Small-scale livestock farmers’ participation in markets: evidence from the land reform beneficiaries in the central Karoo, Western Cape, South Africa

Abstract

Since the launch of the Land Redistribution for Agricultural Development (LRAD) programme by the government, several small-scale farmers have slowly integrated into the mainstream markets. The main objective of the study was to evaluate and analyse the factors affecting participation in mainstream markets by the small-scale livestock farmers in the Central Karoo, Western Cape Province of South Africa. A sample of 36 small-scale farmer projects was purposively selected from the study area, and the data was collected using a semi-structured questionnaire. Thereafter a multinomial regression model was applied to the primary data. The results show that age, farming experience, number of beneficiaries, employment status and farmer training have a strong positive effect on the likelihood of small-scale livestock farmers marketing their sheep to the mainstream markets such as abattoirs and auctions. Furthermore, distance to the nearest market, access to market infrastructure and access to credit have a negative impact on the likelihood of those participating in the formal markets. The study suggests that the government should address the challenges faced by the small-scale farmers through interventions and improving access to markets.

Keywords: Factors, LRAD, small-scale, mainstream markets, Central Karoo, multinomial model