by Wandile Sihlobo | Apr 28, 2019 | General Comments
Often said is the statement that the macroeconomic standing of the agricultural sector has diminished over time – and this argument is supported by the sector’s declining share of GDP, which fell from 4.2% in the 1996 to 2.4% in 2018. What is not captured in this...
by Wandile Sihlobo | Apr 26, 2019 | Agricultural Production
Today I didn’t have to stretch my head looking for a positive agricultural story to end the week with, as is sometimes the case. By the end of yesterday, we already had some good developments on the South African winter crops front as farmers’ intentions to plant data...
by Wandile Sihlobo | Apr 25, 2019 | Agricultural Trade
It has been nearly two months since the Chinese authorities temporarily suspended wool imports from SA because of the foot-and-mouth disease outbreak earlier in the year. Recent communication from domestic wool industry group Cape Wool SA, following a meeting with its...
by Wandile Sihlobo | Apr 24, 2019 | Food Security
Animal health is increasingly becoming a key issue in South Africa. This year we’ve had cases of foot-and-mouth disease in the beef industry, and African swine fever in the pork industry. But the degree of impact to each industry has differed. In the case of beef, the...
by Wandile Sihlobo | Apr 19, 2019 | Land Reform
When Emmerson Mnangagwa assumed office as president of Zimbabwe in late 2017, one of the immediate tasks he had was to rebuild an economy that had performed poorly for nearly two decades. At the heart of this process was a need for revitalisation of the agricultural...
by Wandile Sihlobo | Apr 18, 2019 | Agricultural Trade
I am ending this week, not by highlighting an agricultural story that dominated the news headlines – as it is typically the case — but some encouraging developments for the South African beef industry. After 14-weeks since the first case of foot-and-mouth...
by Wandile Sihlobo | Apr 17, 2019 | Food Security
South Africa’s food price inflation numbers continue to surprise us. The figures recently released by Statistics South Africa show that food price inflation remained unchanged in March 2019 at 2.3% for the third consecutive month. But the products price inflation...
by Wandile Sihlobo | Apr 15, 2019 | General Comments
“When the facts change, I change my mind…” – Paul Samuelson or John Maynard Keynes…whatever the source, this is fitting for this post. As Mozambique, Malawi, and Zimbabwe continue to rebuild after devastating Cyclone Idai last month, I deemed it appropriate to revisit...
by Wandile Sihlobo | Apr 15, 2019 | Africa Focus
As a buildup on the post, I published last week about Zimbabwe’s intention to compensate white farmers who lost land under former President Robert Mugabe’s land reform approach in the early 2000s, this morning’s Business Day published further details on this matter....
by Wandile Sihlobo | Apr 12, 2019 | General Comments
It is easy to overlook the importance of the South African agricultural sector if one only views it from its contribution as a share of the GDP, which has declined from 4.2% in the 1996 to 2.6% in 2017. What is often not captured in this narrative, is the fact that...
