The EU farms' protests have relevance in South Africa

As the farmers' protests continue in various regions of Europe, the primary question on the minds of South African agriculturalists is what implications, if any, these will have on local production and exports. According to various media reports, the protests mainly centre on the declining EU's agricultural subsidies, the environmental policy to reduce chemicals and fertilizer use, and the need for protection against imports. [1] Whether or not the farmers are correct in raising their dissatisfaction about the EU's policies on these areas is a point of much discussion. But it is worth emphasizing that these events and the policy outcome in response to them will matter for South Africa's agriculture in two ways. First, South Africa's agricultural sector is strongly linked with the European Union (EU) through trade. The region is South Africa's second most important market for South Africa's agricultural products, accounting for 27% of the country's total agricultural exports, ...