by Wandile Sihlobo | Dec 23, 2019 | Agricultural Production
December is always a great month for me to get insight into South Africa’s agricultural conditions in a much more relaxing way when compared to my typical farm visits. Each year I drive from Gauteng to the Eastern Cape, making frequent stops along the way to observe...
by Wandile Sihlobo | Dec 21, 2019 | Agricultural Production
Essay by Wandile Sihlobo and Tinashe Kapuya There are preliminary indications that Southern Africa could face yet another year of poor rains, which will inevitably lead to lower agricultural output. A recent report from the Group on Earth Observations Global...
by Wandile Sihlobo | Dec 15, 2019 | Agricultural Production
In years to come when we read the agricultural economic history of SA, 2019 will be one of the toughest the sector has experienced in the past decade. On a macro level, we’ve witnessed sustained despondency among farming businesses for some time. The Agbiz/IDC...
by Wandile Sihlobo | Dec 13, 2019 | Food Security
As the year ends, I want to take a moment and reflect on South Africa’s standing on the global food security ladder. As I have mentioned in the previous posts, food security is achieved when three objectives are met: (1) food is available; (2) food is accessible; and...
by Wandile Sihlobo | Dec 9, 2019 | Agricultural Trade
The week got off to a fairly slow start with no key data releases in the domestic agricultural calendar. This offered us an opportunity to briefly look back at key developments this year. If there is anything that has shaped agricultural permeance it is the drought in...
by Wandile Sihlobo | Dec 8, 2019 | Agricultural Trade
The first Russia-Africa summit that was held in October 2019 concluded with an announcement that urged all participants to increase cooperation in security, science, environmental protection, trade and economic matters. On this last point — trade and economic...
by Wandile Sihlobo | Dec 5, 2019 | Agricultural Production
The third quarter 2019 GDP data released by Statistics South Africa this week illuminated what many in SA’s farming towns and villages have been experiencing throughout the year, which is that the farming economy is in recession. Indeed, production in SA’s...
by Wandile Sihlobo | Dec 1, 2019 | Agricultural Production
It is well understood within South African agricultural circles that inclusive expansion in production in the coming years needs to prioritize labour-intensive and globally sought-after products. Pursuing this goal requires effort, but not much in the way of new...
by Wandile Sihlobo | Nov 26, 2019 | Agricultural Production
South Africa’s Crop Estimates Committee has lowered its estimates for the country’s 2019/20 wheat production by 5% from October 2019 to 1.6 million tonnes. This equates to a 16% decline from the 2018/19 season. We are not surprised at all by this development as we...
by Wandile Sihlobo | Nov 25, 2019 | Agricultural Production
Over the past few months, South Africa’s Crop Estimates Committee (CEC) has consistently slashed down its estimate of 2019/20 winter wheat harvest from the view painted at the start of the season. The current estimate is now at 1.7 million tonnes (from 1.9 million...
