Support for smallholder farmers in South Africa: Challenges of scale and strategy
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Date
2012
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Routledge
Abstract
The South African Government aims to expand the smallholder sector as part of its broader job creation strategy. However, research shows that government attempts to support smallholder farmers have generally been costly and ineffective. Using secondary data and case study
evidence, this study investigated the problems of supporting this sector. One finding is that while budgetary allocations to the sector have increased impressively over the last decade and a half, the distribution and use of these resources are such that few farmers benefit and the
overall impact is small. A strategic choice has to be made between two strategies: supporting a few selected farmers to become large-scale commercial farmers (‘accumulation for the few’), or supporting a large number and helping them to increase and diversify their produce so as to become sustainable commercial smallholders (‘accumulation from below’). Past experience and a new national initiative favour the latter, using geographically targeted generic support services.
Description
Keywords
Smallholder, Farmers, Smallholder farmers, South Africa
Citation
Michael Aliber & Ruth Hall (2012) Support for smallholder farmers in South Africa: Challenges of scale and strategy, Development Southern Africa, 29:4, 548-562, DOI: 10.1080/0376835X.2012.715441