SA wheat harvest
South Africa’s wheat production estimates are down from the previous month’s figures amid poor yields in parts of the Western Cape, a province that accounts for nearly half of the national wheat harvest.
Change to drier El Niño cycle could compound power woes in South Africa’s agriculture
Scientists warn a transition is likely later this year after four seasons of La Niña-induced above-average rains from 2019/2020 to 2022/2023.
Loadshedding is disrupting SA agriculture and agribusiness activities
As we start the new year, there is probably no issue more urgent than the worsening energy crisis for South Africa’s agriculture and agribusinesses. Farmers that rely on irrigation have all expressed concerns that persistent loadshedding is negatively affecting production.
Farming in South Africa: 6 things that need urgent attention in 2023
South Africa’s agriculture remains an important sector of the economy and holds great potential to reduce poverty. It’s also central to the political economy of the country, as evident in the governing African National Congress’s (ANC) recent policy documents.
Crumbling basic infrastructure limits South Africa’s agriculture and tourism growth potential
The interlinked problems of poverty, unemployment, and weak economic activity continue to plague rural towns and communities in South Africa. However, the two industries that could help ease some of these challenges — agriculture and tourism — face various constraints that limit their growth potential.
Was South Africa’s decision to buy land for black farmers poorly implemented?
On January 11, 2023, I joined Xoli Mngambi of Newzroom Afrika to discuss South Africa’s land reform progress and assess whether black farmers have benefited thus far from the program.
Sheep meat production in South Africa
Based on the statistics for the levy years – November to October from 2015/16 to 2020/21, South Africa’s total number of sheep slaughtered per annum varied between 4 million to 5 million head.
Wandile Sihlobo is the Chief Economist of the Agricultural Business Chamber of South Africa (Agbiz) and the author of “Finding Common Ground: Land, Equity and Agriculture“.
He is a Senior Lecturer Extraordinary at the Department of Agricultural Economics at Stellenbosch University and a Visiting Research Fellow at the Wits School of Governance, University of the Witwatersrand.
Sihlobo was appointed as a member of President Cyril Ramaphosa’s Presidential Economic Advisory Council in 2019 (and re-appointed in 2022), having saved 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.