{"id":169320,"date":"2025-10-22T07:26:00","date_gmt":"2025-10-22T05:26:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/?p=169320"},"modified":"2025-10-16T12:26:59","modified_gmt":"2025-10-16T10:26:59","slug":"building-a-young-but-ambitious-bioeconomy-south-africa-and-the-netherlands-join-forces","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/building-a-young-but-ambitious-bioeconomy-south-africa-and-the-netherlands-join-forces\/","title":{"rendered":"Building a young but ambitious bioeconomy: South Africa and the Netherlands join forces"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\n

Although still in its early stages, South Africa has been developing the bioeconomy sector for more than a decade. The government sees it as a pathway to create jobs, improve energy security, and tackle environmental challenges. Agriculture is expected to play the biggest role. South Africa offers a unique combination: strong agricultural innovation, affordable land, and a dynamic private sector. These conditions create fertile ground for new ideas and collaboration. The Netherlands Agricultural Network (LAN) team at the Dutch Embassy in Pretoria sees a growing number of companies interested in innovative projects and pilots.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n

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Feedstock being added to a biodigester \u00a9 Opus Cactus <\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

The term ‘bioeconomy’ gained prominence at the G20 (a group of countries that brings together the world’s major advanced and emerging economies) under Brazil\u2019s presidency in 2024, but South Africa has long been working on it. In 2013, the Department of Science and Technology launched the Bioeconomy Strategy<\/a>, building on the earlier A National Biotechnology Strategy<\/a> (2001) and the Ten-Year Innovation Plan<\/a> (2008). Its goal is to ensure that the bioeconomy is a major contributor to the national gross domestic product (GDP) by 2030 and that it will add 5% to the national GDP by 2050.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Agriculture is central to this strategy. It provides the feedstocks for bio-based products and already contributes more than 10% of national gross domestic product (GDP). To support the growth of the bioeconomy, the government created the Agricultural Bioeconomy Innovation Partnership Programme (ABIPP)<\/a>, which funds and facilitates research.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So far, it has secured at least R250 million (\u20ac12.2 million) in co-funding from industry with a 7,300% increase in annual co-funding in just five years. One of the supported projects is a grain and oilseed research program carried out in partnership with Grain SA<\/a> (the organization that represents grain farmers in South Africa), focusing on crop improvement, crop protection, and climate resilience. ABIPP has also invested in the Bioeconomy SA Portal (an online resource about the bioeconomy in South Africa), aquaculture programs, and the agro-processing of native niche crops such as Marula, Honeybush, and Cape Aloe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In January 2025, South Africa\u2019s Agriculture Minister John Steenhuisen emphasized that agriculture delivers the highest economic impact across the bioeconomy\u2019s value chain. He also announced a review of the National Biodiversity Economy Strategy (NBES<\/a>), a multi-annual strategy designed to optimize biodiversity-based business potential across terrestrial, freshwater, estuarine, and marine and coastal realms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Its goals include eco-tourism growth, bioprospecting and biotrade, and biodiversity-based harvesting and production. For example, it seeks to increase the GDP contribution from pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, and food supplements from R2 billion in 2020 to nearly R12 billion by 2036. The Minister noted that new sectors such as forestry, ecotourism, and marine and fisheries will be included in the expanded strategy.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Wageningen University and Research (WUR) expert on the bioeconomy, Professor Hans van Meijl, presents at the G20 Agriculture Chief Scientists Meeting in South Africa. In the paper, WUR addressed the concerns surrounding a lack of common definition and the potential competition over land for food production \u00a9 Timo Cober<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

Bilateral partners working toward a global framework<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The Department of Science, Technology and Innovation is also coordinating the G20 Initiative on Bioeconomy, which outlines a global effort to advance sustainable, equitable, and climate-resilient growth by using biological resources and biotechnology. A core priority is establishing global standards for bioeconomy development.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wageningen University and Research<\/a> (WUR) has played a key role, drafting the paper ‘Building a Resilient Bioeconomy’<\/a>. Presented at the G20 Agriculture Chief Scientists’ meeting in Limpopo in May 2025, it compared national definitions of bioeconomy and proposed a common framework. The main recommendation was to develop a set of indicators to monitor and measure bioeconomy development, helping policymakers to understand results, reveal trade-offs, and set clear targets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Food security is a recurring concern, as expanding bio-based crop production could compete with food crops. WUR\u2019s advice, requested by the South African Department of Agriculture, focused on:<\/p>\n\n\n\n