Farming can help drive southern Africa’s growth if countries in the region make trade easier

The focus on agricultural development at the Southern African Development Community ’s 46th summit in August 2026 reflected a clear understanding that the sector can still play a key role in the region’s economic development.

Agriculture accounts for around 10% of the GDP of many of the regional community’s members.

The conversations about agriculture focused on improving productivity, agricultural finance, climate resilience and regional value chains, all to enhance food security within the region.

As an agricultural economist , I would argue that the sector faces three major challenges in contributing to economic growth and food security.

The first is weak land governance .

Informal land tenure is a feature of most farming in the region.

As a result, agribusinesses may be reluctant to invest at scale .

It’s also meant that smallholder farmers, who struggle with low agricultural productivity , remain prevalent.

The second challenge is weak agricultural value chains.

The summit discussed the need to deepen regional agro-processing value chains .

But these can’t be fully developed if road networks linking farmers to consumption points remain in poor condition.

Agriculture is about buying and selling perishable products.

Roads are key.

The third big issue – and the focus of this article – is the need to boost trade between countries in the region.