scholarly journals Determinants of Smallholder Livestock Farmers’ Household Resilience to Food Insecurity in South Africa

Climate ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (7) ◽  
pp. 117
Author(s):  
Vuyiseka A. Myeki ◽  
Yonas T. Bahta

This study identified factors affecting livestock farmers’ agricultural drought resilience to food insecurity in Northern Cape Province, South Africa. Data of 217 smallholder livestock farmers were used in a principal component analysis to estimate the agricultural drought resilience index. The structural equation approach was then applied to assess smallholder livestock farmers’ resilience to food insecurity. The study found that most smallholder livestock farmers (81%) were not resilient to agricultural drought. Assets (β = 0.150), social safety nets (β = 0.001), and adaptive capacity (β = 0.171) indicators positively impacted households’ resilience to food insecurity with 5% significance. Climate change indicators negatively impacted households’ resilience to food insecurity. Two variables were included under climate change, focusing on drought, namely drought occurrence (β = −0.118) and drought intensity (β = −0.021), which had a negative impact on household resilience to food insecurity with 10% significance. The study suggests that smallholder livestock farmers need assistance from the government and various stakeholders to minimize vulnerability and boost their resilience to food insecurity.

2016 ◽  
Vol 32 (1) ◽  
pp. 73
Author(s):  
NFN Hermanto

<p><strong>English</strong><br />Nowadays, negative impact of climate change on global food provision is apparent. As a disaster-prone region, ASEAN member countries in collaboration with Japan, Republic of Korea and the PRC have established a regional rice reserve named APTERR in 2012. Experts have split opinions regarding the benefit of regional rice reserve. Some experts argued that market is an efficient institution in distributing food, even in times of crisis. Meanwhile, other experts argue that relatively small and decentralized reserves are effective in coping with the problems of food insecurity in the region. Indonesia can view APTERR as an addition sources to the Government Rice Reserve in handling emergency needs, and in solving food insecurity issues. After a long formation process, APTERR has had appropriate mechanisms in operating a regional rice reserve. The challenge is to make APTERR becomes a more effective and efficient institution, and plays important role in maintaining stable rice price and supplies in the region.</p><p> </p><p><strong>Indonesian</strong><br />Akhir-akhir ini dampak negatif perubahan iklim global terhadap penyediaan pangan global sudah mulai dirasakan. Sebagai kawasan produsen, yang sekaligus merupakan kawasan konsumen beras, serta sebagai kawasan yang rawan bencana, negara anggota ASEAN bekerja sama dengan Jepang, Republik Korea dan RRT secara resmi membentuk cadangan beras regional untuk keperluan darurat (APTERR) pada tahun 2012. Pembentukan cadangan beras APTERR ini diwarnai oleh perbedaan pendapat para pakar tentang manfaat cadangan beras regional. Sebagian dari pakar berpendapat bahwa pasar merupakan lembaga yang efisien dalam mendistribusikan pangan. Pada saat krisis pun pelaku pasar dapat membayar asuransi untuk mengantisipasi terjadinya gejolak pasar. Sebagian pakar lain berpendapat bahwa cadangan beras regional dalam jumlah yang relatif kecil dan terdesentralisasi akan efektif untuk penanganan kerawanan pangan dalam suatu kawasan. Keberadaan APTERR bagi Indonesia dapat dipandang sebagai suatu tambahan sumber daya bagi Cadangan Beras Pemerintah. Indonesia dapat mengakses bantuan beras APTERR untuk penanganan pasca bencana, serta untuk penanganan masalah kemiskinan dan kerawanan pangan. Setelah melalui proses pembentukan yang panjang, APTERR pada saat ini telah mempunyai sistem pengelolaan dan mekanisme pemanfaatan cadangan beras regional yang sesuai untuk mengantisipasi dan menangani keperluan darurat di kawasan. Tantangannya adalah bagaimana agar proses pemberian bantuan beras dapat lebih efektif dan efisien, serta ke depan agar APTERR dapat berperan dalam menjaga stabilitas pasokan dan harga beras di kawasan. Untuk itu perlu penyempurnaan mekanisme pengelolaan cadangan, peningkatan ketersediaan dana dan stok, serta peningkatan kerja sama dengan pihak swasta dan lembaga internasional untuk efisiensi distribusi bantuan beras APTERR.</p>


Land ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (6) ◽  
pp. 562
Author(s):  
Ringetani Matlou ◽  
Yonas T. Bahta ◽  
Enoch Owusu-Sekyere ◽  
Henry Jordaan

Recurring agricultural droughts are of concern to smallholder livestock farmers in Sub-Saharan Africa. This study determined the impact of agricultural drought resilience on smallholder livestock farming households’ welfare in the Frances Baard District Municipality (FBDM), in Northern Cape Province of South Africa. Interviews, more specifically survey interviews, were conducted with 207 smallholder livestock farmers. We used compensation variation, resilience index and linear regression models to analyse the data. The findings indicate that smallholder farmers who received drought relief support saw an improvement in their welfare. However, the welfare improvements varied across respondents and different gender categories, with males having higher welfare improvements relative to females. The study also found that economic capital, social capital, human capital and natural capital substantially affected the welfare of smallholder farmers. Furthermore, the study revealed that the smallholder farmers had a moderate agricultural drought resilience index, but low natural resilience capital. The study recommends that governments and non-governmental policymakers aiming to improve the welfare of smallholder farmers should focus on building their economic, social, human and capital resource bases. In this way, the smallholder farmers will be resilient in a time of climatic shock.


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Yonas T. Bahta

Worldwide drought has significance and continues to pose long-lasting effects on the agricultural sector, including South Africa. The recurring drought is a major challenge to smallholder livestock farmers in the Northern Cape Province of South Africa. This study assesses the perception of smallholder livestock farmers towards agricultural drought resilience. The study utilised a perception index score using primary data collected from 207 smallholder livestock farmers following a structured questionnaire survey and multistage sampling procedures. The study found that the average perception index of the role of social networks and government to enhance agricultural drought resilience was negative, which implied that their role in enhancing resilience towards agricultural drought was insufficient. However, the perception of smallholder livestock farmers on the role of social networks was lower than the role of government. This study recommends coordination and cooperation amongst all role players to reinforce strategies to enhance smallholder livestock farmers’ resilience. This includes coordinator amongst the local, provincial government, African Farmers’ Association of South Africa, extension officers, private sectors, monitoring agencies in terms of reliable early warning information and communication amongst decision-makers. Collaboration amongst government departments at the national and provincial levels should be strengthening to enhance farmer’s resilience. The collaboration includes the Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries at the national level, Provincial Departments of Agriculture, National and Provincial Disaster Management Centres, South African Weather Service and Department of Water Affairs. Smallholder livestock farmers’ awareness of the significance of social networking and government participation should be promoted.


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (18) ◽  
pp. 10468
Author(s):  
Lerato Molieleng ◽  
Pieter Fourie ◽  
Ifeoma Nwafor

The importance of adopting modern technology in agriculture, especially in a changing climate, cannot be underestimated in Africa. The aim of this review was to highlight the past and the status quo with regard to the adoption of current farming practices in relation to climate-smart agriculture (CSA) by communal livestock farmers in South Africa. The impact of animal agriculture on climate change was also deliberated. Different internet search engines and databases, like Google Scholar, EBSCO Host, Science Direct, etc., and peer-reviewed articles, books, and government and academic reports were employed to provide information to adequately address the aim. Keywords like “the impact of climate smart agriculture on communal livestock farmers”, “communal livestock in South Africa”, “communal farming and technology adoption”, etc. were used for the search. Various issues pertaining to the impact of animal agriculture on climate change, greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, and implementing CSA in livestock farming were extensively discussed. The findings indicated that there is limited research on the adoption of CSA by communal livestock farmers in South Africa. The review concluded that strategies to adopt modern technology in communal areas should address the issues to enhance knowledge of farmers and all stakeholders, through increasing awareness, trainings, and skills programs. The government should build local capacity in innovative and affordable water and agricultural solutions, and reliable financial mechanisms should be in place to implement innovative sound technologies in communal areas.


2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (1(J)) ◽  
pp. 22-32
Author(s):  
Abiodun Olusola Omotayo

In the developing nations of the world, poor gross domestic product growth has shown serious vacuum to be filled in order to achieve the sustainable development goals. In that regard, this research article intends to contribute to the sustainable development goals of the United Nation’s goal by explaining the rural food insecurity in the light of climate change dynamic in some selected rural communities of Limpopo Province, South Africa. The data employed in the study were collected from 120 randomly selected rural household heads. Data were analysed with descriptive (frequency, mean etc.) and inferential statistics (Principal component Analysis (PCA), Tobit and Probit Regression) which were properly fitted (P<0.05) for the set research objectives. Descriptive results indicate that the average age of the respondents was 52 years with 60% of the household heads being married and a mean household size of 5.The study concluded that there is climate change effect and food insecurity in the study area and therefore recommended among others that the government of South Africa should endeavour to implement a more rural focused food securityclimate change policies in order to relieve the intensity of food insecurity situations among these disadvantaged rural dwellers of the province as well as to entrench a policy of long term development of agriculture. Finally, the study emphasized that the rural farming households should be enlightened through proper extension services to carry out climate change adaptation and mitigation measures in alleviating the food insecurity situation in the rural communities of the province. 


Water Policy ◽  
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard Kwame Adom ◽  
Mulala Danny Simatele

Abstract Many countries in the world, including South Africa, are water-stressed with increasing pressure on their water resources due to population growth, climate change, and inadequate funding. Post independence in 1994, many policies and programmes were introduced by the government with the aim of promoting water management. While these policies and strategies achieved much in terms of water provision to communities and households, they failed to establish a water-conscious country with sufficient knowledge and expertise in water management. In addition, these policies and programmes are outdated, compartmentalised, complex, and lack robust water governance with resilient stakeholder partnerships that advance the more explicit second phase of the NDP to achieve water security under the threat of climate change. Using data collection tools inspired by the traditional method of participatory research, this paper analyses the structural and systematic factors hindering the implementation of comprehensive policies to achieve water security in South Africa. There is, therefore, an urgent need for South Africa to establish an independent water regulator to ensure coordination between different government departments, including the National Treasury, to strengthen weak governance capacity and to make it independent to attract private equity into the sector and to recover fiscal deficits in the water sector.


2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 231
Author(s):  
Tshembhani Mackson HLONGWANE ◽  
Itumeleng Pleasure MONGALE ◽  
Lavisa TALA

Fiscal policy ensures macroeconomic stability as a precondition for growth at the macro level. This study investigates the impact of fiscal policy on economic growth of South Africa from 1960 to 2014 through a Cointegrated Vector Autoregression approach. It seeks to contribute to the existing literature as well as in designing effective fiscal policy programmes which can propel economic performance. Theresults of the long run estimates revealed that government tax revenue has a positive and significant long run influence on economic growth, whereas the government gross fixed capital formation and budget deficit have a negative impact on real GDP. For that reason, the study recommends that some expansionary fiscal policy measures should be strengthened since they play a very important role in the economy so as to meet the government target of the National Development Plan Vision for 2030.


2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (6(J)) ◽  
pp. 11-24
Author(s):  
Buyani Nkabinde ◽  
Lawrence Mpele Lekhanya ◽  
Nirmala Dorasamy

The current socio-economic and political problems of South Africa are rooted in the colonial apartheid era as scholars and researchers suggest through extensive research. However, there have been high levels of service delivery protests related to the government performance on the issues of service delivery to the local communities’ countrywide. Governments departments appear to be lacking much required knowledge and understanding of external factors associated with rural to urban migration such social-economic factors and other various relevant challenges, hence, local authorities are struggling to meet up with demands caused by the ever-increasing number of urban populations, which affects services delivery performance. The study was quantitative approach and used 5 Likert scale questionnaires which were distributed in the selected areas of eThekwini city. A total of 100 with 25 respondents per area, chosen areas include emhlabeni, emalandeni, ezimeleni and silver city. Whereas, qualitative aspects of the study were secondary data through extensive literature review, the study has found that indeed rural to urban migration has a negative impact on service delivery the study argue that service delivery, rural to urban migration, public participation need to be part of the government agenda holistically to improve service delivery and capacity of local authorities. This study recommends proactive urban planning and community involvement through public participation channels. The generalization of the findings of this study should be done with care.


2018 ◽  
Vol 2 (3) ◽  
pp. 39
Author(s):  
Besfat Dejen Engdaw ◽  
Melaku Debas Kebede

The process of urbanization in developing nations is attended without fast industrialization processes. As a result of this, the urbanization and urban process are accompanied by diverse problems. Hence this paper is aimed at identifying the effect of urbanization on citizens’ food insecurity by monitoring agricultural foodstuff production as a mediating variable.  A quantitative research methodology or approach has been used to depict out urban problems associated with unmanaged urbanization in the Ethiopian, particularly in Amhara regional state.   Structural Equation Modeling was employed to run a mediation analysis by decomposing the direct and indirect effects of one variable on the other. Correlation and regression analyses were executed to measure the direction and magnitude of the effect of the independent variable on the dependent. Regression analysis results indicated the existence of a significant direct effect of urbanization on food insecurity of citizens. The mediation analysis result shows agricultural foodstuff production doesn’t play a mediating role between urbanization and food insecurity. The paper, having traced out the effect of the urbanization on food insecurity, provides possible recommendations. The regional government should be very considerate about the pace of unmanaged, unindustrialized and unemployment induced urbanization. The regional government should address all pushing factors that are dragging farmers into the urban areas. So, it is important to find ways to make farmers beneficial from their farm activities. In this regard, the problem raised by farmers is the inability to settle the debt from fertilizers and improved seeds or at least what they get from selling what they have produced is used to settle their farm debt. Some policy measures such as subsidizing the farmer or extending the repayment period of their debt are then essential to help farmers lead a stable life and lead their families. The government/concerned body need to make a cost-benefit analysis by weighing the pressure from the migration of the farmers and the cost of subsidizing the farmers: compare prevention with curative. Moreover, as a short-term solution, the regional government should identify food unsecured urban households and embrace them in food security packages like urban safety-net programs.  And enhancing the limited income generation capacity of food insecured households.  Key words: Urbanization, Food in Security, Agricultural Foodstuff Production, Amhara Region


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