Browsing by Author "Zantsi, Siphe"

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    Towards a common understanding of 'emerging farmer' in a South African context using data from a survey of three district municipalities in the Eastern Cape Province
    (South African Society of Agricultural Extension, 2019-01) Zantsi, Siphe; Greyling, Jan C.; Vink, N.
    The objective of this study was to improve our understanding of the diversity among emerging smallholders using various commonly used indicators. These were reviewed and applied to a sample of 379 emerging smallholders situated in three major smallholding districts within the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa. It was found that the typical emerging farmer has the following profile: He is black, situated in a former homeland and is 58 years old. The typical farmer cultivates field crops as a secondary source of food and income, but keeps livestock as primary and secondary sources of income. The average emerging smallholder mostly grows maize for own consumption given a crop commercialisation index (CCI) of 0.66 and sells a greater portion of his cabbage and potatoes given CCIs of 0.73 and 0.83 respectively. The average emerging farmer earns a net income of R26 600 per year, but there is an income inequality, since the most successful farmer earns 26.7 times the average income. This translates to a Ghini coefficient of 0.48, which is high by international standards, but low compared to the South African average of 63.1. When speaking to fellow farmers, it was found that 78% of them feel constrained by farming in a homeland, but only 72% would be willing to move from their homeland, with most (45%) saying that they would only do so if they were provided with sufficient government support.
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    Unlocking the potential of the emerging smallholder farming sector in South African agriculture : an agent-based approach
    (Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2021-03) Zantsi, Siphe; Vink, N.; Greyling, Jan C.; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences. Dept. of Agricultural Economics.
    ENGLISH SUMMARY : This dissertation investigates how land redistribution can be achieved and how its main prospective beneficiaries, emerging farmers, can be integrated effectively in commercial farming in South Africa. A survey of 833 potential emerging farmers in three provinces with dense populations of smallholders is used together with a survey of 605 commercial farmers across the country. The dissertation first provides an overview of the prominent reasons why land redistribution has achieved little success. It then identifies five main reasons (insufficient post-transfer support, poor beneficiary selection, large farm size coupled with lacking or incompetent farming skills, and the reluctance of the state to give freehold titles to beneficiaries along with limited programme budget) often ascribed to the failure of land redistribution projects. The presented research study addresses two of these reasons directly and others partially as sub-questions through an array of methodologies. The study begins (first phase) by explaining the emerging farmer concept, showing how it is inappropriately used in the South African context and pointing out the dangers associated with this use. It then takes a multifaceted approach and finds that no single measure should be used alone in defining emerging farmers in the South African context. In the second phase, the study deepens this discussion by analysing attributes of the potential emerging farmers through a multivariate analysis and finds five distinct cluster groups of farmers who share similar attributes. It then gives relevant policy recommendations for each cluster. In the third phase, the study delves into land redistribution beneficiary-selection criteria based on the relevant literature, legislative and policy documents, and the profile of potential land redistribution beneficiaries. A suggestion for using a vacancy farm-advertising format for the selection of land reform beneficiaries is then proposed. Inspired by the outcome of the third phase, the study applies a stepwise binary logistic regression in the fourth phase to explore the determinants of the willingness to relocate among potential land redistribution beneficiaries and finds that proxy variables for aspirations and cultural innovation influence this decision among the study participants. Responding to the recommendations of the Advisory Panel on Land Reform and Agriculture appointed by the presidency and a wide array of researchers, the fifth and sixth phases explore the hypothesis of subdividing commercial farms intended for redistribution to emerging farmers. In the fifth phase, a viable farm size is determined based on viable farm household income. Viable farm sizes for the land reform farms were explored in a novel agent-based model. These farm sizes were validated in the sixth phase. The study finds that it is possible to subdivide commercial farms in a manner that satisfies the aspirations of the emerging farmers. It also finds a clear difference between number of farms created when redistribution farms are subdivided and when they are not. This difference are also visible per farm type (enterprise) and have profound implications for land redistribution. Several other policy implications and how the results of the study can be used are discussed.