Impact of crop productivity and market participation on rural households’ food and nutrition security status: the case of Mpumalanga and Limpopo provinces, South Africa.
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Date
2022
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Abstract
The agricultural sector has proven to be the backbone of improving rural households’ food
security and livelihoods in developing countries. However, the sector faces numerous
challenges, such as insufficient access to technology, institutional difficulties, inappropriate
policies, poor infrastructure, and unsuccessful links to the markets, making it difficult for
smallholder farmers to participate in the formal market sector. Smallholder farmers in South
Africa are still trapped in low-productivity traditional technologies that have a negative impact
on output and livelihoods. Low agricultural productivity and lack of market access threaten the
efforts of alleviating poverty and improving food security. The study's main objective is to
analyse the impact of crop productivity and market participation on rural households’ food and
nutrition. The specific objectives were to assess the determinants and intensity of market
participation among smallholder farmers; estimate the impact of market participation on the
food and nutrition security status of the smallholder farmers; analyse the factors affecting crop
productivity among smallholder farmers, and evaluate the effect of crop productivity on
household food and nutrition security status in the study area. The study used secondary data,
which was collected from a total of 1520 respondents who were selected through stratified
random sampling. The study focused on two provinces (Mpumalanga and Limpopo) in South
Africa, based on the predominance of smallholder farmers.
While assessing the determinants and intensity of market participation among smallholder
farmers, the results of the DH estimation model show that the gender of the household head,
family member working on the farm, wealth index, and agricultural assistance, age of
household head and family member with HIV were statistically significant factors influencing
market participation. The result from the second hurdle showed that the perceived intensity of
market participation was influenced by marital status, educational level of the household head,
wealth index, access to agricultural assistance, household size, household age, and family
member with HIV. The study also analysed the effect of market participation on the food
security of smallholder farmers. The household food insecurity access scale (HFIAS) results
revealed that out of the total sample size, 85% of the households were food insecure while 15%
were food secure. The gender of the household head, receiving social grants, wealth index, and
having a family member with HIV significantly influenced farmers’ market participation. The
results of the extended ordered probit regression model showed that household size, having a
family member with HIV, agricultural assistance, educational level of household head,
ownership of livestock, age of household head, gender of household head, and having access
to social grants variables were statistically influencing the food insecurity situation of
smallholder farmers.
The Household Dietary Diversity Score (HDDS) showed that in the overall sampled
population, 57% of smallholder farmers had the highest dietary diversity, followed by medium
dietary diversity (25%), and the lowest dietary diversity was 18%. The t-test results showed
that farmers who participated in the market enjoyed higher HDDS than those who did not
participate in the market. The Food Consumption Score (FCS) showed that in the overall
population, the acceptable FCS was 54%, followed by a borderline food consumption score of
30%, and the poor food consumption score was the least at 16%. The gender of the household
head, receiving social grants, and the wealth index significantly influenced farmers’ market
participation. The results from Poisson endogenous treatment effect model showed that the
nutrition status of smallholder farmers was statistically influenced by agricultural assistance,
access to market information, household size, ownership of livestock, access to social grants,
wealth index, and involvement in crop production variables. The result from the ordered
logistic regression model showed that household size had a negative and significant impact on
the food consumption score of smallholder farmers. Gender of household head, irrigation type,
social grant, and amount harvested had a positive and significant effect on the food
consumption score of smallholder farmers. The results from the Tobit regression model showed
crop productivity of smallholder farmers was significantly influenced by the gender of the
household head, irrigation system, a family member with HIV, involvement in crop production,
access to agricultural assistance, and wealth index of smallholder farmers variables. Lastly, the
study determined the impact of crop productivity on household food and nutrition security
status in the study areas. The results from the CMP model showed that ownership of livestock,
harvest, disability in the family, household size, and gender statistically influenced the food
(in)security of smallholder farmers. The results also showed that social grants, agricultural
assistance, harvest, and household size significantly impacted the nutrition status of
smallholder farmers.
The results from this study support the findings of many previous studies conducted in
developing countries and show that more intervention is still needed. It is recommended that
government, researchers, policy makers, and other stakeholders work together to close the
existing gaps between research, policies, programmes, and extension services directed to
smallholder farmers. This will help to improve crop productivity and market participation of
smallholder farmers, which will, in turn, enhance their food and nutrition security.
Description
Doctoral Degree. University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg.