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

cg.authorship.typesNot CGIAR developing country instituteen_US
cg.contributor.affiliationAgricultural Research Council, South Africaen_US
cg.contributor.affiliationUniversity of Limpopoen_US
cg.contributor.affiliationFree State Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, South Africaen_US
cg.contributor.donorEuropean Unionen_US
cg.coverage.countrySouth Africaen_US
cg.coverage.iso3166-alpha2ZAen_US
cg.coverage.regionAfricaen_US
cg.coverage.regionSouthern Africaen_US
cg.creator.identifierMokhele Moeletsi: 0000-0003-3932-5569en_US
cg.howPublishedFormally Publisheden_US
cg.identifier.doihttps://doi.org/10.3390/su11113003en_US
cg.isijournalISI Journalen_US
cg.issn2071-1050en_US
cg.issue11en_US
cg.journalSustainabilityen_US
cg.reviewStatusPeer Reviewen_US
cg.subject.ilriCROPSen_US
cg.subject.ilriEXTENSIONen_US
cg.subject.ilriFARMING SYSTEMSen_US
cg.subject.ilriINNOVATION SYSTEMSen_US
cg.subject.ilriINTENSIFICATIONen_US
cg.volume11en_US
dc.contributor.authorMyeni, L.en_US
dc.contributor.authorMoeletsi, M.en_US
dc.contributor.authorThavhana, M.en_US
dc.contributor.authorRandela, M.en_US
dc.contributor.authorMokoena, L.en_US
dc.date.accessioned2020-10-26T17:41:53Zen_US
dc.date.available2020-10-26T17:41:53Zen_US
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/10568/109988en_US
dc.titleBarriers affecting sustainable agricultural productivity of smallholder farmers in the Eastern Free State of South Africaen_US
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_US
dcterms.accessRightsOpen Accessen_US
dcterms.audienceScientistsen_US
dcterms.available2019-05-28en_US
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_US
dcterms.issued2019-05-28en_US
dcterms.languageenen_US
dcterms.licenseCC-BY-4.0en_US
dcterms.publisherMDPIen_US
dcterms.subjectinnovation adoptionen_US
dcterms.subjectextension activitiesen_US
dcterms.subjectintensificationen_US
dcterms.subjectsmall farmsen_US
dcterms.subjectsustainabilityen_US
dcterms.subjectrainfed farmingen_US
dcterms.typeJournal Articleen_US

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