South Africa’s avocado export agreement with Japan could boost economy

South Africa’s first consignment of avocados to Japan has landed, marking the renewal of a trade relationship that has the potential to bolster exports and create jobs.

Japan had initially rejected avocados from South Africa, citing health and regulatory standards, but last November the two countries reached an agreement to allow the exports, and signed the deal in January to begin trade in the middle of the year. 

South Africa’s access to Asian markets will boost exports of avocados, said Thabile Nkunjane, an economist at the National Agricultural Marketing Council

“Japan is quite a good and a large market. Avocado is a superfood, and a lot of people that are kind of affluent like it because of its benefits,” said Nkunjane.

South Africa is among the top exporters of avocados alongside Peru, Mexico and Israel.

According to the South African Avocado Growers Association (SAAGA), the estimated three-year average annual production is 146 600 tonnes, 45% of which is exported mainly to Europe and the United Kingdom. The remainder of the crop is consumed domestically while about 10% is processed for avocado oil and purée.  

South Africa and China signed an export agreement for the product in August last year.

International Relations and Cooperation Minister Ronald Lamola, who attended the Tokyo International Conference on African Development ministerial meeting in Japan last week, said the avocado trade agreement marks the beginning of a new market in the East. 

“South Africa’s economic diplomacy efforts continue to yield results in 2024, as evidenced by breakthroughs for our avocado industry, with the opening of new big markets in Japan, China and India,” the international relations department said in a statement.

South Africa expanding trade with Asian nations comes as neighbours Botswana and Namibia have banned imports of its citrus and some vegetables to protect their own producers.

“It is a good thing that we are diversifying our exports as much as possible, because we don’t know if Botswana or Namibia could say in the next two years, or maybe next week, that they are no longer importing avocados from South Africa,” Nkunjane said.

“So when we have a very diverse market, like opening these new markets, and we export avocados across a number of countries, and a situation like the one that happens in Namibia, it’s going to help in terms of not the impact.” 

Avocados are mostly grown in subtropical areas such as Limpopo and Mpumalanga, but because of increased demand locally and internationally, avocado farms have expanded in KwaZulu-Natal and the Eastern and Western Cape provinces, according to SAAGA. 

“Since 2009, total plantings have increased due to a growing consumer demand for avocados. The latest avocado tree census indicates that the area under commercial avocado orchards stands around 20 000 hectares with new plantings amounting to approximately 800 hectares per annum,” the association said.

Khathutshelo Matika runs a farm in Vhembe, Limpopo. Of his 10 hectares, four are for avocados and the remainder for macadamia nuts and litchi.

Matika said he recently harvested about two tonnes of avocados from half a hectare of land and has had to plant more avocado trees in response to demand from his buyers.

This has helped boost the local economy and create more jobs for people from the surrounding villages. “We work with our families based in the village. We are supposed to hire the people around our farms … it benefits the people and the workers,” Matika said.

Nkunjane said the increased demand is encouraging for farmers throughout the country. 

“When there is a demand for a typical product, it increases the incentive for farmers to expand their production. The more the demand for the product, the bigger the orchards,” he said.

“I think that in the next few years, based on the expansion in the orchards that we are producing avocados from, we are seeing quite a bit of a noticeable rise in production …, and when the industry grows one of the outcomes is that they provide a lot of jobs for South Africans.”