Determinants of adoption of multiple Sustainable Agricultural Practices (SAPS) by smallholder farmers in the Eastern Cape Province in South Africa

Abstract

This study investigated factors influencing the adoption of multiple sustainable agricultural practices by smallholder farmers in the Eastern Cape Province. The study made use of a cross-sectional research design and a multi-stage sampling procedure. Data were collected from 168 smallholder farmers using a semi-structured questionnaire and the validity of the collected data was confirmed. Descriptive statistics and a multivariate probit regression model were used to analyze data. The results indicated that farming is practiced mostly by females (70%) with an average of 45 years and 6 people in the households, which act as family labour. The study reported that 54% of farmers adopted an improved variety of crops, use organic manure, integrated pest management, irrigation, and intercropping. Smallholder farmers faced identical constraints which limited their adoption of SAPs. The use of an improved variety of crops was influenced positively by age, years spent in school, household labour, and member of farm organizations. While income level had a negative influence, the use of organic manure was influenced positively by age, years spent in school, farm size, and members of farm organizations. Integrated pest management was positively influenced by years spent in school, income level, farm size, household labour, and member of farm organizations while age had a negative influence. Lastly, irrigation was positively influenced by years spent in school, income level, farm size, members of farm organizations, and household labour. The study concluded that the combination of multiple SAPs adoption had a positive impact on farming in the study area and their adoption was influenced by socioeconomic, institutional, and cultural factors. Therefore, the study recommended that government should provide resources and infrastructure to improve the quality and outreach of extension services through field demonstration trials and training. To fast-track the adoption of SAPs by smallholder farmers, policymakers and NGOs should focus on improving farmers' access to financial institutes to address the credit constraints by farmers so that they can purchase these SAPs. This information will assist policymakers and extension agents in developing and promoting a package of SAPs that will be user-friendly to farmers.