AgriSA Raises Concerns Over ‘Brain Drain’

AgriSA said that employment in skilled agriculture has not bounced back to 2020 levels.

In quarter four of that year, around 85,000 skilled workers were employed in the sector, compared to 68,000 during the same timeframe last year.

AgriSA said that it was concerning as this “drop in skilled employment represents a brain drain for the sector”.

The organisation’s labour affairs head, Lebogang Sethusha, explained that these jobs ranged from harvest operators, to agricultural machine and equipment operators.

Sethusha, however, said that overall employment in the sector had increased by 38,000 jobs quarter-on-quarter to 868,000 jobs in quarter four of 2021.

AgriSA highlighted that growth in the sector was being hampered by challenges like poor road, rail and port infrastructure.