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National Water Amendment Bill published for comment
Background The National Water Amendment Bill was published for public comment on 17 November 2023. The due date for written submissions is 16 January 2023. Objectives of the Bill The objectives o.....
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Wandile Sihlobo's Book Launch Event in Melville, Johannesburg
Agbiz Chief Economist, Wandile Sihlobo, played host to a significant event in Melville, Johannesburg - the book launch of his latest work, "A Country of Two Agricultures: The Disparities, the Challeng.....
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Global grain supplies remain solid
Two essential data releases in the global agricultural environment in the past two weeks painted a promising picture of global agricultural supplies and prices — the Food and Agriculture Organis.....
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Additional thoughts on El Niño impact on SA agriculture in 2023/24 season
The South African Weather Service released its Seasonal Climate Watch update highlighting that "the El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) is currently in an El Niño state and, according to the latest pr.....
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Insights on South Africa's consumer food price inflation data for February 2023 - a brief analysis
South Africa's consumer food price inflation accelerated mildly to 14% y/y in February 2023 from 13,8% in the previous month. The food product prices that increased notably were meat; milk, eggs and c.....
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New national minimum wage an outlier
From an economic point of view, labour is a production input which, along with other production inputs, plant and property determine the production costs. Labour is, however, not merely a cost calcula.....
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Agricultural fortunes in 2022
After a solid performance of 8,8% y/y in 2021, we thought South Africa's agricultural gross value added would contract mildly in 2022. But the data released today by Statistics South Africa paints a s.....
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Highlights on energy matters from various government speeches
The energy challenges of agriculture were highlighted in various speeches this past week. First, the 2023 Budget Speech by Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana outlined the implementation of the refund o.....
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SA agriculture exports showed resilience in 2022 despite headwinds
This data is particularly encouraging since 2022 presented various challenges to South Africa's agriculture. At the start of the year, logistical challenges in the ports of Cape Town disrupted the exp.....
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Very encouraging tractor sales in South Africa
I have been closely following South Africa's monthly tractors sales data, and the results continue to surprise me. Since April 2020, the monthly sales have remained positive, registering an average of.....
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