South Africa’s farm jobs in 2021
In the last quarter of 2021, South Africa’s primary agricultural jobs increased by 7,1% from the corresponding period a year ago to 868 000, which is well above the long-term agricultural employment of 780 000.
Some brief reflections on South Africa’s agricultural jobs data in Q3, 2021
The Quarterly Labour Force Survey data released by Statistics South Africa today showed that in the third quarter of 2021, agricultural employment increased by 3% y/y to 829 000.
Thoughts on South Africa’s agricultural jobs data for the first quarter of 2021
In this blog post, I share reflections on South Africa’s agricultural jobs data for the first quarter of 2021, drawing from insights I drafted as part of Agbiz official notes.
South Africa’s agricultural employment down 8% y/y in Q4, 2020
The Quarterly Labour Force Survey data show that South Africa’s primary agricultural jobs were down 8% year-on-year in the fourth quarter of 2020, with 810 209 people employed.
SA agricultural employment held up in Q3, 2020, but there are disparities across provinces
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...Agriculture After the Pandemic
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
South Africa agriculture jobs up in Q4, 2019
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...
It’s Jobs Day
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...
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.