The potential rise in oil prices and weak demand for SA’s agricultural exports from most regions are two additional challenges for the agricultural sector that are spinning off the Covid-19 pandemic.

Global oil prices came under pressure at the beginning of March after a dispute between Saudi Arabia and Russia, which led to both countries increasing their oil production. Brent crude prices fell 60% before staging a 29% recovery to end at $24 per barrel last week. The collapse in oil prices was beneficial to oil and petroleum product importing countries such as SA, as it offset the effect of a drastic weakening of their domestic currencies over the same period...