South Africa is a net food exporter, selling abroad 30 percent more agricultural goods than it imported in 2010, according to the latest survey by the South African Institute of Race Relations.

Agricultural exports grew by 10 percent between 2008 and 2010, with total agricultural exports amounting to $6.8 billion.

During the same period, agricultural imports increased by just less than one percent and amounted to $5.2 billion, the survey shows. Agricultural exports stood at five percent of SA's total exports in 2010, with agricultural imports accounting for two percent of total imports.

“Recent data indicates that demand for South African agricultural products is not only holding steady, but is in fact growing,” said Jonathan Snyman, a researcher at the Institute.

“Food security is an especially precarious state of affairs in sub-Saharan Africa, so it is a positive development that South Africa has maintained its status as a net agricultural exporter,” he added.

The institute's analysis was based on data supplied by the Foreign Agricultural Service at the United States Department of Agriculture.

Image: Getty