Africa economy
South Africa: fruit growers victims of sanctions against Moscow
Audio 02:17
Citrus is one of South Africa's most profitable agricultural exports, employing 120,000 people (illustration image).
Getty Images - Rodger Shagam
By: Claire Bargelès Follow
2 mins
In South Africa, since the beginning of the Russian invasion in Ukraine and the sanctions that affect it in return, the fighting has been going on in the agricultural sector and in particular that of fresh fruit.
The country usually exports 8% of its production to Russia.
A significant part, which must now find new outlets.
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From our correspondent in Johannesburg,
In his office in Pretoria, Vincent Keesenberg contemplates the table that summarizes his latest exports.
“
Here this container was supposed to go to Russia, with grapes, it was finally sent to the Netherlands.
And the same for this one, with pears, it arrived so it's good.
»
Vincent manages sales for the local fresh fruit export business,
Origin Fruits
.
Created three years ago, it usually sells nearly 500 containers each year.
But 2022 promises to be complicated.
“
I had fruit on the way to Russia, but as customers can no longer pay us in dollars, we had to divert all this fruit, especially to Rotterdam,
laments
Vincent Keesenberg
.
So we go from a fixed price, to sell in Russia, to a price where we cannot sell in the Netherlands.
And we can already see congestion in the Dutch port, where containers remain there for two, three, four or five days, with fruit waiting to be unloaded and then sold
.
»
The citrus sector in difficulty
Russia, for example, received 20% of South African pears last season.
But it is above all the citrus fruits that are of concern, because the harvest has just started and Russia and Ukraine are also important markets.
Justin Chadwick is the Director of the Citrus Growers Association.
“
It's not that easy to say that we are going to send our fruit to other markets.
The citrus fruits ordered by Russia have a particular size, are of a very specific quality, and so on.
And other countries are also trying to sell their fruit elsewhere,
explains Justin Chadwick
.
Countries like Morocco, Egypt and Turkey also export a lot of citrus fruits.
So if a market is oversupplied, this has consequences on prices, and so we end up selling the fruits.
»
Citrus fruits are among the country's most profitable agricultural exports, employing 120,000 people.
And like other agricultural sectors, the industry is also likely to suffer from the global shortage of fertilizers, according to Wandile Sihlobo of the South African Chamber of Agriculture.
“
While Russia exports nearly 14% of the world's fertilizers, these upheavals are driving up the cost of inputs.
So South African producers are dealing with this increase in the price of inputs.
»
The war therefore puts South African farmers in a little more difficulty, when they were just recovering from the pandemic.
►
Also to listen: In
South
Africa, the flourishing citrus market
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