Eastern Cape Province Research Articles

Distribution and fixed-precision sampling plans for diamondback moth (Lepidoptera: Plutellidae), on winter-spring cabbage.

The diamondback moth (Plutella xylostella L.) is the most destructive insect pest on cabbage (Brassica oleracea var. capitata L.). Infestation by this pest usually results in the indiscriminate use of insecticides by farmers due to a lack of sampling plans for this pest. Sampling plans for P. xylostella management decisions on winter-spring cabbage in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa were developed, through population monitoring that comprised weekly counts of immature stages of P. xylostella on 60 plants for 11 wk each during the winter and spring seasons. The mean density-variance relationship was used to describe the distribution of the pest, and number of infested plants was used to develop a fixed-precision sampling plan. All plant growth stages preceding maturation were vulnerable to P. xylostella damage resulting in yield losses. A high aggregation of P. xylostella on cabbage was observed in spring than in winter. The average sample number to estimate P. xylostella density within a 15% standard error of the mean was 35 plants. Furthermore, the estimated plant proportion action threshold (AT) was 51% with density action thresholds of 0.50 and 0.80 for spring and winter, respectively. Fitting P. xylostella cumulative counts in the winter and spring sampling plans resulted in 100% and 45% reduction in insecticide treatments. The similarity of sample size and ATs between both seasons provides evidence that a single sampling plan is practical for all cabbage growing seasons. The similarity of the estimated ATs to those acceptable in established integrated pest management programs indicates reliability.

PREPARING STUDENT TEACHERS THROUGH PHYSICAL EDUCATION TEACHING AND LEARNING: A STUDY IN ONE RURAL UNIVERSITY OF THE EASTERN CAPE PROVINCE

The findings from this study indicated that the programmes of student teacher education are not implemented in totality as there is no module for Physical Education (PE) in the programmes of study in the Faculty of Education. This study aimed at investigating the preparation of student teachers through PE teaching and learning in one rural university of the Eastern Cape Province. PE teaching and learning for student teachers at a higher education institution means preparing future teachers in totality to acquire vibrant and active public schools. This study used a qualitative research methodology where data was collected from fifteen (15) participants composing of five (05) B Ed Foundation Phase Teaching student teachers, five (05) Postgraduate (PGCE) student teachers and five (05) lecturers from the Faculty of Education. Semi-structured interviews were used as instruments of data collection. Participants for the study were selected through purposive sampling because of their defining characteristics about the knowledge of the problem under study. The study concludes that it is awkward to train and develop student teachers for public schools without the knowledge of PE teaching and learning. There is a recommendation to infuse training of student teachers in PE, henceforth, as novice teachers get employment at schools, they are allocated among other duties, extra-mural activities such sport.

Performance of Harvesting Residue Treatment Methods in South African Pine Plantations

Forest harvesting generates variable amounts of residue that pose a fire hazard and a hindrance to regeneration and must be managed accordingly. In South Africa, burning is the most common residue management method, but there is interest in introducing safer and more effective techniques, such as mulching. For that reason, a productivity study was conducted in the Eastern Cape province after a mechanised cut-to-length (harvester and forwarder) harvesting operation to gather information on the productivity, cost, and work quality of the three main alternatives: manual broadcasting, manual broadcasting followed by mulching with an adapted farm tractor and mulching with a purpose-built mulcher. The stem wood residues after harvesting ranged from 12 to 14 ODT/ha. The average time consumption was 16 worker h/ha for manual broadcasting, 3.6 worker h/ha for mulching with a farm tractor, and 0.9 worker h/ha for mulching using a purpose-built mulcher (one pass). Manual broadcasting was the cheapest option, at an average cost of 400 ZAR/ha. Mulching with a farm tractor and a purpose-built mulcher incurred an average cost of 3267 ZAR/ha and 4083 ZAR/ha, respectively. Manual broadcasting achieved a minimal reduction in residue size, with 50% of the slash (branches and stem wood) having a mean length greater than 40 cm. When mulching with a farm tractor was applied, 49% of the slash (branches and stem wood) length was reduced to about 30 cm. When a purpose-built mulcher was used, only 10% of the slash elements exceeded 40 cm in length.

Strategic Manoeuvering in 2019 Campaign Speeches in the Eastern Cape Province in South Africa: Extended Pragma-Dialectical Perspective

This article investigates how political candidates in the Eastern Cape Province in South Africa employed means of strategic manoeuvring during the provincial election campaigns of 2019. It assumes the framework of the extended pragma-dialectical theory of argumentation, by first reconstructing the argumentation structure, identifying the means of strategic manoeuvring, and finally, critically analysing the prototypical speech acts in the political campaign discourse. The data were collected from the isiXhosa newspaper I’solezwe LesiXhosa during the campaign from February to April 2019. The findings demonstrate commissives and assertives as the prototypical speech acts in the political argumentative discourse in the Eastern Cape Province. In addition, dissociation is manifested in multiple contexts to persuade the audience of the standpoint that the opposition parties are more visionary than the incumbent party, African National Congress.

Exploring student midwives’ experiences regarding completion of the midwifery register at a nursing college in Eastern Cape Province, South Africa

Background. The midwifery register forms part of basic nursing education. Notably, student midwives struggle with completion of the prescribed midwifery register.Objective. To explore and describe the experiences of student midwives regarding their completion of the midwifery register at a nursing college in Eastern Cape Province, South Africa.Methods. This qualitative study had an exploratory, descriptive, contextual design, and in-depth individual interviews were held. Tesch’s method was used to analyse data.Results. Three themes emerged, i.e. positive experiences related to completion of the midwifery register; negative experiences regarding completion of the midwifery register; and factors that contributed to the lack of completion of the midwifery register.Conclusion. The study findings recommend greater collaboration between different stakeholders to improve skills acquisition and completion of the midwifery register.

Policy Imperatives: A Case of Gender Non-Conforming Learners

As the Bill of Rights prescribed by the South African Constitution stipulates, all people, irrespective of gender, race and religion, have a right to equal opportunities. This is articulated by the Gender Schema Theory as it stipulates that some cohorts of learners are aligned to socially accepted behaviours while other gender aschematic learners perform parallel to socially recognized behaviours. Therefore, all learners are entitled to equal treatment and they have a right to education, especially because South Africa is a country renowned for its rainbow-nation characteristic, allowing it to accommodate diverse citizens. It is for this reason that this paper investigated whether school policy logistics have an impact on gender non-conforming learners in one rural Senior Secondary in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. Two teachers were purposefully sampled as participants for this qualitative case study research. To collect data, semi-structured interviews were administered. Using thematic analyses led to the formation of themes which were used to discuss findings. The study found that (i) there are dynamics in policy formulation and also that (ii) there is a violation of school policies. This subjects them to social exclusion and social control that marginalises gender minorities. The study recommends that gender specific school policies be redefined to promote gender neutral and inclusive schools, thus creating societies where everyone is welcome and protected as suggested by the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa. Keywords: Policy, Gender, Non-conforming, Diversity.

Optimizing biomass yield of three herbaceous forage legumes through dual inoculation of Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi and Rhizobia

The production of forage legumes under Sub-Saharan region of Eastern Cape Province (South Africa) had been limited by several factors which includes low levels of soil nitrogen and phosphorus. The current study aimed at investigating the effects of Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi (AMF) and Rhizobium inoculation on growth and yield of three forage legumes, namely, Vigna unguiculata, Lablab purpureus and Mucuna pruriens. The field trials were established over two growing seasons (2017/2018 and 2018/2019) to measure growth parameters such as seedling survival, plant height, stem diameter and plant vigor as well as mycorrhizal dependency, nodulation and forage yield. The results showed that the dual inoculation of AMF and Rhizobia bacteria significantly increased (P ≤ 0.05) seedling survival, plant height, stem diameter, plant vigor, nodule numbers, active nodulation rate and dry matter yield. However, nodule dry weight and dry matter content of forage legumes were significantly reduced by the dual inoculation of AMF and Rhizobia. In conclusion, the dual inoculation resulted in high forage production compared to single inoculation and un-inoculated forages in both seasons. Therefore, the dual inoculation could be an ideal alternative in attempts to reduce the overreliance of chemical fertilizer application on forage production under semi-arid regions.

An evaluation of three evapotranspiration models to determine water fluxes over hillslopes encroached by invasive alien plants in Eastern Cape Province, South Africa

Ecosystem services in the South African grassland biome are being impacted by the presence of invasive alien plants (IAPs), particularly from the Australian genus Acacia. IAPs have elevated landscape water use and determining water fluxes is crucial to defining suitable interventions. This study evaluates three models of water flux over IAP-invaded grassland against evapotranspiration (ET) measured by a large-aperture scintillometer (LAS). ET was modelled using an energy balance model (MEDRUSH), a biophysical model (Penman-Monteith-Leuning (PML)) and a remotely sensed product (MOD16), and their results compared with ET measured by the LAS. ETLAS was measured during an abbreviated field campaign in November 2019 over a dense silver wattle (A. dealbata) stand associated with hillslope seeps. Of the three models tested against the LAS campaign, MEDRUSH performed well-enough to be used to model ET over the continuous scientific-grade micro-meteorological record (315 days). We used MEDRUSH to model ET over the invaded hillslope seeps and compared this with the expected ET that would occur over the adjacent, un-invaded grassland. Total ET over the IAP-invaded area was approximately 536 mm (60% of reference ET) as compared with the grassland (202 mm), showing that woody encroachment significantly increases landscape water use. To estimate the local impact of this, we used earth observation to determine the area of woody invasion in a 2 664 km2 regional window. Approximately 10% (274 km2) of this window was invaded by IAPs and, assuming the geographic window was representative of all the areas invaded by wattle, this represents ~ 89 000 ML of water used annually by the IAPs. Removal of wattle, followed by suitable restoration of landscape functionality, would greatly enhance rangeland productivity and water production from hillslope seeps.

Effectiveness of Mdantsane FM community radio in health information promotion among residents of eastern cape province, South Africa

Community radio's effectiveness in health information ecosystem in rural Africa has yet to be explored much in the literature. This paper seeks to understand rural residents’ perceived effectiveness of community radio in health promotion using Mdantsane FM's listeners in selected communities in Eastern Cape Province as a point of departure. We applied Qualitative and quantitative methods within the theoretical frameworks of the public sphere and Uses and Gratification theories. The findings showed that Mdantsane Community F.M. could be an effective health information source. However, the station still needed to optimise its health information promotion role. To fulfil this role, community radio stations must proactively and intentionally create and broadcast culturally nuanced health programmes consistently and sustainably.

Perceptions and attitudes towards goat meat and milk consumption in the Eastern Cape, South Africa

The increasing demand by the teeming human population on animal agriculture for their daily animal protein intake requires every livestock, including goat products, to be on the menu list. Dismally, consumer acceptance and consumption of any product hugely rest on their behavioural attitudes. This study aimed to assess consumer perception of goat milk and meat in some areas of Eastern Cape Province, South Africa. Structured questionnaires were used to gather information on socio-demographic and economic characteristics and perceptions about goat meat and milk consumption. Also, information about consumer attitudes, their familiarity towards goat products and their awareness of the nutritional qualities of the animal’s product were gathered. Data from the 386 consumers selected randomly in Amathole and Buffalo city municipalities were analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) software. Consumption of animal products was affirmed by 95.5% of the respondents. Respondents’ knowledge of goat milk breeds and their willingness to consume the product were 28.6% and 41.7%, respectively. Apart from the goaty odour (29.1%), about 55.8% of the respondents had no specific reason for not consuming goat milk. Many respondents (68.3%) consumed goat meat and had no specific reason for this high consumption pattern other than seeing it as just any other meat (42.2%). Most respondents did not know the specific nutritional benefits of consuming goat milk (42.7%) and meat (70.4%). There was a significant and positive association (P<0.05) between the age of respondents, whether they knew about goat milk, consumption of goat milk and the nutritional benefits. There was a significant association (P<0.05) between the educational level of the respondents and goat milk knowledge and their willingness to consume goat milk. The study findings indicate that a larger proportion of the respondents consumed goat meat and milk. However, there is potential for increasing the percentage of consumers for these products through education about their health benefits. Key words: Attitude, Behaviour, Goat products, Perception, Health benefit, Intake

Factors Influencing the Perceptions of Smallholder Farmers towards Adoption of Digital Technologies in Eastern Cape Province, South Africa

The objective of the study was to determine the factors that influence the perceptions of smallholder farmers towards the adoption of digital technologies. A purposively selected sample of 250 smallholder farmers who were cross-sectionally surveyed from Port St Johns and Ingquza Hill Local Municipalities in South Africa was used in the study. The Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) and the Attention, Desire, and Action (AIDA) model were used to analyse the data. The results showed that digital technologies were perceived to be expensive, cause a digital divide, and discouraged the use of Indigenous Knowledge even though they increased production. Positive perception towards digital technologies was associated with cattle rearing, with extreme negative perception for sheep and goat rearing. Educational level, employment status, monthly income, household size, being part of a cooperative (1% level), age, and source of income (10% level) were significant factors affecting smallholder farmers’ perceptions of digital technologies. In conclusion, there are economic, social justice, and traditional perceptions towards digital technologies by smallholder farmers, with socio-economic factors affecting the perceptions. The study recommends providing low-cost digital technologies that promote Indigenous Knowledge, which should target the youth and young farmers with less education in small households who are full-time farmers with moderate-to-high incomes and are part of farmer groups/organisations.

Storage conditions, microbial quality, and transport costs of drinking water from alternative sources in a South African municipality.

Makana Local Municipality is located in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa. The area is water-scarce and has been undergoing aridification in recent years, ie, there has been a 7-year long drought. At the same time, there has been a breakdown in provision of municipal services, such as drinking water, to the population since at least 2008. Mi-crobial water quality has been a result of this, and monitoring has been a challenge. Given the drought and the prob-lems with drinking water delivery, it was necessary to conduct this study to investigate the microbial quality of alterna-tive water resources that the Makana population can use during the municipal water outage. The microbial water quality of alternative sources of drinking water in the Makana Local Municipality was examined using the H2S test kit and enumeration of the fecal coliforms. Storage of the collected water was examined for potential factors influencing the microbial water quality of the alternative sources of drinking water. The costs of the water provision from the most suitable alternative sources of potable water were calculated. There was a general correlation between the H2S test kit results and the fecal coliform concentrations, with the latter values ranging from <0 to 23 ± 7 colony-forming units/100 mL. The bottled water from two retail outlets was provided the best alternative source of potable/drinking water, which is microbially safe, for the Makana population. If the consumption of the drinking water from an alternative source takes place within 24 hours of collection, then the Fairview spring could also be used as a source of drinking water for Maka-na residents. The total cost per 1 L of drinking water from alternative sources was estimated to be from 1.51 to 5.81 ZAR. Therefore, the maximum cost of daily provision of drinking water from alternative sources would account for a maximum of 0.88 percent of the monthly household expenditure in the middle-to-high-income household. However, the daily costs of such provision of drinking water would account for a maximum of 8.11 percent of the monthly household expenditure in the low-income household. Provision of the drinking water from the alternative sources would have a minor impact of the monthly ex-penditure in the middle-to-high-income households. However, it is likely that the low-income households would not be able to sustain their water supply from alternative sources for longer than 24 hours, during a municipal outage in the drinking water supply.

Time-to-Treatment Initiation in a Decentralised Community-Care Model of Drug-Resistant Tuberculosis Management in the OR Tambo District Municipality of South Africa.

Drug-resistant tuberculosis (DR-TB) continues to challenge global efforts toward eradicating and having a tuberculosis-free world. Considering the high early mortality, especially among HIV-infected individuals, early diagnosis and prompt initiation of effective treatment are needed to significantly reduce mortality and halt transmission of DR-TB in the community. This study aims to assess the effectiveness of a community DR-TB care model with the specific objective of determining the Time-to-treatment initiation of DR-TB among patients in the OR Tambo district municipality. A prospective cohort study of patients with DR-TB was conducted in the OR Tambo district municipality of Eastern Cape Province, South Africa. Patients were enrolled as they presented for treatment initiation at the decentralised facilities following a diagnosis of DR-TB and compared with a centralised site. A total of 454 DR-TB patients from six facilities between 2018 and 2020 were included in the analysis. The mean age was 37.54 (SD = 14.94) years. There were slightly more males (56.2%) than females (43.8%). Most of the patients were aged 18-44 years (67.5%), without income (82.3%). Results showed that slightly over thirteen percent (13.4%) of patients initiated treatment the same day they were diagnosed with DR-TB, while 36.3% were on the time-to-treatment target of being initiated within 5 days. However, about a quarter (25.8%) of patients failed to initiate treatment two weeks after diagnosis. Time-to-treatment initiation (TTTI) varied according to the decentralised sites, with progressive improvement with each successive year between 2018 and 2021. No demographic factor was significantly associated with TTTI. Despite rapid diagnosis, only 36% of patients were initiated on treatment promptly. Operational challenges remained, and services needed to be reorganised to maximise the exceptional potentials that a decentralised community DR-TB care model brings.

Infrastructure development and environmental risk perceptions in the Wild Coast, South Africa

Government’s proposal to construct the N2 Toll Road in the Wild Coast was lauded for its ‘developmental agenda’ in the historically neglected Wild Coast communities of the Eastern Cape province. This project, the government and business groups envisaged, would open up the coastal communities of the Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal provinces to economic development of the region and the nation in general. However, the road project has equally been criticised by several local communities and environmental advocacy groups who associate the road with the controversial plan to mine titanium in the region and its anticipated social and ecological disasters. Using a qualitative research approach that utilised face-to-face interviews, focus group discussions, secondary data review and observations, the study found that different communities associate the project with high risks regarding their environment.Contribution: The study was anchored on the cultural theory of risk perception, which helped in exploring how people’s preferences differ in terms of how life should be organised, their perceptions of risk, and their responses to it.

‘Remember there is that thing called confidentiality’: experiences of institutional discrimination in the health system among adolescent boys and young men living with HIV in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa

Adolescents and men are two populations that perform poorly within the HIV cascade of care, having worse AIDS-related health outcomes, and experiencing higher levels of HIV-related stigma. This paper explores institutional health system discrimination as experienced by adolescent boys with perinatally-acquired HIV, situating them within the social and gendered contexts of the Eastern Cape Province, South Africa. Life history narratives (n = 36) and in-depth semi-structured interviews (n = 32) with adolescent boys living with HIV aged 13–22 were conducted in 2017-2018. In-depth semi-structured interviews with biomedical and traditional health practitioners (n = 14), analysis of health facility files (n = 41) and clinic observations were also conducted. Together, triangulated sources point to an incongruence between the complex needs of adoelscent boys and young men living with HIV and their experiences within the health system. Two institutional discrimination-related deterrents to retention in care were identified: (1) lack of confidentiality due to health facility layouts and practices that visibilised people living with HIV; and (2) mistreatment in the form of shouting. This article contributes to the limited literature on the experiences of young men within the HIV continuum of care, focusing on how stigma influences how young men experience and engage with the health sector.

Pollination and floral insect visitors of non-native Crataegus monogyna Jacq and Crataegus mexicana DC (Rosaceae) in the Eastern Cape Province, South Africa

Crataegus species (Rosaceae) or hawthorns form dense thickets and displace native vegetation out of their native range. In South Africa, Crataegus monogyna and C. mexicana are under surveillance but there is lack of information on their pollination ecology. Therefore, this study sought to investigate the pollination mechanism and potential insect pollinators of these plants. Pollinator exclusion experiments were conducted on ten plants each of C. monogyna and C. mexicana near the towns of Hogsback and Seymour respectively, in the Eastern Cape Province. Flowers of each of these species were also observed to determine the diversity and distribution of insect visitors throughout the day (i.e. morning, mid day and afternoon). The results showed that C. monogyna and C. mexicana are capable of self and cross-pollination. Fruit set from open inflorescences of C. monogyna was 40.88 ± 0.08%, significantly higher than bagged inflorences. Fruit set from open inflorescences of C. mexicana was 48.18 ± 0.03%, significantly higher than those of bagged inflorescences. Hymenopterans were the most frequent visitors on C. monogyna flowers while dipterans were the most frequent visitors on C. mexicana flowers. The distribution of insects did not vary with the time of day for each plant species. Insect pollination, therefore, plays a significant role in the fruiting of C. monogyna and C. mexicana in the Eastern Cape. The results of this study contribute to the understanding of the ecology and phenology of Crataegus species in South Africa and thus the evaluation of their invasive status.

The Detection of Mutations and Genotyping of Drug-Resistant Mycobacterium tuberculosis Strains Isolated from Patients in the Rural Eastern Cape Province.

Drug-resistant tuberculosis (DR-TB) is still a major public health concern in South Africa. Mutations in M. tuberculosis can cause varying levels of phenotypic resistance to anti-TB medications. There have been no prior studies on gene mutations and the genotyping of DR-TB in the rural Eastern Cape Province; hence, we aimed to identify DR-TB mutations, genetic diversity, and allocated lineages among patients in this area. Using Xpert® MTB/RIF, we assessed the rifampin resistance of sputum samples collected from 1157 patients suspected of having tuberculosis. GenoType MTBDR plus VER 2.0 was used for the detection of mutations causing resistance to anti-TB medications. The next step was to spoligotype 441 isolates. The most prevalent rifampin resistance-conferring mutations were in rpoB codon S531L in INH-resistant strains; the katG gene at codon S315TB and the inhA gene at codon C-15TB had the most mutations; 54.5% and 24.7%, respectively. In addition, 24.6% of strains showed mutations in both the rpoB and inhA genes, while 69.9% of strains showed mutations in both the katG and rpoB genes. Heteroresistance was seen in 17.9% of all cases in the study. According to spoligotyping analysis, Beijing families predominated. Investigation of the evolutionary lineages of M. tuberculosis isolates can be carried out using the information provided by the study's diversity of mutations. In locations wherein these mutations have been discovered, decision-making regarding the standardization of treatment regimens or individualized treatment may be aided by the detection frequency of rpoB, katG, and inhA mutations in various study areas.

Evolution of acaricide resistance of Rhipicephalus decoloratus on commercial farms in South Africa.

The development of tick resistance to chemical control plays a major role in the increasing global economic impact of ticks on cattle farming. Reports on acaricide resistance of Rhipicephalus decoloratus, endemic to Africa and South Africa, are relatively few compared to the closely related and globally distributed Rhipicephalus microplus. In South Africa, ectoparasite control became the sole responsibility of each commercial producer when compulsory dipping was phased out from 1984. Different acaricidal management strategies resulted in the simultaneous development of resistance to various acaricide groups. The establishment of a Pesticide Resistance Testing Facility provided the opportunity to test Rhipicephalus (Boophilus) populations, submitted from all over South Africa, for resistance where failure of chemical control was experienced. The number of populations resistant to cypermethrin (CM) was significantly higher than those tested as resistant to amitraz (AM), or chlorfenvinphos (CFVP). No significant difference was found between the number of populations resistant to AM and CFVP. The evolution of R. decoloratus resistance at the end of a 12year period indicated a stable but high prevalence of 90% overall resistance to CM. The same trend was seen for AM-resistant R. decoloratus populations but at a lower level of just over 40%. In contrast, CFVP resistant R. decoloratus populations showed a decreasing trend with near-total reversion to susceptibility. Multi-resistance was present in more than 50% of populations tested with the highest incidence in the Eastern Cape, KwaZulu-Natal, and Western Cape provinces.

Marketing cereal to the generation Z cohort: what are the key drivers that stimulate consumer behavioural intentions in South Africa?

PurposeThis paper aims to examine how health consciousness, perceived nutrition of cereals, hedonic eating values and utilitarian eating values would influence consumers’ attitudes towards cereal consumption, willingness to pay for cereals, actual consumption of cereal products, cereal product consumption satisfaction and continuance of cereal consumption.Design/methodology/approachThe research embraced a quantitative approach. The examination was completed in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa (SA). A structured questionnaire was used to collect data from 380 Generation Z consumers of cereal products. Structural equation modelling analysis was used using the smart partial least squares software to test the hypothesized model.FindingsThe results uncovered that the study variables were significantly associated, and surprisingly, the relationship between hedonic eating values and attitudes towards cereal consumption was found to be insignificant. It was also found that attitudes toward cereal consumption positively and significantly mediated the relationship between health consciousness and willingness to pay for cereals, perceived cereal nutrition and willingness to pay for cereals, hedonic eating values and willingness to pay for cereals and utilitarian eating values and willingness to pay for cereals.Originality/valueThis research adds new, fresh knowledge to the established body of knowledge on cereal consumption behaviour. This area has had little research attention in developing African countries like SA.

Profitability and market performance of smallholder potato enterprises in the Eastern Cape Province, South Africa

Potato (Solanum tuberosum) is one of the major staple crops and cash crops in sub-Saharan Africa. Its reputation continues to rise due to the increase in human population and the demand for potatoes is predictable. Potato-produce has a good market reputation and is the major source of household income in developing countries, especially South Africa. However, the increase in potato enterprise comes with its share of challenges that need to be addressed. Smallholder farmers in South Africa are still facing challenges in accessing and participating in lucrative and agro-food value chains, hence their farm returns are very low. There are very few research studies that have assessed the profitability and market performance of potato enterprises. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the profitability of smallholder potato enterprises in the Eastern Cape Province. A multi-stage sampling procedure was employed to select 160 potato farmers. Primary data were collected using a structured questionnaire. Descriptive statistics, gross margin analysis, benefit-cost ratio and marketing margin analysis were used to analyze the data. The study results reveal that the potato enterprise is profitable and contributes to farmers' well-being. Farmers and sellers determined the price of potatoes. The reason for this market conduct is due to the weak characterization of smallholder farming. Performance analysis established that the total gross marketing and profit margins were highest when farmers sold potatoes to consumers and the lowest when farmers sold to middlemen and retailers. The study recommends that policymakers and government invest in improving infrastructure and educational training of farmers in terms of marketing and taking farming as agribusiness. The study further recommends that policymakers and farm organizations must strengthen institutions that take reliable and timely market information; established potato markets close to the farmers, especially those residing in rural areas. There must be a partnership established between research institutes and universities so that they constantly contribute by releasing high-yielding and disease-resistant varieties to advance the production and productivity of the vegetable sector. The study suggests that there is a need for government involvement to create strong market relations between farmers and consumers and to give suitable training to agricultural extension agents. Key words: Eastern Cape, Food security, Gross margin, Potato enterprise