Wandile Sihlobo is the Chief Economist of the Agricultural Business Chamber of South Africa (Agbiz) and the author of three books, “The Uncomfortable Truth About South Africa’s Agriculture (2025)”, “A Country of Two Agricultures: The Disparities, The Challenges, The Solutions (2023)” and “Finding Common Ground: Land, Equity and Agriculture (2020)“.
He is a Senior Lecturer Extraordinary at the Department of Agricultural Economics at Stellenbosch University.
Sihlobo is also a Visiting Research Fellow at the Wits School of Governance, University of the Witwatersrand, and a Research Associate at the Institute of Social and Economic Research (ISER) at Rhodes University.
Sihlobo was appointed as a member of President Cyril Ramaphosa’s Presidential Economic Advisory Council in 2019 (and re-appointed in 2022), having served on the Presidential Expert Advisory Panel on Land Reform and Agriculture from 2018.
He is also a member of the Council of Statistics of South Africa (Stats SA) and a Commissioner at the International Trade Administration Commission of South Africa (ITAC).
Sihlobo is a columnist for Business Day, The Herald and Farmers Weekly magazine.
His weekly podcast, “Agricultural Market Viewpoint with Wandile Sihlobo“, is available on all podcast platforms.
He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Agricultural Economics from the University of Fort Hare and a Master of Science degree in Agricultural Economics from Stellenbosch University.
South Africa’s Agriculture Master Plan Needs to Get off the Ground
What began as a promising path to boosting inclusive growth in SA’s agriculture has become mired in unending discussions, and the implementation effort has been hazy at best. In May 2022, then Minister of Agriculture, Land Reform, and Rural Development Thoko Didiza launched SA’s Agriculture and Agro-processing Master Plan, co-created by the government, organised agriculture, labour, and other stakeholders.
What Global Crop Forecasters Say About South Africa’s 2025-26 Maize Harvest Prospects?
It is still too early to be sure about what South Africa’s 2025-26 maize crop could be. But what we know is that farmers intend to lift the area they plant by 1% to 4.5 million hectares. They are upbeat and have been buying tractors. We have been witnessing strong tractor sales, which suggests that they are optimistic about the 2025-26 season.
Why Asia beats Africa for new South Africa agricultural markets
On October 21, 2025, on the sidelines of the Financial Times Africa Summit in London, I sat with the CNBC folks for a broad conversation about South African and Southern African agricultural developments and trade.
On US–China Agricultural Trade Developments
China’s possible resumption of US agricultural purchases is unlikely to alter the path of diversification China is on.
New China trade protocol for SA stone fruit
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Rainfall predictions bode well for South Africa’s 2025-26 summer crops
At the beginning of October 2025, I spent some time on the road, which allowed me to assess early planting activity for the 2025-26 summer crop season. I was encouraged by what I saw. Indeed, in the eastern regions of the country, farmers were already busy tilling the land to take advantage of the early summer rains.
Wandile Sihlobo is the Chief Economist of the Agricultural Business Chamber of South Africa (Agbiz) and the author of three books, “The Uncomfortable Truth About South Africa’s Agriculture (2025)”, “A Country of Two Agricultures: The Disparities, The Challenges, The Solutions (2023)” and “Finding Common Ground: Land, Equity and Agriculture (2020)“.
He is a Senior Lecturer Extraordinary at the Department of Agricultural Economics at Stellenbosch University.
Sihlobo is also a Visiting Research Fellow at the Wits School of Governance, University of the Witwatersrand, and a Research Associate at the Institute of Social and Economic Research (ISER) at Rhodes University.
Sihlobo was appointed as a member of President Cyril Ramaphosa’s Presidential Economic Advisory Council in 2019 (and re-appointed in 2022), having served on the Presidential Expert Advisory Panel on Land Reform and Agriculture from 2018.
He is also a member of the Council of Statistics of South Africa (Stats SA) and a Commissioner at the International Trade Administration Commission of South Africa (ITAC).
Sihlobo is a columnist for Business Day, The Herald and Farmers Weekly magazine.
His weekly podcast, “Agricultural Market Viewpoint with Wandile Sihlobo“, is available on all podcast platforms.
He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Agricultural Economics from the University of Fort Hare and a Master of Science degree in Agricultural Economics from Stellenbosch University.