AgriSA has outlined five policy priorities for South African agriculture, calling for stronger institutional accountability and collaboration between government, organised agriculture and business to turn policy into action.
Source: Aleksander Dumala via
PexelsAt its 2026 Congress, held under the theme “The Path is Clear”, AgriSA set out a consolidated mandate covering land and development, natural resources, labour, rural safety, and economics and trade.
The organisation said the next phase of agricultural growth would depend not only on better policy, but also on effective institutions, clear accountability and stronger collaboration between government, organised agriculture, commodity organisations, business and farmers.
“You can farm individually, but you cannot build agriculture individually,” said AgriSA president Willem de Chavonnes Vrugt.
Five priorities for agricultural growth
AgriSA's land and development priorities include commercially viable land reform, secure property rights, appropriate beneficiary selection, access to finance and post-settlement support.
On natural resources, the organisation highlighted water governance and infrastructure, climate adaptation, biodiversity and sustainable production.
Its labour priorities include predictable wage-setting, a dedicated agricultural visa, agricultural college reform, skills funding, and rural housing and transport.
For rural safety, AgriSA called for stronger policing, intelligence-led enforcement, formal cooperation between the South African Police Service (SAPS) and organised agriculture, and practical rural community safety mechanisms.
Its economics and trade priorities include port and rail reform, rural roads, energy pricing, embedded generation, trade diversification, biosecurity, rural broadband and policy certainty to support investment.
AgriSA puts implementation at the centre
De Chavonnes Vrugt said the central challenge was no longer simply asking what government should do, but determining which institutions were best placed to deliver specific functions and how their capabilities could be coordinated.
AgriSA said its role was to connect farms to national policy and link policy decisions to agricultural value chains through its network and partnerships.
“The five mandates give us the substance. Our network gives us the reach. Our partnerships give us leverage. What matters now is execution by all orgnisations that has an impact on agriculture. The path is clear,” said De Chavonnes Vrugt.
The Congress mandate places implementation at the centre of AgriSA's next phase of work, with the organisation calling for coordinated action across the institutions and organisations that influence agriculture.
