In a world of growing trade fragmentation, one area the Brics countries should place greater focus on in their deliberations this year is deepening intra-Brics trade. For South Africa’s agriculture, this has been central to discussions for some time, reflecting our desire to expand export markets to the Brics countries, as well as the potential that lies in the bloc.
South African agricultural exports to the Brics remain relatively low (less than 10% of our total agricultural exports to the world, which stood at $13.7bn in 2024). The Brics group is not a trade bloc, which partly explains this limited penetration.
However, this may be an opportune time to change that and explore a more ambitious agricultural trade arrangement — one that aims to address the low intra-trade challenge in agriculture within this grouping.
What has constrained progress in the past is not low demand, but rather relatively high import tariffs and some nontariff barriers (such as phytosanitary measures) within the group, which continue to distort agricultural trade.
The Brics countries represent a substantial agricultural market, with annual imports exceeding $300bn.
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Richard Humphries, Sam Mkokeli, Nelisiwe Tshabalala and Amanda Murimba produce this podcast.
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