Farmers’ associations and economists have praised South Africa’s first mass export of beans to China, describing it as a significant boost to the local agricultural industry and economy.

The announcement was made by the Department of Agriculture, Land Reforms and Rural Development. This is reported by
Pretoria News, a partner of TV BRICS.

Jaco Minnaar, president of South Africa’s largest agricultural organisation.

He also added that farmers welcome the opportunity to export their produce as it brings in foreign capital and boosts the rural economy.

Bonke Dumisa, an independent economic analyst, said the country needed to export to BRICS partners.

“In recent years unfortunately, we have been importing a lot of products from our BRICS partners, especially China and it is good to see exports going out. This will grow our economy, benefit the agriculture industry and also create job opportunities.”

Reggie Ngcobo, spokesman for DALRRD, said South Africa shipped its first shipment of soya beans to China via the port of Durban in October and noted that China is the largest consumer and importer of soya beans in the world.

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