Some winter crop growing areas of the Western Cape are not in good shape
We continue to observe developments in the winter crop growing areas of the Western Cape. There hasn’t been any notable rainfall thus far to improve crop growing conditions. The current weather forecasts show that the next two weeks could present more of the same –...
Western Cape wheat farmers look to skies as rain dries up
Farming is proving to be one of the more challenging vocations in SA because of the ever-changing risk environment. Not only must farmers monitor economic conditions, changing consumer preferences and social dynamics, but the weather is proving to be the most...
The heavens have opened, but Western Cape agriculture still needs more rain
While memories of Day Zero warnings in late 2017 and early 2018 might be fading in Cape Town residents’ minds, the effects of the water shortages are still felt in some farming communities — and agricultural production has not fully recovered from the damage of the...
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 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.