Is the coronavirus outbreak a risk for South Africa’s agriculture?
Written for and first published in Business Day on 03 March 2020 There is a strong sense of unease in the world right now. The coronavirus outbreak in China is fast spreading across Asia and other regions, and the health implications present risks for global value...
Understanding South Africa’s agriculture trade patterns
After reaching a record level of US10.6 billion in 2018, South Africa’s agricultural exports fell by 8% year-on-year (y/y) in 2019 to US$9.8 billion. This, however, was unsurprising as agricultural production data for 2019 showed a notable decline in a number of...
South Africa’s wool industry took a knock from a ban of exports by China in 2019
South Africa’s wool industry experienced a tough year in 2019. China, which accounts for an average of 71% of South Africa’s wool exports in value terms, placed a ban following the outbreak of the foot-and-mouth disease in Limpopo. This lasted for months and weighed...
Drought and foot-and-mouth disease weigh on SA agriculture exports
The week got off to a fairly slow start with no key data releases in the domestic agricultural calendar. This offered us an opportunity to briefly look back at key developments this year. If there is anything that has shaped agricultural permeance it is the drought in...
India and China should be a key target for South Africa’s agricultural exports
Essay by Wandile Sihlobo and Tinashe Kapuya[1] South Africa’s trade policy is underpinned by an export-led growth strategy. This means that the country essentially looks to grow its economy by deepening and expanding its export markets. Such efforts can be seen...
Challenges in South African Shipping Ports
The Business Times newspaper ran a piece today warning that the growing strikes in South African ports could weigh on agricultural exports, particularly the Citrus industry. But this is not where the story ends. There are also infrastructure challenges in the South...
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.