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The predominant sectors in terms of the District's economy are
agriculture and tourism, contributing approximately R690 million and R680
million respectively to the Gross Geographic Product of the District. Agriculture,
together with related post-harvest value adding or agro-processing, creates
approximately 41% and 7% of formal employment opportunities respectively, while
the tourism industry creates approximately 3% of formal employment. Due to the
diverse climate of the region, a wide array of agricultural commodities is
produced. Very little arable land exists in the District and therefore
agriculture mostly consists of extensive animal grazing.
The contribution from the commercial farming sector in the Sarah
Baartman District is larger than that from any other District in the Eastern
Cape. Highlights of this industry includes:
- Citrus is the second largest contributor to the GDP of the Eastern Cape,
after the automotive sector;
- About 25 – 30% of South Africa’s citrus is produced in the Sarah
Baartman District, while as much as 80% of that production is exported;
- The District is the largest producers of lemons in the world;
- The District is the biggest producer of mohair in the world, with as
much as 55% of the world mohair is produced within its borders;
- About 16% of South Africa’s milk is produced in the District;
- In addition to citrus, other crop farming includes fruit and chicory;
and
- Other sectors in the District are forestry and fishing.
Whilst the District is a big producer of crops and livestock, very little beneficiation occurs in the District and most of the products are sold in their unprocessed form. The main agricultural industries (as well as related agricultural raw material emanating from industries) in the District include:
POTENTIAL AREAS FOR INVESTMENT
Several potential areas of investment exist within the Sarah Baartman
District. They include:
FISHERIES & AQUACULTURE
Aquaculture comprises diverse systems of farming plants and animals in
inland, coastal and marine areas, using and producing a wide variety of animal
and plant species. It can be a very productive use of resources due to the
amount of food produced per hectare when compared to arable farming or
livestock rearing. Aqua feed resource production is also one of the fastest
growing agricultural industries in the world, with growth rates of more than
30% per year.
The industry in South Africa and the Eastern Cape is still in its
infancy, with only four aquaculture facilities currently operating in the
District. These are located in Camdeboo, Ndlambe, Makana and Kouga local
municipalities. The largest of these projects is located in Graaff-Reinet and
is called the Camdeboo Satellite Aquaculture Project (CSAP). It aims to establish
a mega aquaculture cluster, comprised of a core farm of six hectares, 39
outgrower farms and three hatcheries. As a result of this project, the
freshwater fish industry in the Graaff-Reinet area will be preserved, whilst it
also creates sustainable self-employment opportunities for rural women. At
maximum capacity, this project will produce about 13 728 tons of farmed fish
(primarily catfish) a year, creating 670 direct jobs and 3281 indirect jobs.
Once perfected and successfully implemented in Graaff-Reinet, CSAP may be
replicated in other rural and remote areas of the country, creating enormous
social and economic benefits for thousands of South Africans, as well as a
source of affordable protein and nutrients for millions of people.
The other aquaculture and fisheries projects in the Sarah Baartman
District are much smaller, one of which involves the production of oysters off
the coast of Port Alfred (Ndlambe). Challenges experienced by fish farmers in
the District generally relate to funding, training and equipment. Investment
opportunities exist within both the production and processing areas of the
aquaculture industry.
CITRUS
The citrus industry within the Sarah Baartman District Municipality is
largely focused in the Sundays River Valley Local Municipality. The town of
Kirkwood is considered as the primary producer in the District and the
Province, contributing about 12% of national production. It is home to 12 000
hectares of citrus orchards. Varieties produced in this area include
clementines, navels, lemons, valencias and grapefruits.
The Sundays River Citrus Company is responsible for a large chunk of the
area’s production capacity, producing 2 million pockets of citrus for the
export market. They are the largest producer of citrus in southern Africa,
while the Eastern Cape, consistently since 2004, is the most significant
contributor to citrus production in the country. There are also citrus farms
located in the Kouga Local Municipality, with substantial production taking
place in the Gamtoos River and Patensie.
Several citrus nurseries operate within the District (Sundays River
Valley and Kouga), from which initial plants for future cultivars can be
procured. Most cultivars start to bear fruit in their third year, although the
climates can affect this.
On a national level, about 11.2% of citrus produced is sold to local
markets, 70.1% is exported and 28% is sent for further processing. Currently,
there is a lack of large-scale processing facilities available for citrus fruit
in the Sarah Baartman District.
HONEYBUSH
Honeybush, found exclusively in South Africa, is a component of the
horticultural industry of the Sarah Baartman District Municipality. It is an
indigenous fynbos-type plant that is used to produce a type of herbal tea. The
processing of the plant is divided into 3 parts, namely cutting the tea into
fine particles, fermenting the cuttings with pure spring water and drying,
sifting and sorting the residue into course fine and super-fine grades of tea.
This process is essential for the development of its characteristic sweet
scent, taste and reddish brown colour of the tea.
The plant takes two years to grow and is harvested in its third year.
There are several honeybush processing facilities located within the District,
three of which are found in Kou-kamma Local Municipality, while another is
located in Kouga Local Municipality. It is grown in the Langkloof, in the
Kou-kamma Local Municipality, while potential for development exists in the
Makana Local Municipality.
Of the national production, 90% is exported. Markets include Germany and
the United States of America. The industry is relatively young and the full
scope of it has not yet been determined, apart from its contribution to the tea
industry. The South African market for honeybush is largely untapped, with
international demand outweighing national supply capacity.
LIVESTOCK
Livestock farming within the Sarah Baartman District is largely
attributed to the farming of cattle, sheep and goats. The mixed veld types of
the Eastern Cape present a competitive advantage for livestock activities.
With respect to goats raised for slaughter, the most common are the
Boer, Savanna and Kalahari Red goats. Nationally, goats are primarily raised
within the Eastern Cape, while the Sarah Baartman District possesses about 70%
of the value of the industry in the Province. Flocks of goats intended for meat
production are usually smaller than sheep flocks, averaging approximately 300
head per farm.
There are numerous abattoirs spread across the District. Kouga Local
Municipality’s climate is ideally suited for raising goats and sheep and is
home to 10 facilities which process this type of meat, while the Camdeboo Local
Municipality has a further seven such facilities. There is another six similar
facilities located in the District. The majority of these abattoirs also
slaughter beef cattle. Nationally, there are shortages with respect to cattle
production, with demand for more than 300 000 head of cattle extra per annum.
Beef cattle are less intensive to raise than dairy, notwithstanding goats,
which can be raised on the same land. The highest concentration of cattle per
square kilometre is found in the Kou-kamma Local Municipality.
A potential shortage in the supply of lamb is predicted in the near
future, posing a possible investment opportunity, while the skill level of
shearers in the District could be improved.
POULTRY
The poultry industry in the Sarah Baartman District includes broilers,
egg-layers and ostrich production. The coastal regions are more suitable for
broiler and egg production, whereas the dryer, inland regions are more suitable
for ostriches.
Poultry related cooperatives within the District are scarcely
distributed, with only 12 cooperatives identified in 2013. Of these, six are
located in the Ndlambe, three in Makana, two in Kouga and one in Kou-kamma
local municipalities. There are
seventeen poultry abattoirs in the District, of which five are located in the
Kou-kamma, four in Camdeboo, three in Kouga, two in Makana, one in Blue Crane
Route, Ikwezi and Sundays River Valley local municipalities.
There are opportunities that exist in the District for free range chicken production, while the area is well suited for ostrich production. This industry produces leather, feather-related products and the ostrich meat.
In South Africa, white meat is generally considered as the healthier and
cheaper alternative to red meat. In
2012, the South African Poultry Association found that more chicken and eggs
are consumed per capita than any other animal protein.
PINEAPPLES
The Sarah Baartman District is the largest producer of pineapples in the
Province, contributing about 90% of the provincial output. The industry is
located almost exclusively in the Ndlambe Local Municipality, positively
impacting on the social and economic growth of the area. The plant takes
approximately one to one-and-a-half years to flower. Usually, the first crop is
harvested after eighteen to twenty-four months. Currently, all pineapples
produced in the District are processed at a special facility located in East
London.
The pineapple plant is well suited to the conditions found in the
District and is able to grow in environments where irrigated plants struggle. A
range of products can be produced from pineapples, including juice concentrate,
dietary fibre and textile fibre. Enzymes that have medical properties can also
be extracted from pineapple waste products, while the plant waste can be used
to produce biogas.
MOHAIR
The Eastern Cape Province is the largest producer of mohair in South
Africa, contributing approximately three quarters of the nation’s current
production. The Sarah Baartman District is the Province’s largest producer of
mohair, with approximately 52% of South Africa’s market share. More than 90% of
the country’s total mohair clip is exported in the grease or semi-processed
form – both washed and combed. Turkey, Argentina and Lesotho pose strong
competition to South Africa’s mohair production.
Angora goats produce a fibre that combines the warmth of wool but has
the durability to be coloured, similar to synthetic material. Colouring of the
fibre results in a high reflectance value and clarity of colour. Kid mohair,
due to its exceptional quality, continues to be in high demand worldwide and
used in the manufacturing of fashion garments.
The areas in the District most suited to the rearing of Angora goats and
the production of mohair include the Camdeboo, Blue Crane Route, Ikwezi, Makana
and Baviaans local municipalities.
Currently, the focus within the industry should be on skills development
in management, husbandry and mohair production, while investment in research
and development could pay off due to new technologies being introduced to
increase the yield and the quality of the fibres that are produced.
RENEWABLE ENERGY
Renewable energy harnesses naturally occurring non-depletable sources of
energy, including solar, wind, biomass, hydro, tidal, wave, ocean current and
geothermal, to produce electricity, gaseous and liquid fuels, heat or a
combination of these types of energy. The renewable energy industry is
therefore comprised of those enterprises that seek to commercialise these
natural processes to generate electricity for consumers.
Approximately 90% of South Africa’s electricity is still being generated
from the burning of coal. The Sarah Baartman District Municipality has
significant potential to produce energy using naturally occurring sources, such
as wind.
The most significant gap in the market for the Sarah Baartman District,
over the short to medium term, will be in the provision of ancillary services
(e.g. legal services, EIAs, engineering services, construction, security
services, fencing, maintenance, cleaning, logistics etc.). With each renewable
energy development coming online, the demand will increase for the manufacturing
of components and the provision of operational and maintenance services.
The Camdeboo, Blue Crane Route, Makana, Sundays River Valley, Kouga and
Kou-kamma local municipalities are suited for the generation of wind power,
while solar energy generation would be more suitable in the Ikwezi, Blue Crane
Route, Camdeboo, Makana, Sundays River and Kou-kamma local municipalities.
The Blue Crane Route Local Municipality is also home to the District’s
only hydro-electric initiative, developed along the Fish River. The Ndlambe ,
Sundays River and Kouga local municipalities are suitable for biogas
production, as by-products of their agricultural activities. The Kouga Local
Municipality also offers potential for hydro electricity generation.
