Smallholder satisfaction with the quality of agricultural information, and their preferences among the sources: Empirical evidence from KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa

Abstract

Potentially, smallholder agriculture remains a significant sector in the South African economy because of its central role in developing a healthy economy in terms of improving poor people's earnings, employment opportunities, and protecting natural resources. However, access to agricultural information that informs smallholder farmers’ decisions remains important bottleneck to this sector. Recognizing the scarcity of empirical evidence on the quality of information supplied to smallholder farmers, this study seeks to assess farmers’ satisfaction with the content of agricultural information and their preferences among the various sources. Ordered probit model was employed using data from 458 smallholder irrigation farmers around four irrigation schemes in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. The results revealed that the decision to use different information channels is affected by institutional factors and farmers’ attributes. The key factors behind their satisfaction with the quality of agricultural information include gender, occupation, group membership, access to credit, community meetings, and influence from fellow farmers. It is recommended that relevant partners and stakeholders should make concerted efforts to improve the delivery, access, and use of up to date and relevant agricultural information. Moreover, farmers should be encouraged to be members of local informal groups as it is found to enhance their access to information. Finally, extension policies, strategies, and programs should be designed accounting for farmers’ information needs and preferences.