CBAM is indirect, but still strategic
The EU Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism currently covers cement, iron and steel, aluminium, fertilisers, electricity and hydrogen. Most raw and processed South African agricultural products are not directly listed. That distinction matters: the sector should not overstate the immediate border-tax threat. The serious exposure is indirect. Agriculture uses covered inputs such as fertiliser, sells into buyers with tightening carbon and due-diligence requirements, and depends on electricity-intensive cooling, packing, processing and logistics.
Europe is too important to ignore
South African agricultural exports were reported at about US$15.1 billion in 2025, with Europe accounting for about US$3.9 billion. Europe also absorbed about 44% of South African citrus exports. That means clean-energy proof is not a communications add-on; it is market-access infrastructure. Exporters that cannot evidence lower-carbon handling, reliable cooling and reduced diesel dependence will face increasing pressure from buyers, lenders, retailers and import partners even where no CBAM certificate is payable on the crop.
The grid reform context is changing
South Africa's electricity sector is no longer a static Eskom-only market. Eskom still dominates generation, transmission and much distribution, with roughly 47 GW across 30 stations and about 33,000 km of high-voltage lines. But the policy direction is toward more private generation, embedded generation, wheeling, market trading and an independent transmission operator. The 100 MW licensing threshold reform and the 2024 Electricity Regulation Amendment Act are especially relevant for large energy users and project developers.
Wheeling and PPAs become export tools
For primary producers, packhouse groups, cold-store corridors and agro-processors, export defence may require more than rooftop solar. Wheeling allows electricity from a producer to reach an end user across a third-party network, with use-of-system charges paid to the network owner. In principle, that is exactly what multi-site agricultural operators need: clean energy matched to operational load across facilities. In practice, municipal rules, connection studies, network charges and grid constraints still slow adoption, so projects need regulatory preparation as much as engineering.
A disciplined lobbying position
The useful ask is not generic renewables support. Agriculture needs faster approvals, standardised wheeling, transparent NERSA registration, curtailment before blunt load shedding for critical agricultural loads where technically feasible, blended finance for smaller and black-owned producers, and an energy benchmarking programme for agricultural value-chain operations. The export argument should be simple: clean power protects product quality, carbon credibility, foreign revenue and rural employment.