Risk management strategies adopted by small-scale vegetable farmers in Thaba Chweu Local Municipality, Mpumalanga Province in South Africa

Abstract

Agriculture is one of the sectors considered to be an extremely risky business. This has led to many farmers adopting different risk management strategies in order to deal with the prevailing risks. The objectives of the study were to identify the types of risk and risk management strategies; and to determine the level of risk management strategies adopted by small-scale vegetable farmers in Thaba Chweu Local Municipality. Descriptive statistics and the adoption index were employed to address these objectives. Purposive and snowball sampling procedures were used to select 40 small-scale vegetable farmers in Thaba Chweu Local Municipality. The study identified pest attacks and unfavorable weather conditions as the major risks faced by small scale vegetable farmers in the study area. Furthermore, the study revealed that majority of these farmers use pesticides, forward contracts and crop rotation as the risk management strategies.