South Africa’s agricultural GDP calculations have come under scrutiny after Statistics South Africa reported a sharp contraction of -15.5% for the farming sector in the first nine months of the year, including a -28.8% decline in the third quarter, which marked the steepest drop in three decades. This data contributed to a 0.3% contraction in the nation’s overall economic performance for the third quarter. However, a review by the Bureau for Food and Agricultural Policy (BFAP), commissioned by the farm-industry group Agri SA, found that the agricultural sector’s contraction was closer to 5%-6%. BFAP’s analysis suggests the GDP figures should be adjusted upward by about R10.8 billion after accounting for inflation, which would raise the year’s economic growth rate to 0.7% from the reported 0.4%.