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South African farmers who participated in an international survey of more than 10 000 producers reported relatively stable income performance and fewer concerns about unfair pricing than the global average. Yet, they gave government support one of the lowest ratings in the study. The findings emerged from the Voice of the Farmer 2026 survey conducted by agricultural platform Wikifarmer between November 2025 and March 2026. The survey gathered responses from 10 234 producers across 158 countries on issues including farm income, pricing, climate impacts, government support and wellbeing.
Among the 86 South African respondents, 36% reported lower income than the previous year, compared with the global average of 45,1%. South African producers were also less likely to say they were receiving unfair prices for their produce, with 41,3% expressing dissatisfaction compared with the global average of 51,1%. Despite these comparatively moderate economic indicators, South African respondents gave government support an average rating of 1,74 out of five, placing the country among the lowest rated in the survey.
Government support a concern
Georgios Myrisis, lead researcher of the survey, agronomist and library content editor at Wikifarmer, said the contrast stood out in the data. “What surprised me about the South African responses is the gap between outcomes and trust. These producers reported comparatively moderate income results, yet gave their government one of the lowest support ratings in the entire survey, alongside countries like Poland and Mexico where the economic outlook is far worse.
“That tells you something important: Producer frustration is not just about a bad season. It is about whether people feel the system around them is on their side. You can survive a bad year, but it is much harder to farm without institutional trust.”
Across all countries surveyed, 63,4% of respondents rated government support at either one or two on a five-point scale, and nearly half gave the lowest possible rating. Only 13% rated government support positively.
The survey also found that government-support ratings were closely linked to producers’ financial experiences. Producers who gave government support the lowest ratings were substantially more likely to report poor financial security. For South Africa, the findings suggest that concerns extend beyond farm profitability and into broader perceptions about whether institutions are providing meaningful support to the agricultural sector.
Better income picture than global average
Globally, almost half of respondents said their income had declined over the past year. Of those who answered the income question, 45,1% reported lower net income, while nearly one in four said their income was ‘much worse’ than the year before.
More than half of respondents worldwide also said they were not receiving fair prices for their products. Researchers identified pricing dissatisfaction as one of the most prevalent concerns in the survey. Against that backdrop, South Africa’s responses reflected a somewhat less negative outlook on pricing and income. While producers still reported challenges, respondents were less likely than the global average to indicate declining income or dissatisfaction with prices.
The survey found that perceptions of pricing fairness were closely linked to income outcomes, with producers who believed they were not receiving fair prices significantly more likely to report deteriorating profitability.
Figure 1: Responses on pricing, income, stress, and production losses – South Africa versus global feedback. (Source: Wikifarmer Voice of the Farmer 2026 survey).
As shown in Figure 1, South African respondents consistently reported lower levels of pressure than the global average on three of the survey’s four headline indicators. Fewer respondents reported unfair pricing, declining income and severe production losses than producers globally, while reported stress levels were almost identical to the international average.
Concerns over heat, rather than drought
Another notable South African finding related to climate issues. Globally, drought was the most reported climate hazard, with producers across regions identifying it as the leading weather-related threat to production. Overall, 83% of respondents reported losses linked to weather events or pests, while 25,2% said they had lost more than a quarter of their production. South African respondents, however, identified heat rather than drought as their main climate concern. According to the survey, heat was the most frequently reported weather-related threat among local participants.
Myrisis said the distinction could have important implications for future research and policy priorities. “South Africa was one of the few countries in our survey where heat, not drought, topped the list of climate worries. Most of the rest of the continent’s producers point to drought. This matters, because the two demand different answers: drought is about water infrastructure, heat is about crop selection, timing, and livestock management.
“If South African producers are already sensing that shift, policy and research should be listening, because producers usually notice these changes in the field years before they show up in the statistics.”
Fair pricing, the strongest signal
Perhaps the survey’s most significant finding was the relationship between pricing and profitability. After accounting for factors such as region, age, farm size, climate exposure and marketing channels, researchers found that producers who believed prices were unfair had two and a half times greater odds of reporting an income decline. According to the survey team, no other variable showed a stronger relationship with worsening farm income. Myrisis said the result has important implications for discussions around food systems and agricultural value chains.
“Across 10 000 producers in 158 countries, the single strongest predictor of income decline was not weather, farm size, or region. It was whether producers felt they received a fair price. Producers who said prices were unfair had two and a half times the odds of a worse income. South African respondents were less likely than the global average to call their prices unfair, which may partly explain their comparatively steadier income picture. Fairness in the value chain is not a soft topic. In our data, it is the strongest predictor we found.”
Figure 2: Price fairness and income pressure measured among surveyed producers in Southern and East Africa. (Source: Wikifarmer Voice of the Farmer 2026 survey)
Figure 2 illustrates an additional regional pattern within Africa. South African and Zimbabwean respondents were more likely to complain about pricing than they were to report worsening income. Tanzania and Madagascar showed the opposite trend, with relatively few respondents describing prices as unfair despite reporting some of the highest rates of income decline in the group. The finding suggests that while pricing perceptions and income outcomes are closely related, they are not always the same, and the relationship can differ noticeably between countries.
Broader pressures remain
Beyond pricing and income, the survey highlighted the broader pressures facing producers worldwide.
More than a third of respondents reported high work-related stress, while more than one in five selected the highest possible stress rating. Researchers also found that climate impacts, income pressure, and perceptions of support frequently overlapped. While the survey is based on a self-selected sample and reflects the views of participating producers rather than the global farming population, it offers a rare insight into how producers view the challenges confronting agriculture.
For South Africa, the clearest message from the data may be that financial performance alone does not determine confidence. Even where producers report comparatively steadier income conditions, concerns regarding institutional support and long-term resilience remain firmly on the agenda.
For more information regarding the survey or the research, send an email to Georgios Myrisis at georgios@wikifarmer.com – Nikilene Steenkamp, Plaas Media
