Pracademics as agents of change: locating one in the South African agricultural economics discipline

Transforming academic knowledge into effective development practice is at the heart of virtually all disciplines. However, a hybrid type of professionals – between academics and practitioners, better known as “pracademics” – who spearhead this transformation receive little recognition in the academic space. This work reports on one such colleague, Wandile Sihlobo, who is within the agricultural economics discipline, a branch of applied and development economics. An agricultural economist’s major role consists in analysing how the agricultural sector is linked to and affected by other sectors of the economy and promoting the more efficient management of agribusinesses. In terms of practice, an agricultural economist may work in academia, industry, or in the government sector. In this regard, Sihlobo juggles academia and the industry as a relational broker, providing theoretical sound and practical advice to policymakers, thus, enhancing their decision-making and project management capacity, and effectively sharing crucial knowledge with the public.