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By Dylan Bettencourt
- High fuel prices make fertiliser and diesel too expensive for thousands of small farmers in South Africa to grow crops.
- The South African sugar industry is losing money because heavily subsidised sugar from other countries is flooding the local market.
Sugarcane farmers in KwaZulu-Natal and Mpumalanga are struggling to keep their farms running. The cost of farming is rising fast and cheap imported sugar is taking over the market.
The war in the Middle East has pushed oil prices above $108 a barrel. This makes fertiliser and diesel much more expensive. Fertiliser makes up between 20% and 22% of a farmer’s costs and prices are expected to double.
Diesel prices rose by more than R10 a litre in April. This is a disaster for small farmers who must drive their crops to the closest mill. Transport takes up to 14% of their budget.
Fuel adds another 6% to 15% in costs. Farmers also face the possible closure of Tongaat Hulett. The 136-year-old business is the only company in South Africa that refines its own white sugar, BusinessReport reported.
It serves about 18,000 of the 28,000 registered cane growers in the two provinces. If Tongaat Hulett closes, local farmers will have nowhere to sell their crops. Buyers will buy sugar from other countries.
Sugar farming creates many jobs on communal land in rural areas. Small farmers cannot easily switch to growing avocados or macadamias because it costs too much money and takes time.
Heavily subsidised sugar from India, Brazil and Thailand is flooding South Africa. In January 2026 alone, 24,600 tons of sugar entered the country. That is more than the total imports for the whole of 2022.
Over the 2025/26 season, nearly 200,000 tons of imported sugar arrived. The local industry loses over R7,000 for every ton replaced. That adds up to a massive R1.5-billion loss in one season.
Current import duties kick in too late to protect local farmers. The government needs to update the dollar-based reference price, which has not changed since 2018.
Pictured above: Sugarcane farmer.
Image source: Pexels
