Rural households livelihoods' strategies and opportunities with regard to farming: a case of Intsika Yethu Local Municipality

Gidi, Lungile Sivuyile

Title: Rural households livelihoods' strategies and opportunities with regard to farming: a case of Intsika Yethu Local Municipality
Creator: Gidi, Lungile Sivuyile
Subject: Poverty -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape
Subject: Agricultural productivity -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape
Subject: Community development -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape
Subject: Food security -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape
Subject: Rural development -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape
Subject: Households -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape
Subject: Sustainable development -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape
Subject: Qamata
Subject: Livelihood strategies
Subject: Irrigation farmers and crop
Subject: Livestock production
Date: 2013
Type: Thesis
Type: Masters
Type: MSc Agric (Agricultural Economics)
Identifier: vital:11199
Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10353/d1007218
Identifier: Poverty -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape
Identifier: Agricultural productivity -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape
Identifier: Community development -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape
Identifier: Food security -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape
Identifier: Rural development -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape
Identifier: Households -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape
Identifier: Sustainable development -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape
Identifier: Qamata
Identifier: Livelihood strategies
Identifier: Irrigation farmers and crop
Identifier: Livestock production
Description: South Africa and other developing countries are grappling with high levels of poverty as a result of slow to negligible rural development. Irrigation development is one essential component that can be used to address the challenges faced by smallholder farmers in rural areas. In the President‟s “State of the Nation Address” in 2011, the President of South Africa outlined measures to reduce hunger and poverty in communal areas through enhanced government‟s expenditures in rural infrastructure developments, especially for such amenities as irrigation and roads, with a view to promoting food security. The broad objective of this study is to assess livelihood strategies and opportunities with regard to farming in Qamata area of Intsika Yethu Local Municipality. The stratified random sampling method was applied in order to choose a sample of 70 household that were interviewed by means of semi-structured questionnaires. Out of these, 53 belonged to the irrigation project and 17 farmers were non-irrigation farmers. The results show that women play an active role in agriculture. The Multiple Regression model was used to assess the relative importance of different livelihood strategies adopted by both irrigation and non-irrigation farmers in improving household food security and welfare in Qamata. More specifically, the study assessed the impact of different livelihood strategies on production of butternut, goats, maize and poultry (Chicken) in Qamata. The results show increased agricultural production, crop diversification and higher incomes from irrigation farming as compared to dry land farming. Irrigation farming has enabled many households to diversify their sources of income and therefore include activities and enterprises that contribute to enhanced household welfare. The study showed that household size is crucial in crop production, followed by gender of the household head. The government and research institutes need to come up with programmes to train people on ways to produce crop and livestock products more efficiently.
Format: 146 leaves; 30 cm
Format: pdf
Publisher: University of Fort Hare
Publisher: Faculty of Science & Agriculture
Language: English
Rights: University of Fort Hare

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