The well-developed infrastructure and services within the City, coupled with drivers such as climate change and urbanisation, and the availability of water, irrigation technology, soil conditions and geology that are clustered around existing and artificial hydro ponds and dams, and the need of producing crops and raising livestock on less land present opportune conditions for developing agriculture and agroprocessing in the City. Together with potential pockets of land, Tshwane has the biggest agricultural exhibition in the country. It also hosts the headquarters of various departments and boards. The agricultural cluster is further strengthened by well-established educational and research facilities.
AGRO-PROCESSING
The South African Agro-processing sector output is estimated at R 240 billion per year or 18% of the South African manufacturing output. This makes this sector the second most important manufacturing sector after the automotive industry in terms of gross value added (GVA). The sector employs over 200 000 people through the processing value chains of the various segments and subsectors.
Tshwane and the Gauteng province are central to the agro-processing industry due to their proximity to the large inland South African market as well the neighbouring export markets of Zimbabwe, Botswana and Mozambique. The industry has a trade deficit indicting further opportunities for production.
The agro-processing industry is highly concentrated with the top 10 companies in each subsector responsible for on average 80% of the output. In the same context only less than 30% of the country’s key fruit production enters the agro-processing value chain, with majority being exported as fresh produce. These two factors indicate the opportunity for expansion of the agro-processing sector in the country and in Tshwane.
The key salient features for the Tshwane agro-processing industry include:
• Access to feedstock through the Tshwane Fresh Produce Market, the 2nd biggest fresh produce market in the country, which is the primary market for fresh produce from 4 provinces of Gauteng, Mpumalanga, Limpopo and North West Province.
• Access to large regional markets of Gauteng and SADC.
• Proximity to the largest research and development base in the country in Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) and the Agricultural Research Council (ARC).
Various investment opportunities have been identified for agro-processing in Tshwane and these include:
The Department of Trade and Industry supports investment in the sector through the Agro-processing Support Scheme (APS)