by Wandile Sihlobo | Nov 12, 2020 | Agricultural Labour Market
South Africa’s agriculture economic data has been encouraging this year. Either one looks at output volumes, export performance or tractor & combine harvester sales, the picture has been positive. But the jobs data for the third quarter does not paint such a...
by Wandile Sihlobo | Apr 14, 2020 | Agricultural Labour Market
I’ve published an essay — Agriculture After the Pandemic — on Project Syndicate, the World’s Opinion Page. You can access it here. Follow me on Twitter (@WandileSihlobo). E-mail: wandile@agbiz.co.za
by Wandile Sihlobo | Feb 11, 2020 | Agricultural Labour Market
We don’t normally bombard you with emails (or posts, for those reading this online), but since our note this morning previewed South Africa’s primary agricultural jobs situation (see here), we deem it appropriate to provide an update. Data released this morning...
by Wandile Sihlobo | Feb 11, 2020 | Agricultural Labour Market
We have important data this morning. Statistics South Africa will release its results of the Quarterly Labour Survey for the fourth quarter of 2019. To recap, the third-quarter data showed that South Africa’s primary agricultural employment jumped by 4.5% y/y from the...
by Wandile Sihlobo | Oct 29, 2019 | Agricultural Labour Market
I just went through Statistics South Africa’s Quarterly Labour Force Survey data for the third quarter of 2019. The primary agricultural numbers were a pleasant surprise, showing a 4.5% y/y uptick to 880 000. I say “surprise” because the third quarter of each year is...
by Wandile Sihlobo | Oct 7, 2019 | Agricultural Labour Market
It has become fashionable in conferences to say “let’s make agriculture sexy in order to attract the youth”. I get where the sentiment comes from, after all, Africa’s farmers are ageing with an average age of 60. Here in South Africa, that number is estimated at 62....