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 Comment on the G20’s Take on Agriculture and Global Food Security
If you enjoyed this post, please...
South Africa’s wheat harvest process continues smoothly
As the northern regions of South Africa receive excellent summer rains that help summer crops, the south-western areas of the country have been relatively warm and dry. The warm weather helps with the winter wheat harvest. The farmers are making encouraging progress.
South Africa’s farming fortunes in the third quarter of 2025
One aspect I have highlighted frequently in this letter is the prospect of an uneven recovery in South Africa’s farming fortunes in 2025.
The Trouble With The Eastern Cape’s Development Ambitions
I have no issue with what the Eastern Cape Premier, Mr Oscar Mabuyane, writes this morning in the Daily Dispatch, a local newspaper. Among other things, he outlines the benefits of the recent upgrades to the N2 Highway Wild Coast, which are expected to ease logistics in the region.
South Africa has a Record Soybean Crop
The soybean industry remains one of South Africa’s success stories in agriculture and is now breaking new records. The country harvested a record soybean crop in the 2024-25 season, estimated at 2.771 million tonnes, up 50% from the previous season. This is on the back of the expansion in area plantings and the higher yields following favourable rainfall.
Fuel Price Increases Come at a Busy Time in South Africa’s Agriculture
The expected increase in fuel prices on 03 December 2025 comes at a busy time for South Africa’s agriculture, as we continue summer grain and oilseed plantings. The diesel price (0.05% wholesale inland) could increase by 61 cents per litre, while the petrol price (95 ULP inland) could increase by 26 cents per litre.
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.