The agricultural sector is an essential contributor to SA's export economy. (Image: Datacentrix)
South African agriculture has an important role to play in supporting economic growth, employment and exports, but accessing this potential will require the sector to navigate an intricate mix of productivity, infrastructure, market access, climate and profitability challenges.
Collaboration across the agricultural value chain, including the purposeful use of technology to improve productivity and resilience, could help the sector respond to these challenges and support its longer-term growth ambitions.
This was a key message to emerge from the sixth Datacentrix Agri Indaba, which brought together agricultural and technology leaders, industry experts and customers to examine the economic outlook for South African agriculture and the role of digital transformation in supporting the sector.
Held under the theme ‘Cultivating a Smarter, Connected, Resilient Agri Future’, the 2026 Agri Indaba explored the practical role of data, artificial intelligence, connectivity, automation and cyber security in helping agricultural businesses respond to changing operating conditions.
Wandile Sihlobo, South Africa's Presidential Envoy on Agriculture and Land and Chief Economist of the Agricultural Business Chamber of South Africa (Agbiz), described the current agricultural environment as one of "mixed fortunes".
Favourable summer rains have supported production conditions for field crops, fruit and vegetables in the 2025/26 season, while strong production volumes have contributed to improved sentiment across parts of the sector. At the same time, livestock producers continue to contend with foot-and-mouth disease, while pork producers are dealing with the tail-end effects of African swine fever.
There are also difficulties within the crop sector, with wheat under pressure and facing rising input costs, weak profitability and shrinking plantings, while persistent port bottlenecks affect the fruit industry and cut into farm profitability. Geopolitical developments are adding further pressure through higher shipping costs.
Ahmed Mahomed, Group CEO of Datacentrix, addresses delegates at the company's recent Agri Indaba 2026.
Despite these hurdles, Sihlobo identified agriculture as one of the sectors with scope to make a greater contribution to South Africa's economic growth, at a time when the country's overall growth trajectory remains constrained.
He estimated that the agricultural sector could grow by around 8% in 2026, although performance varies considerably across sub-sectors.
Agriculture's importance extends beyond its involvement in primary production. Sihlobo noted that approximately 944 000 people were employed in primary agriculture in the second quarter of 2026, while roughly 1.3 million to 1.4 million people work across the broader agricultural sector and related businesses.
The sector is also an essential contributor to South Africa's export economy. Agricultural exports remained relatively strong during 2026, increasing by around 10% year on year in the second quarter, with first-half exports reaching US$7.8 billion. The longer-term trend is equally significant. South African agricultural exports increased from just over US$2 billion in the early 2000s to a record US$15.1 billion in 2025.
Approximately half of South Africa's agricultural production by value is exported, making efficient logistics and access to international markets critical to the sector's continued growth.
However, Sihlobo cautioned that strong export figures do not necessarily translate into greater profitability for producers. Logistics constraints can increase costs, while tariffs, regulatory requirements and limited trade agreements can affect the competitiveness of South African products in international markets.
A recurring message throughout Sihlobo's presentation was that “simply producing more is not enough”: producers also need to move goods efficiently through the supply chain and reach markets where they can be sold competitively.
While the current agricultural outlook contains positive indicators, Sihlobo warned that the industry could face difficult conditions in 2027.
The 2026/27 season presents risks associated with El Niño and potentially drier conditions, he said. With only around 20% of South Africa's food crops under irrigation and much of the broader agricultural sector dependent on rainfall, weather conditions remain a meaningful variable for producers.
Depending on the severity of El Niño, Sihlobo expects that agricultural output could contract by roughly 6% in 2027, following the likely growth in 2026.
The implications could extend beyond agricultural production. Food-price inflation could rise to between 5% and 6%, while agricultural employment may come under pressure as farmers face rising input costs and drought poses an additional threat.
This creates a strong case for building resilience while conditions are favourable, with better information, connectivity and data-driven decision making able to support businesses as they respond to changing conditions.
According to Sihlobo, collaboration, including the use of technology to improve productivity, could help the sector realise its potential to contribute to growth, transformation and employment.
For agricultural businesses, technology investment needs to be matched with practical business outcomes rather than viewed as an objective in itself. Larger farming operations may be able to adopt technology directly, while cooperatives and other industry structures could provide opportunities to deploy solutions across multiple farms. This creates scope for greater collaboration between agricultural businesses, industry bodies and technology partners to identify where technology can deliver measurable improvements in productivity, decision-making and operational resilience.
“Technology has a role to play, but the starting point must be the business challenge,” added Ahmed Mahomed, Group CEO of Datacentrix. “Agriculture operates in an environment where productivity, logistics, market access, weather conditions and profitability are closely linked. Technology should therefore be applied where it can provide meaningful insight, improve decision-making, support operational continuity or address a specific business constraint.”
For Datacentrix, this means taking a technology-agnostic approach and working with customers to understand their operational and strategic requirements before determining the appropriate combination of technology, skills and expertise.
The Agri Indaba discussions also emphasised the growing importance of data sovereignty, local infrastructure and contingency planning as organisations navigate geopolitical uncertainty and rapidly changing technology markets.
And as agricultural organisations become increasingly dependent on connected systems, data and digital services, these considerations extend beyond traditional IT. Where critical data resides, how it is managed, what infrastructure supports it and whether the necessary skills are available locally are becoming important factors in broader business resilience strategies.
The discussions at the sixth Datacentrix Agri Indaba reinforced that agriculture's future will depend on remaining competitive in international markets, managing infrastructure and logistics constraints, responding to climate and disease risks, and creating opportunities for employment and inclusive growth.
“South Africa's agricultural sector has demonstrated its capacity to grow, create employment and compete in international markets, but there are a number of limitations that need to be addressed,” said Mahomed. “Collaboration will be important, as will the ability to make informed technology choices that support productivity and resilience. The opportunity is not simply to digitalise agriculture, but to use technology purposefully to help address the challenges facing the sector.”
The Datacentrix Agri Indaba 2026 was supported by the participating technology partners, including Cohesity, Comsol Networks, Fortinet (Exclusive Networks), HP, HPE Networking, Inferrix, Kaspersky, ManageEngine (ITR Technology), Nutanix, Hikvision (Pinnacle) and Utimaco.
For more information on the Datacentrix Agri Indaba 2026, please visit https://www.datacentrix.co.za/agri-indaba-2026.html.