Institutional Constraints to the Competitiveness of the South African Citrus Exports

This paper examined the dual institutional constraints arising from the market liberalisation of the South African citrus industry and the stringent food safety health and private standards associated with the globalisation of the agri-business industry. The aim of this paper was to explore the institutional challenges influencing the competitiveness of the South African citrus industry in the export markets. It also explored the implications of the institutional environment on market access. The logistic regression model was used to analyse the statistical data while simple ranking was used to indicate the new and emerging forces affecting the profitability of the industry in recent years. The results show that access to market information, economies of scale, compliance with strict food safety and quality standards, lack of proper infrastructure including transport and challenges of managing a business within the international business environment exerted significant effects on the competitiveness of the industry as well as the ability of domestic producers to enter the export markets. There is need for government intervention especially aligned to investing in infrastructure. Coupled with the support of private institutions, the government needs to support the exporters and producers in complying with private standards.