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CHAPTER 3
National Crop Estimates Committee (CEC)
Accurate crop estimates are extremely important in a free-market environment, as
they provide real-time market information that is essential when important decisions
on marketing and production have to be made. In order to meet this need the CEC
was established as part of the deregulation process.
Crop estimates and projections are deduced from inputs from the different members
of the CEC, being the national as well as the provincial departments of agriculture, the
Agricultural Research Council and Statistics South Africa, who are all independent of
the trade.
The Crop Estimates Liaison Committee, an official Committee of the NAMC,
monitors the crop estimate process of the CEC and is an important platform for
resolving disputes and problems with respect to crop estimates. It was estab-
lished in October 1998 with its focus on the establishment of an independent
and objective CEC that understands and accepts its role in the industry, namely
the compilation of accurate, timeous and credible crop estimates, as well as the
finalisation of the production figures per crop at the end of each season and the
evaluation of the CEC’s performance.
RETROSPECT
In the end, the South African agricultural sector adjusted well to deregulation and
South African producers are developing as strong and internationally competitive
producers, which creates a good basis for adding value lower down in the value
chain, attracting investments, maintaining a focus on exports and expanding into
the mainly high-value products.