Karabo Mabuza

Karabo is a farming enthusiast with passion for agriculture since she was a child. Grew up in rural areas where grandparents practiced subsistence farming. After earning a degree in agriculture she spend most of her time in banking sector working as agricultural economist specializing in market trends and research development with focus on risk management.

Jan 2018 – Present

SENIOR AGRICULTURAL ECONOMIST

Land and Agricultural Development Bank of South Africa.

I am currently working as a Senior Agricultural Economist at Land and Agricultural Development Bank of South Africa, where my duties encompass of various tasks including but not limited to:

 Develop and interpret indexes by means of research and analysis of agricultural economic data.

 To provide proactive agriculture sector economic insights. Identify and update critical commodity trends and micro agricultural economic production parameters to enhance agricultural credit decisions.

 Provide information on agriculture and the economy in general and emerging risk and actions taken to mitigate the risks to the internal stakeholders including, EXCO, the Agri-board, Agricultural Credit, Structured Finance, Regional Offices.

 Make knowledge transfer to the various Bank representatives in order to ensure skills transfer and empowerment in terms of technical context. To develop and train fellow specialists in agribusiness research.

 Build, foster and maintain consistent, effective and strong relationships with all stakeholders in order to strengthen relationships with the potential customers to secure new business opportunities for the bank.

 Ensure that all stakeholders remain aware of the value of the Land Bank’s products, the processes and principles related to agricultural financing

Monitor regulatory and legislative developments in the South African and global context that have an impact on the agricultural sector

 Populate monthly reports on critical policy developments

 Support the formulation of strategy and plans to help mitigate risks

 Interact with internal and external stakeholders, building and maintaining good relationships to ensure positive information transfer.

 Liaise with the regional business units and industry to prepare and present high-quality reports and well-articulated documents

University of Free State

Masters in Sustainable Agriculture Cum Laude | Completed in 2021

University of Free State Business School

PGDip: Business Administration | Completed in 2019

University of Free State

BCOM Honours majoring in Agricultural Economics/Economics | Completed in 2011

University of Free State

BCOM Agricultural Economics | Completed in 2010