Abstract
Abstract African indigenous vegetables (AIVs) have long been known in South African rural communities as essential food that is being consumed with starchy staples, and their consumption has increased over the past few decades. There is now a growing interest and awareness of AIVs due to their nutritional benefits and outstanding potential to generate farm incomes. However, several factors are militating against their production along the supply chains of value addition. This study analysed the technical efficiency of AIVs production in Vhembe district of Limpopo province. The data were collected from 114 AIVs farmers through a multi-stage sampling technique. Data analysis was carried out using Stochastic Frontier model via the Cobb-Douglas production function. The results revealed that the average age and years of farming experiences of the farmers were 59.6 and 30.9 years respectively. About 84% of the farmers lacked access to formal credit, while 92% had access to extension services. Elasticity values of land area cultivated, fertiliser, seeds, labour and tractor days in relation to AIV production were 0.4441, 0.1749, 0.1311, 0.2663 and 0.2360 respectively. Furthermore, the results revealed that average technical efficiency in the production of indigenous vegetables was 0.79%. The variables that significantly influenced technical inefficiency were years of schooling, extension services, gender and access to the irrigation system. In conclusion, production of AIV exhibits decreasing returns to scale. However, promotion of AIV production and efficiency requires consideration of gender issues in accessing resources, educational attainments of farmers, access to irrigation services and proper reorientation of the components of agricultural extension services delivery in order to benefit AIV farmers.
Highlights
In South Africa, vegetable production constitutes a significant source of food and incomes for many households, especially those in rural areas
56.1% of the respondents were females. This implies that African indigenous vegetables (AIVs) production was a female dominated enterprise in the district
A substantial number of the farmers (91.2%) were farming on a full-time basis. This is an explicit indication that the majority of them lacked formal employment. This can have positive influence on technical efficiency since the majority of the respondents were fully committed to farming
Summary
In South Africa, vegetable production constitutes a significant source of food and incomes for many households, especially those in rural areas. In the quest towards a diversified food production system, the need to integrate African indigenous vegetables (AIVs) into small scale farmers’ production portfolios cannot be underestimated. This is essential given that AIVs’ utilisation for food and nutrition enhancement is as old as the history of man. Ancient people of South Africa used various local terms to refer to this group of vegetables. They are referred to Muroho in Tshivenda, Morogo among the Sesotho and isiPedi and Imfino among the isiZulu and isiXhosa (Njume et al 2014). They are referred to Muroho in Tshivenda, Morogo among the Sesotho and isiPedi and Imfino among the isiZulu and isiXhosa (Njume et al 2014). Schippers (2000) further noted that many popular indigenous vegetables were collected and obtained from the wild fields as they grow naturally other than from cultivation using traditional horticultural husbandry. Ebijuwa and Mabawonku (2015) argued that such wild crops are often viewed as weeds in commercial cropping systems, but they are sources of food in smallholding farming systems
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