Adoption Of Irrigation Technology To Combat Household Food Insecurity In The Resource-constrained Farming Systems Of The Eastern Cape Province, South Africa

M Christian,I K Agbugba,A Obi

doi:10.17159/2413-3221/2019/v47n2a506

M Christian, I K Agbugba + Show 1 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.17159/2413-3221/2019/v47n2a506

Copy DOI

Abstract

Sustainable water management has been identified as a powerful tool to combat persistent food insecurity in South Africa’s poor rural communities. The irrigation revitalisation scheme was launched in the first decade of post-Apartheid South Africa and focused on smallholder farmers in the former homeland areas. However, the adoption of irrigation technology has been limited, while official data point to worsening poverty rates and food insecurity as agricultural output declines in the face of rising prices. There is thus strong policy interest to ascertain the circumstances in which irrigation adoption can be enhanced. A cross-sectional research design was utilised to collect data from 200 farmers (adopters and non-adopters) selected through a combination of purposive and stratified sampling methods. Probit regression results suggest that irrigation adoption is influenced by distance to the irrigation scheme, age of the farmer, family size, credit access, extension contact, and group membership. Water management programmes that address community access to irrigation water are likely to enhance adoption of irrigation technology, with credit access and extension provided to ensure sustainable use of the technology. Keywords: Eastern Cape, Extension services, Food insecurity, Irrigation adoption, Smallholder farmers

Highlights

The South African National Water Policy (2013) is underpinned by three fundamental principles for managing water resources which include equity, environmental sustainability, and efficiency (Department of Water Affairs, 2013)
In light of the foregoing, the objective of the study was to ascertain the circumstances in which irrigation technology adoption can be enhanced to combat household food insecurity in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa
The Eastern Cape Province is poorest, the situation being worse in the former homelands of Transkei and Ciskei (Jacobs, 2010)

Summary

Introduction

The South African National Water Policy (2013) is underpinned by three fundamental principles for managing water resources which include equity, environmental sustainability, and efficiency (Department of Water Affairs, 2013). According to the Department of Water Affairs (2013), the demand for water would have exceeded supply in Gauteng in 2013, and in the whole of South Africa by 2025. This implies that water use in agriculture needs to improve in order to preserve the resource which is fast declining in South Africa. Irrigation is an ageold means of increasing agricultural productivity It expands the arable area, improves yield and increases cropping frequency, sometimes enabling two or three crops a year. South African smallholder irrigation schemes are multi-farmer irrigation projects larger than 5 ha in size that were either established in the former homelands or in resource-poor areas by black people or agencies assisting them (Van Averberke & Mohammed, 2006). In South Africa, 1.5% of the land is under irrigation and producing 30% of the crops in the country (Statistics South Africa, 2008)

Objectives

Methods

Results

Conclusion