Classification of small-scale farmers for improved rainfall variability management in South Africa

ABSTRACT

Adoption of research-based rainfall variability management strategies among small-scale farmers in South Africa is limited. A study was therefore conducted to improve understanding of rainfall variability management using the farm typology, and snowball and focus group discussion approaches. Farmers across all categories highlighted experiencing changing climate patterns. Resource-constrained farmers utilized non-finance demanding strategies like mulch. Mixed farming households utilized crop and livestock-based strategies such as manure. All farmers highlighted inadequate funding as a challenge. Enterprising pensioners and horticulture-dependent farmers cited lack of climate information as an impediment. Combining this knowledge with seasonal forecast information potentially results in improved climate variability management.

KEYWORDS:

• Climate variability
• small-scale farmers
• farm typology
• socio-economic characteristics
• perceptions
• climate variability management strategies

Acknowledgments

The authors wish to acknowledge the funding received from the Water Resource Commission (WRC) project K5/2496/4 and the African Climate & Development Initiative (ACDI) Student Research Fund. Special thanks go to the small-scale farmers in Lambani, Limpopo and Nkonkobe Municipality, Eastern Cape for taking part in the survey and focus group discussions. We also thank the many students from the Universities of Fort Hare and Venda, and agricultural extension workers from Lambani and Nkonkobe for providing logistical support.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Water Resource Commission [K5/2496/4].