Only fourteen percent of the total land area of South Africa receives sufficient rainfall for arable crop production and periodic droughts affect the rainfed arable areas. The irrigated area accounts for less than ten percent of the total arable area but provides a substantial proportion of the value of the country's total agricultural output. Governmental support and regulation of the agricultural and fertilizer sectors have been greatly reduced, resulting in the closure of some fertilizer plants and in marginal cereal areas being taken out of cultivation. Forty percent of the South African population lives in poverty, mostly in rural areas. An increase in the purchasing power of this sector of the population would stimulate the demand for food and indirectly for fertilizers. A proper use of fertilizers would help to improve the productivity and income of smallholders.
