There is growing discontent in Southern Africa over South Africa’s agricultural dominance in the region.
Countries like Namibia and Botswana have been imposing temporary bans on the import of South Africa’s agricultural products, most recently targeting fruits and vegetables.
The rationale these countries use for their policy actions is that they want to grow their domestic farming activities. Blocking South Africa to create space for their industries is the approach they deem necessary.
As these countries are all part of the Southern African Customs Union and the African Continental Free Trade Area, frequent bans on agricultural products from South Africa undermine the spirit of these agreements.
I discuss this further in this week’s episode of AgriView: