by Wandile Sihlobo | Feb 25, 2020 | Agricultural Production
The authorities in Kenya, Ethiopia, Somalia and Uganda are struggling to control the spreading desert locust infestation. Recent reports from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) suggest that the situation there remains “extremely...
by Wandile Sihlobo | Feb 24, 2020 | Agricultural Production
Written for and first published on Business Day on 18 February 2020 CAPE TOWN – My agricultural take on President Ramaphosa’s State of the Nation Address (SONA) can be segmented into three areas. Firstly, the President reaffirmed the government’s commitment to...
by Wandile Sihlobo | Feb 22, 2020 | Agricultural Production
One of the research papers I read this weekend was by agriculture economists, Marnus Gouse, Debdatta Sengupta, Patricia Zambrano, and José Falck Zepeda published in World Development, a monthly peer-reviewed academic journal, in July 2016. It assesses whether men and...
by Wandile Sihlobo | Feb 21, 2020 | Agricultural Production
Society still argues about the use of genetically modified (GM) crops. But two lessons are beyond the debate. Firstly, the GM crops have contributed to an increase in yields in countries that have adopted the seeds, notably the United States, Brazil and Argentina,...
by Wandile Sihlobo | Feb 20, 2020 | Agricultural Trade
This note is a bit delayed. I had to attend a conference this morning. Here is a Twitter feed for those keen to see what went down. Back to business! It is Thursday – a grain trade day. The South African Grain Information Services (SAGIS) releases the country’s grain...
by Wandile Sihlobo | Feb 19, 2020 | Food Security
South Africa’s food prices increased at a relatively slower pace in January 2020 compared to December 2019. The data released this morning by Statistics South Africa shows that the country’s food price inflation was at 3.7% y/y in January 2020, while the previous...
by Wandile Sihlobo | Feb 19, 2020 | Agricultural Production
In his 2020 State of the Nation Address, President Cyril Ramaphosa noted that “this year we will open up and regulate the commercial use of hemp products, providing opportunities for small-scale farmers; and formulate policy on the use of cannabis products for...
by Wandile Sihlobo | Feb 18, 2020 | Agricultural Production
Avocado is one of the crops that make the headlines whenever there are unusual trends in its market. This is understandable as the fruit has become the favourite of many because of its health benefits, amongst others. Hence, I feel compelled to caution fellow South...
by Wandile Sihlobo | Feb 18, 2020 | Agricultural Production
Nowadays we take for granted how the world agricultural productivity has improved over the past couple of decades. Today’s farms produce more maize, wheat, soybeans, etc. per hectare than any other time in history. This has been made possible by, amongst other...
by Wandile Sihlobo | Feb 17, 2020 | Agricultural Production
If you ask a South African grain analyst: “what are you observing at the moment?”, the answer would usually be “the weather”. Between October and February of each year, the weather conditions usually underpin the price movements in the South African grain markets....
