Agriculture is one of the most important sectors for the South African economy. A large number of countries in the GCC and other parts of the Arab world remain reliant on South Africa for grains, fruits and vegetables. It is one of the few countries in Africa to be economically developed, a fact observable by high agri-machinery adoption. As per the market share, South Africa is the largest markets for farm equipment in Africa Region.
Currently worth $ X billion, the Australian agri-equipment and machinery market is expected to grow at no less than CAGR 15% over 2015-2020. The South African market for agri-equipment is plagued by the same concerns as countries in North American or European export markets. These include factors like an optimized supply chain, productivity concern, experienced labour force and involvement of FDI in agriculture.
Most important constraints faced by this market in South Africa include lack of awareness about new technologies, lack of skilled manpower, fluctuating prices of farm commodities, lack of governmental support, and lack of purchasing power due to a lower average level of affluence. Starting with common tools of farming like plough and sickle, the agricultural machinery industry has products to offer in every stage of a crop cycle. Here market segmentation is done on the basis of product and phase type, for example, tractors, plowing and cultivating machinery, planting and fertilizing, harvesting machinery etc. The combine machine of scarifying, fertilizing and seeding is popular in South Africa; the plough, mineral fertilizer applicator, combine harvester and grain thresher are also in great demand, although only by relatively fewer, affluent farmers. Tractors and combine harvesters remain the most popular implements, with a well-developed ecosystem of manufacturing and sales by a number of regional manufacturers.
The South African agricultural machinery and equipment industry is dominated by renowned global players like Barloworld Equipment Agriculture, Bell equipment, Carel van Niekerk Engineering, Ernest H Johnson, Falcon Agricultural Equipment, Invicta, Senwes, and others. The companies here strive to strengthen their base on the basis of product features, pricing, quality, scale of operation and technology innovation