What’s needed for South Africa’s agriculture to boost jobs?
I have been punting that agriculture could help boost employment in South Africa, but the latest jobs data are a reminder that fundamental change is essential. Today, July 30, we learned that South Africa’s primary agricultural employment fell by 0.2% in the second...
Budding blueberry sector offers fruitful job prospects for South Africa
In her budget vote speech last week, Ms Thoko Didiza, the new minister of agriculture, land reform and rural development, noted that, among other things, she intends to expand SA’s agricultural footprint in export markets. This is a fitting message as the growth of...
Wandile Sihlobo is the Chief Economist of the Agricultural Business Chamber of South Africa (Agbiz) and the author of “Finding Common Ground: Land, Equity and Agriculture“.
He is a Senior Lecturer Extraordinary at the Department of Agricultural Economics at Stellenbosch University and a Visiting Research Fellow at the Wits School of Governance, University of the Witwatersrand.
Sihlobo was appointed as a member of President Cyril Ramaphosa’s Presidential Economic Advisory Council in 2019 (and re-appointed in 2022), having saved 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.