One of South Africa’s biggest success stories

Despite facing turbulence and uncertainty, South Africa’s agricultural sector offers plenty of success stories worth celebrating.

One such story is the country’s soybean production, which is set to see a 3,297% increase over the past 31 years, from 67,700 tonnes in the 1993/94 production season to an expected 2.3 million tonnes in 2024/25.

South Africa’s agriculture sector is critical to the country’s economy and security, contributing significantly to GDP, employment, food security, and exports.

It also drives rural development and industrial growth, supports millions of livelihoods, and boosts the country’s global trade.

According to data from the Agricultural Business Chamber of South Africa (Agbiz), South Africa’s agricultural exports reached a record R250 billion ($13.7 billion) last year.

This record is significant, given that the sector was under immense pressure due to geopolitical conflicts, a mid-summer drought, and the outbreak of animal diseases that impacted agricultural production.

The Agbiz/IDC Agribusiness Confidence Index (ACI) increased 11 points from Q4 2024 to 70 in Q1 2025. This is the third consecutive improvement, placing the ACI at its highest level since Q4 2021.

This optimism results from La Niña rains, which support the agricultural season, improvements in port efficiency, which supported exports in 2024, and progress in controlling animal diseases. 

The soybean boom

Wandile Sihlobo, Chief Economist at Agbiz, said there are numerous examples in the sector that are cause to celebrate, highlighting soybeans as one of South Africa’s agricultural success stories.

He explained that the growing demand for soybean oilcake or meal by the animal feed industry stimulated this growth.

“This, in turn, has been driven by an increase in the demand for high-protein food, particularly poultry products,” said Sihlobo.

South Africa’s per capita consumption of poultry meat has almost doubled over the past 17 years, currently estimated at around 41 kilograms.

“To service the growing demand, South African agribusinesses, supported by the government, made investments to increase domestic soybean processing capacity from roughly 860,000 tonnes in 2012 to around 2.2 million tonnes now,” explained Sihlobo.

He said that this initiative aimed to boost domestic soybean production as an import substitution strategy, and farmers responded positively to these demand changes, achieving a record harvest this season.

This growth was driven by a 21-fold expansion in soybean plantings over the past 30 years, reaching 1.2 million hectares in 2024/25, along with technological advancements in seeds, fertilizers, and farming practices.

Soybean yields improved by 95% since 1993/94, surpassing 2.0 tonnes per hectare this season, driven by enhanced farming practices and technology.

A key factor was the widespread adoption of genetically modified (GM) seeds, introduced in the early 2000s. These seeds now account for about 95% of South Africa’s soybean plantings in 2024/25.

“This is the only country on the African continent that produces GM soybeans,” said Sihlobo.

“Therefore, it is unsurprising that South Africa continues to enjoy tremendous growth in soybean output while production in other African countries remains pedestrian,” he added.

This success aligns with global trends, as leading soybean producers—including the US, Argentina, Brazil, and others—widely adopt GM soybeans, which comprise 75% of global production in 2024/25.

“Most importantly, the investment in expanding South Africa’s soybean processing capacity and improving production techniques have led to a success story regarding import substitution of soybean meal,” said the Agbiz Chief Economist.

In the 2006/07 season, more than 80% of the soybean meal consumed locally was imported.

Today, South Africa has transitioned to being a net exporter, with projections for soybean exports in the 2023/24 season reaching 570,000 tonnes.