A decision support system for institutional support to farmers in the face of climate change challenges in Limpopo province

Priscilla Ntuchu Kephe,Kingsley Kwabena Ayisi,Brilliant Mareme Petja

doi:10.1016/j.heliyon.2020.e04989

Priscilla Ntuchu Kephe, Kingsley Kwabena Ayisi + Show 1 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.heliyon.2020.e04989

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Journal: Heliyon	Publication Date: Nov 1, 2020
Citations: 6	License type: cc-by

Affiliation: University of Limpopo

Abstract

Smallholder farmers in South Africa continue to be affected by the changing climate despite the existence of support to improve their adaptive capacity. This study focused on the institutional support systems and support types available to farmers in agro-ecological zones of Limpopo Province and assessed support types best suited to each area. Six hundred farmers were purposively sampled across the agro-ecological zones of Limpopo and interviewed. Support types looked at included monetary, machinery, seeds, educational support and others (irrigation scheme, animals, fertilizer, pesticides). Supporting institutions included Agro finance institutions, DAFF, Banks, and NGOs. Results showed that 70.01% of farmers received support from DAFF 25.60% from NGO's and 4.39% from Agro finance institutions. The most number of support received was two types 33.3% of the farmers. The result from the ANOVA showed that there were no significant differences in the level of difficulty experienced by farmers in accessing the various support institutions across the agro-ecological zones. In terms of the various support types received, there was a statistically significant difference in seeds (p = 0.002 < α = 0.05) and educational (p = 0.0001 < α = 0.05) support received between the different areas. Furthermore, the support needs varied across zones with farmers in arid-zone needing machinery, education, seeds and lastly monetary support while the semi-arid zone needed machinery, education, others, seeds, monetary and the humid, machinery, education, others, money and seeds. It is therefore recommended that support for farmers should be location-specific in order to enhance the adaptive capacity of an area and not be based only on the availability of certain support. There is a need for proper coordination between institutions in their aim to assist farmers to cope with climate change.

Highlights

Institutional support across the Limpopo province needs to be structured in such a way that farmers get the much-needed assistance to continue producing under a changing climate
Results from this study aimed at answering the question on the types of support types available to farmers across the three agro-ecological zones in Limpopo, which institutions were offering such support and
The study revealed that both public and private institutions have significant roles to play in supporting farmers' adaptive capacity to a changing climate in the Limpopo Province

Summary

Introduction

Institutional support across the Limpopo province needs to be structured in such a way that farmers get the much-needed assistance to continue producing under a changing climate. The majority of farmers in the Limpopo province are resource-poor (Maponya and Mpandeli (2012)) who are highly dependent on the services of Agricultural Extension Officers. They do not have the required amount of inputs and resources necessary for optimal production. Azan and Besley, 1991; Makhura, 2001) These challenges place the farmers in a difficult situation, where they are unable to produce enough to generate income to undertake various adaptation options. The challenges are not unique to Limpopo province alone, as they have been cited to affect other provinces such as the Eastern Cape, Mpumalanga, Free State as well (Mpandeli, 2006)

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