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A long-run view of South African agricultural production and productivity

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  • Liebenberg, Frikkie
  • Pardey, Philip G.

Abstract

Production and productivity developments in South Africa have regional consequences: South Africa’s agricultural economy accounted for 43.1% of the agricultural GDP of southern Africa in 2009. Here we present and discuss newly constructed long-run data on agricultural input and output aggregates for South Africa spanning most of the 20th century. Updated multi-factor productivity (MFP) measures for South Africa for the last half of the 20th century are also presented. For the period after 1961, land and labor productivity trends for South Africa are compared with partial productivity developments in the rest of Africa. The general tendency has been for labor productivity to grow at slower rates throughout sub- Saharan Africa than in South Africa (and Nigeria). We also detect a fairly widespread slowdown in the growth of both these partial productivity measures in more recent years. MFP growth for South Africa has also slowed, as has aggregate agricultural output growth, which has now slipped well below the country’s corresponding rate of population growth. A failure to revitalize the rate of productivity growth and sustain that rate over the long run will have far-reaching economic development consequences for South Africa and the continent generally.

Suggested Citation

  • Liebenberg, Frikkie & Pardey, Philip G., 2012. "A long-run view of South African agricultural production and productivity," African Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, African Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 7(1), pages 1-25, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:ags:afjare:156976
    DOI: 10.22004/ag.econ.156976
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    2. Khumbuzile C. Mosoma & Heinrich R. Bohlmann & Sifiso M. Ntombela & Renee van Eyden, 2023. "Quantifying the Economic Effects of Land Reform Policy in South Africa: A Computable General Equilibrium Analysis," Working Papers 202307, University of Pretoria, Department of Economics.
    3. Greyling, Jan & Vink, Nick & Lombard, Jan & von Fintel, Dieter & van der Westhuizen, Divan & Vermeulen, Hester & Boonzaaier, Johann & Meyer, Ferdi & Garbers, Chris, 2015. "Farm-WorkerSectoral Determination: An Analysis of Agricultural Wages in South Africa 2015," BFAP Reports 279754, Bureau for Food and Agricultural Policy (BFAP), BFAP Reports.
    4. Khumbuzile C. Mosoma & Renee van Eyden & Heinrich R. Bohlmann, 2023. "Measuring Total Factor Productivity in the South African Agricultural Sector Using a Growth Accounting Framework," Working Papers 202306, University of Pretoria, Department of Economics.

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