MORNING NOTE: SA’s government plan to release land for farmers is a step in the right direction
Written for and first appeared on Fin24, October 5, 2020 The growth of South Africa’s agricultural fortunes and job creation will, in part, depend on the expansion of agricultural activities in the underutilised former homelands regions and farms that government...
MORNING NOTE: Robust tractors sales suggest optimism about the 2020/21 summer crop season
South Africa’s tractors sales maintained the positive path in September 2020, which has been underway since June, increasing by 23% y/y with 529 units sold (see Exhibit 1). This was boosted, to a certain extent, by improved farmers’ financial position following a...
MORNING NOTE: A potentially devastating fungal disease in Zambia’s wheat fields
Zambia’s grain production has increased notably in the recent past, specifically maize, soybeans, and wheat. This has been boosted by both the expansion in area planted and improvement in yields. Zambia went from being a net importer of maize to an exporter in just...
MORNING NOTE: SA wheat imports to fall by 14% y/y in 2020/21, thanks to improved local harvest
South Africa’s 2019/20 winter crops marketing year ended this past week. The key data point most analysts observe are wheat imports, as the country imports about 51% of its annual wheat consumption. We initially estimated the 2019/20 wheat imports to 1.80 million...
MORNING NOTE: Thoughts on South Africa’s Food Price Inflation
The rising grain prices, which over the weekend I highlighted their impact on the livestock sector, present upside risks also to South Africa’s food price inflation. This is a case although the pass-through of the recent price increases remains fairly muted, with...
WEEKEND NOTE: Higher grains and oilseed prices raise risks for SA livestock farmers
Ordinarily, at this time of the year, I would be writing about the upcoming summer crop season, which starts this month. But this year it is a hard act to follow due to several lingering, significant developments from the 2019/2020 summer crop season. Most notable of...
MORNING NOTE: Taking stock of recent domestic and global grains monthly data
My aim in this morning’s blog post is to provide an update of South Africa’s grain trade data for the week of 18 September 2020. I will also share highlights from the International Grain Council monthly global grains update report. SA grain trade data South Africa...
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 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.