Background: The realisation of more youth involvement in the agricultural sector has proved to be elusive, so the question of the possibility of a youth-led agriculture needs further investigation.Aim: The aim of the study was to assess whether there is potential for the rural youth to participate in agriculture by employing the typology formulation approach.Setting: The study is premised on recent calls for strategies to reduce youth unemployment in sub-Saharan Africa by involving and enhancing the agricultural sector.Method: A survey in questionnaire form was conducted with 224 youths from two districts in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. The Principal Components Analysis and K-Means Clustering were performed to determine the youth typologies and assess their potential.Results: Five typologies were identified. Most youths (59.3%) were found in Typology 1 (those that see no benefits in farming) and in Typology 2 (older, experienced and with access to land). Typology 5 (male youths in agricultural cooperatives) had the lowest proportion of youths (5.7%). Participants in typologies 2, 3 and 5 were deemed to have high to moderate potential for successful engagement in farming. The highest potential was found in the typology with the least percentage of youths.Conclusions: The typologies showed that youths have varying perceptions and aspirations regarding agriculture. While some show an interest and have the potential to participate in farming, others do not. Therefore, the blanket notion of the youth’s lack of interest in agriculture should be qualified as it does not always hold. The heterogeneity in characteristics among the youths in these typologies, including their potential to participate in agriculture, expresses the differences in the kinds of support needed to increase their participation.

There are calls for better empirical models to inform climate change adaptation in smallholder agriculture. Hitherto adaptation studies have failed to comprehensively integrate non-cognitive behavioural factors (e.g. psychological capital), and there is also no common framework for measuring non-cognitive abilities of smallholder farmers. Hence, this study is the first attempt to assess how psychological capital affects climate change adaptation amongst smallholder farmers. The study estimated the multivariate probit regression model using data collected from 328 smallholder farmers in KwaZulu-Natal province, South Africa. The results show an association between some psychological capital indicators and smallholder adaptation decisions. Social networks, having multiple farming objectives, access to credit and the type of farmer (irrigators vs. non-irrigators) were also significant in determining smallholders’ adaptation decisions. In conclusion, the study recommends the need for practical ways for enhancing smallholders’ endowment with key non-cognitive abilities. There is also a need for researchers to develop a comprehensive framework for assessing non-cognitive factors critical for climate change adaptation. This will improve the use of positive psychology theories to advance the literature on climate change adaptation. Support should also be provided to communities facing higher risks of climate change adaptation. More focus should also be given to improve smallholder farmers’ ability to adapt, including access to affordable credit. The role of social networks in information sharing remains critical, and hence their promotion should be prioritised. The findings on multiple objectives in farming were unique to climate change adaptation research, and hence the indicator should be considered in future similar studies.

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One of the most affected economies by climate change is the agricultural sector. Climate change measured by temperature and precipitation has an impact on agricultural output, which in turn affects the economy of the sector. It is anticipated that using renewable energy will lower carbon emissions that are directly related to climate change. The main objective of this study was to evaluate the impact of carbon dioxide emissions (CO2), renewable energy usage, and climate change on South Africa’s agricultural sector from 1972 to 2021. The nexus was estimated using an Auto Regressive-Distributed Lag (ARDL) Bounds test econometric technique. In the short run, findings indicated that climate change reduces agricultural economic growth and carbon dioxide emissions increase as agricultural economic growth increases. The use of renewable energy was insignificant in the short and long run. Carbon dioxide emissions granger causes temperature and renewable energy unilateral. An ARDL analysis was performed to evaluate the short and long-term relationship between agricultural economic growth, climate change, carbon dioxide emissions and renew able energy usage. The study adds new knowledge on the effects of climate change and carbon emissions on the agricultural economy alongside the use of renewable energy which can be used to inform economic policy on climate change and the energy nexus in the agricultural sector. Study findings point to the prioritization of biomass commercialization, rural and commercial farming sector bioenergy regulations and socioeconomic imperatives research is crucial in order to promote inclusive participation in the production of renewable energy.