Impact of Market Participation of Indigenous Crops on Household Food Security of Smallholder Farmers of South Africa

Abstract

Market participation by smallholder indigenous crop farmers holds significant potential for the alleviation of food insecurity and poverty amongst rural households. Smallholder farmers generally play a vital role in the production and marketing of indigenous crops in South Africa. However, smallholder farmers continue to remain among the food-insecure populations. This is more worrisome for indigenous crop farming households whose produce is far more limited in the market yet may contribute towards improving their food security status and livelihoods. This study analysed the impact of market participation of indigenous crops on the household food security of smallholder farmers in the Limpopo and Mpumalanga provinces of South Africa. A sample size of 209 indigenous crop producers were selected from a population of 1520 smallholder farmers. The study adopted a multi-stage stratified random sampling technique. The data were collected using both qualitative and quantitative research and were analysed using descriptive analysis, Household Food Insecurity Access Scale (HFIAS), and the Poisson regression model with the endogenous treatment model. The household size, marital status, household members living with HIV, and access to extension services were found to be positive and significant in determining household food security, whereas the disability of a household member was significant but negative. While the number of smallholder farmers involved in the production of indigenous crops is still limited, enhanced marketing of indigenous crops may improve the food security status of smallholder farmers. There is still a need for the government to channel its interventions towards the indigenous crop production sector, and this may include the provision of trained extension officers to assist smallholder farmers. Policymakers need to develop policies that support the production and marketing of indigenous crops. More awareness and promotion of indigenous crops are needed to encourage more smallholder farmers to adopt this farming practice. Further study of smallholder indigenous farmers across nine provinces of South Africa should be conducted to obtain deeper and broader insights into the role of these farmers on household food security.

Contribution of Fruits and Vegetables to the Household Food Security Situation of Rural Households in Limpopo

“…These affect their daily nutrition requirements, hence compromising individual health. This can be justified by other studies that revealed that as one's age increases, most members become less active, and there is poor involvement in food production and preparation [27][28][29]. Even though most older household heads are decision-makers of the household and they manage resources, Smith et al [28] noted that older farmers are mostly food insecure due to their increased dependence.…”

The Association of Socio-Economic Factors and Indigenous Crops on the Food Security Status of Farming Households in KwaZulu-Natal Province

“…This was divided into four categories: local, formal, informal, or all markets. Indigenous crops are less popular in markets due to low levels of acceptability and access, limited market information, lack of processing technologies, and intrinsically weak value chains [34,35,61,62]. This limits the number of indigenous crop producers and may affect household food security in the long term.…”

“…This creates the need for targeted programmes to empower female farmers to reduce their vulnerability to food insecurity [29]. Moreover, this underlines the continued need for extensive support in production and marketing information for female-headed households to improve household food security [30][31][32][33][34].…”

“…Thus, it is important to explore whether farming households' perspectives on these crops' marketing potential, access, and marketing avenues affect their overall household food security status. Several papers have investigated how the awareness and perception of indigenous crops on individuals affect household food security in South Africa [34,37,39,40]. Mabhaudhi et al [37] pointed out that a gap exists in mainstreaming indigenous crops in South Africa because there is a lack of broad knowledge of these crops, negative perceptions from farmers, and reliance on exotic crops across the country.…”

“…However, the study by Modi [39] did not focus on the association of indigenous crops with household food security. On the other hand, Zondi et al [34] found that socio-economic factors affected the food security status of several households producing indigenous crops. However, the focus was on the Limpopo and Mpumalanga provinces of South Africa.…”