Challenges affecting the adoption of climate smart irrigation technologies by smallholder farmers in the Limpopo Province to improve sustainable productivity
Serote, Batizi
Serote, Batizi
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Abstract
Although the Limpopo Province is described as the breadbasket and agricultural engine of South Africa, it has been experiencing several climate-related challenges such as extreme
weather conditions such as floods, heatwaves and droughts. This results in the majority of the smallholder farmers (SHF) facing frequent productivity losses because of their high
dependence on rain-fed agriculture and traditional irrigation methods (TIM). Climate-smart irrigation, an important integral component of climate-smart agriculture (CSA), has been
identified as one of the most suitable solutions to assist SHF in managing the effects of climate variability and change, particularly in arid semi-arid areas. However, not all have access to
these technologies because of various socio-economic barriers. Adoption is often lower amongst resource poor SHF. The main aim of this study is to investigate the challenges that SHF face in the adoption of climate-smart irrigation technologies (CSIT) to ensure sustainable productivity in the Limpopo Province, mainly focusing on the Vhembe and Capricorn districts. The unit of analysis was the individual SHF practising agriculture. Convenience and purposive sampling were used to identify 100 SHF from the two selected districts. Through one-on-one interviews, trained enumerators utilized a semi-structured questionnaire to collect information on SHF’s demographics, farm characteristics and irrigation sources. The primary data collected was coded and analysed using Statistical Software for Data Science (STATA) version 15. Descriptive statistics (percentages, graphs and means) were used to analyze the challenges
faced by the sampled farmers. In contrast, the Probit model was used to identify and analyse factors influencing the adoption of CSIT by SHF. The descriptive results showed that adoption status was lower in the Vhembe district compared to the Capricorn district. The results also revealed that the challenges faced by the SHF in the two districts were related to limited knowledge and awareness, lack of financial support, insecure land tenure systems and limited access to agricultural training. Based on the descriptive analysis, it can be concluded that any change in each of the significant variables can significantly influence the probability of adopting CSIT. The results from the Probit regression model indicated that 6 out of 17 variables were significant, three at 1% (gender, household size, knowledge of CSIT) and three at 5% (district, farm size, staple food production). For the incidence of adoption level, 4 out of 17 variables were significant, one at 1% (monthly cost of water), one at 5% (household size), and three at 10% (gender, age, irrigation equipment). From the many recommendations provided in this study, the starting point should be the government providing extension officers with the required capacity, support, and physical means to expose SHF to the CSIT through demonstrations and training. The introduction of agricultural financial institutions in the rural areas would assist the rural smallholder farmer’s increasing their access to credit. This will resolve most of the challenges farmers face, as adopting CSIT is often based on financial and production benefits.
Description
A dissertation in partial fulfilment of the requirements of the degree of Master of Agricultural Science, Department of Crop Science, Faculty of Science at the Tshwane University of Technology
Date
2022-04
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Tshwane University of Technology
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Keywords
Climate smart irrigation, Irrigation technologies, Smallholder farmers, Sustainable productivity, Limpopo Province