The Western Cape is a major producer of vegetables. The Sandveld region on the West Coast specialises in potatoes.

Deciduous fruit is grown in the Western Cape and represents roughly 12% of South Africa’s earnings from agricultural exports. In 2008, the top six fruits alone earned R8.5-billion. The Agricultural Research Council estimates that deciduous-fruit farming brings in a gross income of R8-billion and employs 100 000 people.

In October 2009, Cape Town hosted the Eurofruit Congress Southern Hemisphere, which provided an opportunity for producers, marketers and exporters to show off their wares and make connections within the trade.

The Breede River Valley is an especially fertile area for fruit. Citrus farming is also present in the Western Cape, but not nearly to the same degree as apples, plums, pears and cherries. Peaches and nectarines can be found in most parts of the province whereas raisins are a speciality of the Vredendal area on the West Coast.

Grain and oilseed crops
The Western Cape has 350 000 hectares of wheat-producing land (46% of the national total) and, together with the Free State, is responsible for two-thirds of South Africa’s crop. The areas north of Cape Town such as the districts of Moorreesburg and Malmesbury are best known as wheat producers.

The Western Cape is one of few places in the country to produce barley, making up two thirds of the national total. Brewing concern SABMiller has a specialist malting division, South African Breweries Malting, which has farms in the Overberg region. The brewing company uses approximately 275 000 tonnes of barley malt per year.

Canola is another plant that grows best in the Western Cape. The oil from this plant has good emulsifying qualities and consequently has several industrial uses. With annual production of around 40 000 tonnes in the last few seasons, there is clearly scope for increased production as local demand is significantly higher than that. All of these crops enjoy the high winter rainfall common in the Cape.

Special plants
A project run by the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) in the small town of Dysseldorp near Oudtshoorn extracts liquorice from liquorice plants found along the banks of the nearby Olifants River. The community benefits from the sales of the extract and seasonal employment can rise to more than 200.

A plant that is supposed to curb appetite – and thus forms an important component in diet pills and potions – is the hoodia gordonii, a succulent plant found in dry areas. Demand for the plant is growing fast, to the extent that its existence in the wild is threatened. Farming it in tunnels can be a lucrative business and it has been successfully propagated in parts of Namaqualand, the dry hinterland of the West Coast north of Cape Town.

Another plant associated with dry areas is the aloe. The Albertinia district produces nearly 400 tonnes of aloe extract which is popular in Germany and Spain. Containing a 20 to 28% bitter content, the plant is tapped on a 18- to 36-month cycle.

Rooibos tea has become one of the plants most closely associated with South Africa, particularly after a court battle in the United States to protect the brand from foreign exploitation. In fact, rooibos is a herb and is growing in popularity because it contains no caffeine and has other healthy qualities. Some 5 000 people are employed in the industry, particularly in the Clanwilliam/Wuppertal area. Production levels have grown considerably in recent years, with about 6 500 tonnes being exported in 2007 (Centre for Development Support, 2008).

An innovative spin-off from the rooibos industry came when a South African entrepreneur invented ‘red espresso’, a form of concentrated rooibos. From a factory in Paarl, 600 cafés in South Africa are supplied and about half of the plant’s production goes to the European Union, Asia and the US.

The cultivation of honeybush has the potential to help underprivileged communities with large potential markets in health-conscious countries such as Japan, Switzerland and Germany.

Essential oils can be used in the making of medicines, foods, beverages and perfumes. A company in the far north-east of the province, Beaufort West Hydroponics, produces oil from rosemary, lavender and rose geranium. Experiments are being conducted in Citrusdal to see if oils can be extracted from the pelargonium flowers that grow there and the West Coast District Municipality is looking for investors in an essential oils plant cultivation project in the Piketberg area.

A huge market exists for olives and olive oil in South Africa. The report on the economic potential of arid areas produced by the Centre for Development Support (Free State University) states that only 17% of South Africa’s domestic demand for olive oil is met by local producers, 10 percent of whom produce 90% of volume. The industry is growing at about 20% per annum, doubling in size every four to five years. SA Olive’s website reported that nurseries are selling approximately 300 000 new trees every year, clear evidence of a boom in the sector.

The year 2007 saw 8 000 tons of fruit produced, which in turn produced 1 000 tonnes of olive oil and 3 000 tonnes of table olives. The historic centre of olive production is in the Paarl Valley, but the Nuy Valley near Robertson is fast making an impact. In June 2009, Willow Creek Estate won the premier olive oil award, the L’Orciolo d’Oro, in Italy.

Livestock
The Western Cape has excellent dairy herds on the West Coast and large flocks of sheep in the drier areas of the interior. Poultry farms and piggeries are found near all the major urban concentrations. The province has 24% of the nation’s pigs. Ostriches
In the early days of the 20th century, ostriches and their feathers made fortunes for some farmers in the Little Karoo. Those days are long gone but ostrich feathers still form an important part of the economy of the area near Oudtshoorn. The biggest operator is the Klein Karoo International Ostrich Feathers (KKI) which deals with almost all of the world’s best feathers. Up to 350 000kg is processed every year.

The particular qualities of ostrich meat have made it a highly desirable alternative to other red meats in the modern health-conscious age. Low fat and kilojoule levels, combined with high protein content, make it the ideal food and demand has exploded in recent years. With European Union countries making up the bulk of the export market, producers have to be conscious of health issues: an outbreak of bird flu can have a debilitating effect on sales.

Mosstrich, a Mossel Bay company, won the 2009 Absa/Cape Chamber of Commerce Exporter of the Year award based on an 88% increase in revenue from exporting packaged ostrich meat. The company’s staff complement increased to 240 to deal with this increased demand.

Ostrich leather has become a niche product, appealing to buyers of luxury goods. Processing at the Klein Karoo Co-operative near Oudtshoorn is technologically advanced. The Little Karoo is the main hub of South Africa’s ostrich-leather industry, which exports approximately 250 000 skins every year.

Ostrich farming is not confined to the Little Karoo. A scheme on the West Coast intends to provide 2 500 animals for slaughter in the first year of operations, rising to more than 5 000 by year five. Existing concern Swartland Ostriches Ltd will form the core of the new project, which also seeks to bring in black-empowerment partners, government entities and banks.

Alpacas
A little bit of South America can be found just south of Wellington where the Inca Vale Farm is home to a large herd of alpacas. Not only do they produce high-quality wool – four times warmer than sheep wool – but they are excellent guard animals against predators like jackals. A mill near the KwaZulu-Natal town of Mooi River converts the wool into jackets and scarves. An adult alpaca can cost up to R35 000.

Thoroughbred horses
Horse breeding has been an occupation of Cape farmers for many years. The founder of the famous Graaff family dynasty imported Arab horses in the late 19th century and stabled them on his farm, De Grendel, which is now in Tygerberg, a suburb of Cape Town. Stud farms can be found in several parts of the Western Cape with excellent facilities to be found on either side of the Riversonderend Mountain range at Robertson (in the north) and Greyton (to the south). Further south there are stud farms in the area around Still Bay. The 2009 Cape Yearling sale fetched a total amount of R12‑million, at an average of R78 399 per horse.

ONLINE RESOURCES
Agricultural Research Council: www.arc.agric.za
Arid Areas Programme: www.aridareas.co.za
Commercial Products from the Wild: www.cpwild.co.za
Deciduous Fruit Producers Trust: www.dfpt.co.za
Department of Agriculture: Western Cape: www.elsenburg.com
African Alpacas: www.africanalpacas.co.za
National Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries: www.daff.gov.za
Red Espresso: www.redespresso.co.za
SA Fruit Farms: www.safruitfarms.com
SA Grain Information Service: www.sagis.org.za
SA Olive Industry Association: www.saolive.co.za
South African Rooibos Council: www.sarooibos.org.za