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Insights Centre
Sectors

Agriculture

How the season is going, what staples cost, where land and water are being invested in, and where processing is missing.

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Value added by agriculture, forestry and fishing across SADCUS$86.8bn11.0% of output · +3.4% a year, last five years
SADC exports of the pillar's goodsUS$24.0bn2024
Deals in the last 12 months31US$976m where the value is confirmed · 96 tracked in all
Subsectors109 with trade data

What this page answers

  • How is this season going, district by district?
  • What are staple prices doing in each market?
  • Where are the cropland, irrigation schemes, dams and large land deals?
  • What does each country grow and export raw, and where is the processing gap?

Angola has SADC's largest agriculture, forestry and fishing sector, at US$25.9bn

Value added by agriculture, forestry and fishing, US$, latest year, with its share of each economy

AngolaUS$25.9bn22.6% of the economy
TanzaniaUS$21.4bn28.1% of the economy
South AfricaUS$11.3bn3.1% of the economy
DRCUS$7.7bn10.9% of the economy
MozambiqueUS$5.7bn28.6% of the economy
ZimbabweUS$4.0bn9.2% of the economy
MadagascarUS$3.9bn24.5% of the economy
MalawiUS$3.2bn28.3% of the economy
NamibiaUS$975m8.1% of the economy
ZambiaUS$717m3.0% of the economy
MauritiusUS$637m4.9% of the economy
ComorosUS$541m35.8% of the economy
EswatiniUS$356m7.7% of the economy
BotswanaUS$332m1.8% of the economy
LesothoUS$158m7.7% of the economy
SeychellesUS$53m2.9% of the economy
Source: UN Statistics Division·dotzedw Insights Centre

Angola leads SADC on agriculture (us$)

Agriculture, forestry and fishing, value added (US$), US$, latest year for each country. Click a bar for that country's agriculture page.

$0$10bn$20bn$30bnAngola$30.8bnTanzania$20.7bnSouth Africa$12.1bnDRC$8.1bnMozambique$5.7bnZimbabwe$4.9bnMalawi$4.5bnMadagascar$4.3bnZambia$1.2bnNamibia$1.1bnMauritius$745.9mComoros$663.9mBotswana$355.0mEswatini$330.7mLesotho$166.9mSeychelles$62.2mmedian $2.7bn

Source: World Bank·dotzedw Insights Centre

Subsectors

10 in this pillar

Grains and staples

Tracks
Maize, wheat, sorghum, rice and cassava; harvests, yields, crop estimates, stocks, prices, import needs and export bans.
Signals ahead
Rainfall in the growing months, planting intentions, export bans in neighbouring countries.

Select a figure for its trend. Source: CEPII BACI, dotzedw deals tracker.

Trade in detail

SADC sold US$2.4bn of grains and staples abroad in 2024, up 153.8% on five years earlier

Exports and imports of the products in this subsector by the 16 SADC countries, US$ (HS 10, 11, 0714)

0$2bn$4bn$6bn2012201420162018202020222024ExportsUS$2.4bnImportsUS$6.9bn
Source: CEPII BACI·dotzedw Insights Centre

Largest exporters, 2024

South AfricaUS$1.7bn
TanzaniaUS$490m
ZambiaUS$60m
MauritiusUS$53m
MozambiqueUS$49m
LesothoUS$23m
ZimbabweUS$20m
NamibiaUS$18m

Where the exports go

SADCUS$1.8bn
Rest of AfricaUS$463m
Rest of the worldUS$41m
European UnionUS$27m
United Arab EmiratesUS$20m
United KingdomUS$12m
United StatesUS$5.3m
ChinaUS$5.1m

Main products, 2024

Maize (100590)US$1.0bn
Rice (100630)US$381m
Wheat (100119)US$142m
Maize and other flour (110220)US$142m
Cereal groats, meal and pellets (110313)US$138m
Maize (100510)US$112m

Each country's trade in grains and staples every year since 2012, by partner is part of the Individual plan

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Open these deals in the deals tracker

What SADC sells abroad across agriculture

SADC exports by subsector, 2024, US$. A product can count in two subsectors.

Cash cropsUS$6.5bn+19% on five years earlier
Horticulture and fruit exportsUS$5.6bn+43% on five years earlier
Fisheries and aquacultureUS$2.9bn-2% on five years earlier
Forestry and timberUS$2.5bn+15% on five years earlier
Grains and staplesUS$2.4bn+154% on five years earlier
InputsUS$1.9bn+47% on five years earlier
Livestock, meat and dairyUS$1.4bn+48% on five years earlier
Storage, processing and agro-industryUS$1.2bn+87% on five years earlier
IrrigationUS$60m+18% on five years earlier
Source: CEPII BACI·dotzedw Insights Centre

Who is moving

Open in the deals tracker

31 deals in the last 12 months across SADC, placed in subsectors by what they say.

Sources and method