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.
A few days of warm weather would be ideal for South African agriculture
I’m happy about the warm, sunny weather today and hope for a few more days of it so South African farmers can accelerate fieldwork. Some regions of the country are excessively wet, particularly in KwaZulu-Natal, the Free State, the northern Eastern Cape, and north-eastern Mpumalanga.
Botswana restricts vegetable imports again
The practices of some countries in the Southern African Customs Union (SACU) are worrying. We continuously see countries restricting imports of agricultural products on short notice, with limited communication to other countries.
South Africa’s wine grape production heads into 2026 with optimism
We are receiving optimistic news from the South African wine industry. It appears that the excellent production conditions of 2025 will continue into 2026
What does the Current Rainy Weather Mean for South Africa’s Agriculture?
This weekend, we had a breather from the heavy rains that have been affecting many regions of the country. The occasional warmer weather helps agriculture by promoting seed germination in areas that have been planted and allowing planting in areas that have not been planted due to excessively wet weather conditions.
Highlighting South Africa’s agricultural matters in G20 engagements
The G20 networking opportunities helped the country take a step forward in reaffirming its commitments to existing trade relations, such as with the EU, while starting conversations with new partners, including Vietnam.
A year of excellent tractors and combine harvesters sales in South Africa
We have just received South Africa’s agricultural machinery sales data for November 2025 from the South African Agricultural Machinery Association. These data are one crucial point clear: we are ending 2025 on a strong note in the agricultural machinery industry. We now have data for the 11 months of 2025. Cumulative tractor sales are 7,176 units, up 19% year-on-year.
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.