DUE to the worsening drought in South Africa, officials warn consumers to brace themselves for food price increases far above the inflation rate.
Facing the most severe drought in over two decades, South Africa’s agricultural industry has been brought to its knees and experts warn the poorest people will be hit the hardest, as they spend up to 40 percent of their income on food.
AgriSA’s senior economist, Thabi Nkosi, predicts the price of food will increase by far more than 10 percent, double that of inflation, which is currently at 4.8 percent.
‘The Free State and the North West are the provinces where 80 percent of grain is grown and these are two of the provinces hardest hit by the drought,’ said Nkosi.
The price of yellow maize has already increased by 80 percent over the past year and which has had an impact on the price of poultry and red meat.
Red Meat Producers’ Organisation chairperson Gerhard Schutte said consumers would have to accept that the price of meat would increase beyond the inflation rate because of a lack of supply.
A knock-on effect of culling livestock is that the breeding stock has been affected, which means increased shortages will follow.
Nkosi said while retailers might be able to absorb some of the increases, it would still be a tough year because of the steep increase in food prices hitting consumers.
The drought has also decimated sugar cane plantations, which mean an impending increase in the cost of sugar and products containing sugar.
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