Browse Data and Analysis

Oilseed production in South Africa is expected to decrease by 15 percent in the 2014/15 MY, due to a mid-summer drought that hit the main summer rainfall producing areas.

FAS/Nairobi forecasts increased production of corn, wheat and rice in Kenya in the marketing year (MY) 2015/2016.

The African Union Commission (AUC) recently launched a continental SPS Committee to assist member states in their efforts to protect human, animal and plant health.

The wheat production estimate for MY14/15 is revised downward from the official USDA estimate by 600,000 metric tons to 3.8 million metric tons.

South Africa’s net trade in corn is expected to decrease from 2.0 million tons to 100,000 tons in the 2014/15 MY, due to a mid-summer drought that hit the main corn producing areas.

The passage of a bio-safety bill has faced many hiccups in Nigeria, the country’s policy makers now appear to be set for the passage of the bill and subsequent executive assent.

Post forecasts that the South Africa grape crop for wine production will decrease by two percent to 1.490 million tons in 2015, from the peak production of 1.520 million tons in 2014.

Over the past several years, the African Union Commission (AUC) has explored the possibility of setting up a food safety body to help address many of the systemic food safety challenges across Africa.

On January 29, 2015, the government of Angola revoked import licenses for 25 agricultural products including poultry, effectively blocking imports of these products for an unspecified duration.

On January 27, 2015, the government of Nigeria (GON) in Abuja, Nigeria’s capital city, inaugurated: 1) Inter-Ministerial Committee on Food Safety and 2) National Food Safety Management Committee.

United States exporters of agricultural products to South Africa, especially meat exporters, face both tariff and non-tariff barriers to trade.

Post kept its estimate for the area planted with corn in the 2014/15 MY unchanged at 3.1 million hectares (including subsistence farming).