Wandile Sihlobo is the Chief Economist of the Agricultural Business Chamber of South Africa (Agbiz) and the author of three books, “The Uncomfortable Truth About South Africa’s Agriculture (2025)”, “A Country of Two Agricultures: The Disparities, The Challenges, The Solutions (2023)” and “Finding Common Ground: Land, Equity and Agriculture (2020)“.
He is a Senior Lecturer Extraordinary at the Department of Agricultural Economics at Stellenbosch University.
Sihlobo is also a Visiting Research Fellow at the Wits School of Governance, University of the Witwatersrand, and a Research Associate at the Institute of Social and Economic Research (ISER) at Rhodes University.
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.
Some notes on South Africa’s agricultural performance in 2025
It is a rather challenging and unusual feeling to write about the positive data of South Africa’s agriculture when the largest subsector of the farming economy is reeling from a severe animal health crisis. The speed at which foot-and-mouth disease is contained and the industry’s revival, along with associated costs to the cattle farming business, is something we will understand better in the coming months.
South African farmers continue to invest in machinery
We continue to see encouraging sales of agricultural machinery in South Africa. For example, tractor sales increased for the fifth consecutive month, up 12% year-on-year in May 2025, with 635 units sold.
Rice, Biosecurity, Zambia, Grain, South Africa and more
The central issue in South Africa’s agriculture this week is the outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease and its impact on the beef industry. There are also other biosecurity issues worldwide, such as the avian influenza outbreak in Brazil, which led to South Africa temporarily suspending poultry imports from that region.
Trade, Animal Diseases, and the Economics of Chicken Little in South Africa
This year began on a positive note for South Africa’s agriculture, particularly in terms of exports. In the first quarter of 2025, South Africa’s agricultural exports totalled US$ 3.36 billion, up 10% from the same period a year ago. This is a function of both higher volumes of various product exports and better commodity prices.
Farming is fashion, and here is a place to witness the value chain of it
From July 3rd to July 5th, 2025, the place to be in South Africa is the Karoo Winter Wool Festival in Middelburg in the Karoo region of the Eastern Cape. This is one of the few areas where one can truly appreciate the entire value chain of the sheep industry.
Animal Diseases, Food Security, And The Need To Strengthen The Resilience Of South Africa’s Agriculture
We are currently struggling with foot and mouth disease in South Africa, and a few more cases have been reported in various regions of the country. Of course, this raises several questions. First, from a consumer perspective, the question is whether red meat is safe and how prices will be in the coming months.
Wandile Sihlobo is the Chief Economist of the Agricultural Business Chamber of South Africa (Agbiz) and the author of three books, “The Uncomfortable Truth About South Africa’s Agriculture (2025)”, “A Country of Two Agricultures: The Disparities, The Challenges, The Solutions (2023)” and “Finding Common Ground: Land, Equity and Agriculture (2020)“.
He is a Senior Lecturer Extraordinary at the Department of Agricultural Economics at Stellenbosch University.
Sihlobo is also a Visiting Research Fellow at the Wits School of Governance, University of the Witwatersrand, and a Research Associate at the Institute of Social and Economic Research (ISER) at Rhodes University.
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.