Agricultural infrastructure as the driver of emerging farmers’ income in South Africa. A stochastic frontier approach

Abstract

A stochastic frontier model was applied to cross-sectional data to examine whether availability and accessibility of agricultural infrastructure for emerging farmers enhance their agricultural income through efficiency gains. Using a stratified sampling approach, the study grouped the farmers into two; those who had agricultural infrastructure and those who did not have it. Through a survey, data collected from a sample of 150 smallholder farmers in the study area were analyzed using the frontier model. The explanatory variables that were statistically significant and which influenced the agricultural income of the emerging farmers in the study area included the following: equipment, social, institutional availability and physical accessibility indices, education, access to agricultural extension services, age of farmers, assistance of household members in farming, membership in farmers’ organizations, and marital status of the farmers. Informed policies aimed at improving the income of smallholder farmers might consider the results of the explanatory variables included in this study.