The Department of Agriculture aims to lead and support sustainable agriculture and promote rural development through:

• ensuring access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food
• eliminating skewed participation and inequity in the agriculture
• maximising growth, employment and income in agriculture
• enhancing the sustainable management of natural agricultural resources and ecological systems
• ensuring effective and efficient governance
• ensuring knowledge and information management.

Some of the services provided by the Department are:

• education and training, including bursaries
• controlling the formation, registration and supervision of cooperatives
• releasing crop estimates
• providing statistical information
• quality control through standardising norms and distributing quality control information
• promoting and regulating the quality and health of agricultural products through the National Plant Protection Organisation
• representing South Africa's agricultural interests internationally
• genetic resources regulation, registration and evaluation
• providing veterinary services
• registration of agricultural remedies, pesticides, animal feeds and pet food, fertilizers, plant sterilisation units, animal medicines, pest control operators
• offering inspection services.