Agriculture in South Africa

[4][needs update][dead link‍] The dairy industry consists of around 4,300 milk producers providing employment for 60,000 farm workers and contributing to the livelihoods of around 40,000 others.

[6] Land reform has been criticised both by farmers' groups and by landless workers, the latter alleging that the pace of change has not been fast enough, and the former alleging racist treatment and expressing concerns that a similar situation to Zimbabwe's land reform policy may develop,[7] a fear exacerbated by comments made by former deputy president Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka.

[8][9] On 27 February 2018, the National Assembly voted to set in motion a process to amend the Constitution so as to allow for the expropriation of land without compensation.

[13] To reverse the damage caused by land mismanagement, the government has supported a scheme which promotes sustainable development and the use of natural resources.

[14] Maize production, which contributes to a 36% majority of the gross value of South Africa's field crops, has also experienced negative effects due to climate change.

[citation needed] The estimated value of loss, which takes into consideration scenarios with and without the carbon dioxide fertilization effect,[15] ranges between tens and hundreds of millions of Rands.

[16] Based on prehistorical archaeological evidence of pastoralism and farming in southern Africa, ancient settlements closest outside the present-day South African border region, related to Bantu language speaking peoples, so far was found in sites located in the southernmost region inside the borders of what is now Mozambique, and dated 354–68 BCE.

Findings similarly based on pastoralism and farming within South Africa thus far – is from sites identified in what was the Transvaal (province), they were dated 249–370 CE.

[19] Wheat cultivation spread from the western Cape where rainfall is fairly reliable, to the Orange Free State and the eastern Transvaal, primarily in response to rising consumer demand.

[19] As of the mid-1990s, more than 1.5 million tons of grapes were used domestically in South Africa's renowned wine industry, which dates back to the seventeenth-century vineyards introduced by French Huguenot immigrants.

[24] About 7.3 million hectares are directly affected by woody plant encroachment, with severe negative impacts for rangeland agriculture.