Barriers affecting sustainable agricultural productivity of smallholder farmers in the Eastern Free State of South Africa

cg.authorship.typesNot CGIAR developing country instituteen
cg.contributor.affiliationAgricultural Research Council, South Africaen
cg.contributor.affiliationUniversity of Limpopoen
cg.contributor.affiliationFree State Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, South Africaen
cg.contributor.donorEuropean Unionen
cg.coverage.countrySouth Africa
cg.coverage.iso3166-alpha2ZA
cg.coverage.regionAfrica
cg.coverage.regionSouthern Africa
cg.creator.identifierMokhele Moeletsi: 0000-0003-3932-5569
cg.howPublishedFormally Publisheden
cg.identifier.doihttps://doi.org/10.3390/su11113003en
cg.isijournalISI Journalen
cg.issn2071-1050en
cg.issue11en
cg.journalSustainabilityen
cg.reviewStatusPeer Reviewen
cg.subject.ilriCROPSen
cg.subject.ilriEXTENSIONen
cg.subject.ilriFARMING SYSTEMSen
cg.subject.ilriINNOVATION SYSTEMSen
cg.subject.ilriINTENSIFICATIONen
cg.volume11en
dc.contributor.authorMyeni, L.en
dc.contributor.authorMoeletsi, M.en
dc.contributor.authorThavhana, M.en
dc.contributor.authorRandela, M.en
dc.contributor.authorMokoena, L.en
dc.date.accessioned2020-10-26T17:41:53Zen
dc.date.available2020-10-26T17:41:53Zen
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/10568/109988
dc.titleBarriers affecting sustainable agricultural productivity of smallholder farmers in the Eastern Free State of South Africaen
dcterms.abstractSustainable Agricultural Practices (SAPs) are the most promising pathways to enhance the productivity and resilience of agricultural production of smallholder farming systems while conserving the natural resources. This study was undertaken to identify the barriers affecting sustainable agricultural productivity of smallholder farmers in the eastern Free State, South Africa. Data were collected from 359 smallholder farmers using questionnaires and the validity of the collected data was confirmed through focus group discussions with key informants. Descriptive statistics and a binary logistic regression model were used to analyze data. Results indicated that traditional SAPs such as intercropping, mulching and crop rotation were more likely to be adopted by farmers with access to land yet without access to credit (and had low levels of education, although this finding was not significant). In contrast, new SAPs such as cover cropping, minimum-tillage, tied ridging and planting pits were more knowledge (education), capital and labor intensive. Therefore, extension strategies should take these differences into consideration when promoting both the adoption of traditional SAPs and new SAPs. Targeting resource-constrained farmers (in terms of access to credit and education) through raising awareness and building capacity is essential to ensure the adoption of traditional SAPs. In turn, promoting the adoption of new SAPs not only needs awareness raising and capacity building but also must fundamentally address resource constraints of South African smallholder farmers such as knowledge, capital and labor. It is recommended that government should provide resources and infrastructure to improve the quality and outreach of extension services through field demonstration trials and training.en
dcterms.accessRightsOpen Access
dcterms.audienceScientistsen
dcterms.available2019-05-28
dcterms.bibliographicCitationMyeni, L., Moeletsi, M., Thavhana, M., Randela, M. and Mokoena, L. 2019. Barriers affecting sustainable agricultural productivity of smallholder farmers in the Eastern Free State of South Africa. Sustainability 11(11):3003.en
dcterms.issued2019-05-28
dcterms.languageen
dcterms.licenseCC-BY-4.0
dcterms.publisherMDPIen
dcterms.subjectinnovation adoptionen
dcterms.subjectextension activitiesen
dcterms.subjectintensificationen
dcterms.subjectsmall farmsen
dcterms.subjectsustainabilityen
dcterms.subjectrainfed farmingen
dcterms.typeJournal Article

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