Abstract
Despite agricultural land abandonment threatening the food security and the livelihoods of smallholder farmers, it is pervasive globally and in developing countries. Yet land abandonment is an understudied aspect of land use change in social–ecological systems. Here we provide more information on this phenomenon by exploring cropland abandonment during 1950–2010 in four former South African ‘homelands’—part of the ‘Apartheid’ era racially-based land allocation programs—characterized by rural, smallholder farmers. Cropland abandonment 1950–2010 was widespread in all surveyed sites (KwaZulu: 0.08% year−1, Transkei: 0.13% year−1, Lebowa: 0.23% year−1, Venda: 0.28% year−1), with rates peaking between 1970 and 1990, with concomitant increases (up to 0.16% year−1) of woody vegetation cover at the expense of grassland cover. Active and past farmers attributed cropland abandonment to a lack of draught power, rainfall variability and droughts, and a more modernized youth disinclined to living a marginal agrarian lifestyle. We discuss the potential social and ecological implications of abandoned croplands at the local and regional scales, as the deagrarianization trend is unlikely to abate considering the failure of current South African national agricultural incentives.
Highlights
Future food production in sub-Saharan Africa needs to increase threefold [1] to match the needs of the projected population of 1.5 billion people by 2050 [2]
The pervasive local trend of cropland abandonment is likely to increase as national interventions in South Africa to reverse the trend of agricultural disengagement have been largely unsuccessful [5,76]
Perhaps an additional focus of support should be on subsistence farming to increase food security through home gardens which are smaller and more manageable for older rural farmers [46]
Summary
Future food production in sub-Saharan Africa needs to increase threefold [1] to match the needs of the projected population of 1.5 billion people by 2050 [2]. Most smallholder farmers in sub-Saharan Africa practice low-input/low-yield subsistence agriculture because of limited assets, including one or more of finances, labor and land. This constrains their ability to access markets or compete with market prices, as a result of both demand and supply-side factors [4], including access to inputs and credit systems [2,5]. Before the needs of a burgeoning population can be met, developing countries need to address the current “double burden of malnutrition” from both undernourishment and overnutrition (from dietary transitions) [7], and food production is key to solving these challenges
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
