by Wandile Sihlobo | Nov 19, 2018 | My categories
Tomorrow (November 20) I will participate in a roundtable discussion in East London, organised by the Provincial Department of Rural Development and Agrarian Reform. My focus area will be to provide a brief update on South Africa’s agricultural economy with a key...
by Wandile Sihlobo | Nov 18, 2018 | My categories
The growing need to boost rural economic activity through agricultural development has re-introduced the discussion on the subdivision of land to create as many small farms as possible that will benefit communities in South Africa. Some agricultural economists (myself...
by Wandile Sihlobo | Nov 16, 2018 | My categories
Three months back the United States Department of Agriculture published a note indicating that South Africa has officially opened its market for imports of shell eggs from the US. You see, South Africa is typically self-sufficient in eggs. For example, in the past 17...
by Wandile Sihlobo | Nov 15, 2018 | My categories
So folks, today the review Committee made its recommendation and got everybody talking about land reform in South Africa. It is largely what we expected, but there’s still a long way to go before we know what the amendments are really going to look like. We’ll cross...
by Wandile Sihlobo | Nov 13, 2018 | My categories
Just arrived at O.R. Tambo Airport from a conference in the Midlands of KwaZulu-Natal, and thinking about sugar, not that it was a main subject of discussion at the conference, but I drove past great fields on my way from Durban earlier in the morning. The conference...
by Wandile Sihlobo | Nov 12, 2018 | My categories
If we had the power to control the weather, this would be one of the best seasons in the South African grain and oilseed industry. Almost all the high-frequency data paints a positive picture. Last month, it was the farmers’ intention to plant data which shows that...
by Wandile Sihlobo | Nov 12, 2018 | My categories
On Saturday I posted the South African Agricultural Commodities Price Index, with a central message being that South African agricultural commodities prices are depressed – a welcome relief for consumers given the current economic headwinds that constrain the...
by Wandile Sihlobo | Nov 10, 2018 | My categories
The collapse of Zimbabwe’s agricultural sector from the early 2000s is well documented, and largely attributed to ill-conceived land reform policies. But as the spirit of political change sweeps across the country, albeit with lingering economic underperformance, it...
by Wandile Sihlobo | Nov 10, 2018 | My categories
OK, folks, I typically spend Saturday mornings on hiking trails — a habit I picked in my Stellenbosch days. This morning I invited my good friend, Thanda Sithole, on what I hoped would be a hike filled with soccer discussions as Mamelodi Sundowns F.C. and...
by Wandile Sihlobo | Nov 9, 2018 | My categories
The most appropriate thing to write today, given that I am currently gazing over the beautiful wine farms of Stellenbosch, would indeed be wine. Instead, I will be blogging about good old maize, as I have just received the United States Department of Agriculture’s...
