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....
by Wandile Sihlobo | Jul 30, 2019 | Agricultural Labour Market
I have been punting that agriculture could help boost employment in South Africa, but the latest jobs data are a reminder that fundamental change is essential. Today, July 30, we learned that South Africa’s primary agricultural employment fell by 0.2% in the second...
by Wandile Sihlobo | May 20, 2019 | Agricultural Labour Market
Essay by Wandile Sihlobo and Sifiso Skenjana[i] Now that the elections are behind us, the broader economic discussions are likely to remain focused on two crucial subjects – growth and jobs. In this, agriculture has...
by Wandile Sihlobo | May 14, 2019 | Agricultural Labour Market
Having written a bit about the promise of employment creation in SA’s agricultural sector, I was, again, given a reality check by the Quarterly Labour Force Survey data for the first quarter of 2019. The data shows that SA’s primary agricultural employment fell 1%...
by Wandile Sihlobo | May 7, 2019 | Agricultural Labour Market
In less than 24 hours from now, South Africans will head to the voting stations to elect a political party or parties to government. After elections, the party with most votes will, through its majority in the National Assembly, determine who becomes president. The...
