Wandile Sihlobo is the Chief Economist of the Agricultural Business Chamber of South Africa (Agbiz) and the author of two books, “A Country of Two Agricultures: The Disparities, The Challenges, The Solutions” and “Finding Common Ground: Land, Equity and Agriculture“.
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.
In SA agriculture, crop and livestock breeding must remain priority along with boosting exports
SA’s agricultural growth in the first 30 years of the democratic era has been supported by, among other things, two pivotal interventions. The first was a deliberate and concerted strategy to invest in genetics for crops, horticulture and livestock, and the second was a strong push to expand export markets.
LETTERS FROM THE MIDLANDS: The livestock industry is a pillar of the South African farm economy
We must also focus on improving the efficiency of the municipalities, reducing stock theft, improving roads and rail function, and the inefficiencies at the ports. These form an essential foundation for a thriving livestock and poultry sub-sector.
How one nation’s farming revolution can feed Africa
In July, TEDx Johannesburg invited me to deliver an 11-minute TEDx Talk on South African agricultural progress and what African countries can perhaps learn from our experience.
PERSON OF THE YEAR
“Wandile Sihlobo named PERSON OF THE YEAR by the Animal Feed Manufacturers Association of South Africa “for his outstanding and noteworthy contributions to the animal feed industry.”
Why did South Africa’s farm economy underperform in the second quarter of 2024
After a robust expansion of 13,5% quarter-on-quarter (seasonally adjusted) in the first quarter of 2024, South Africa’s agricultural gross value added contracted by 2,1% in the second quarter.
Progress in South Africa’s canola production
This point is worth revisiting now that we have new 2024-25 season production data. Canola is one of South Africa’s agricultural success stories. From when we planted the crop commercially on 17k hectares in 1998-99, the area has increased to an estimated 154k hectares in 2024-25.
Wandile Sihlobo is the Chief Economist of the Agricultural Business Chamber of South Africa (Agbiz) and the author of two books, “A Country of Two Agricultures: The Disparities, The Challenges, The Solutions” and “Finding Common Ground: Land, Equity and Agriculture“.
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.