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.
South Africa’s third-quarter GDP data will likely show solid agricultural performance.
We have long said that 2025 will be a recovery year for South Africa’s agriculture. This followed a challenging drought last year that weighed on the sector. But this recovery will be uneven. As the field crops and horticulture subsectors thrived this year, the livestock subsector underperformed.
South Africa’s Wheat Harvest Progressing Smoothly
The wheat farmers in South Africa are working hard to complete the harvest for the 2025-26 season. They have already made impressive progress. But the harvest will likely continue into early January 2026, in some areas.
South Africa Has Its Second-Largest Maize Harvest On Record
I am unsure if most people noticed, but South Africa’s 2024-25 maize crop of 16.44 million tonnes is the second-largest on record. This is up 28% from the previous season, boosted by the better yields.
South Africa’s agricultural exports boom
South Africa’s agricultural exports have remained strong since the start of the year despite significant trade policy shifts and uncertainty. The cumulative value of agricultural exports for the first three quarters of the year is US$11.7 billion, representing a 10% increase from the corresponding period in 2024.
La Niña rains prospects and possible favorable agricultural season ahead
I should be retiring to bed, but I made the foolish mistake of opening my computer and...
South Africa will now vaccinate its whole cattle herd for foot and mouth disease
A MAJOR POLICY STEP JUST HAPPENED. South Africa’s Minister of Agriculture, John Steenhuisen, has just announced that South Africa will now vaccinate the entire national cattle herd for Foot and Mouth Disease.
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.