In this study, we aimed to analyse the strengths and weaknesses of land reform (LR) farms (‘farm issues’) because the lack of understanding of these issues could partly be the cause of limited livelihood gains from these farms. Furthermore, the examination of these issues provided specific recommendations to each group of farms, which could improve LR farmers' livelihood gains. We investigated 50 LR farms in the Waterberg District Municipality (WDM), Limpopo Province, in South Africa. A survey was conducted, literature about the consequences of climate change and prospects for financial support from the state was reviewed, and a stakeholder workshop was organised. We used Fisher-Freeman-Halton exact test to analyse survey data and conducted strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats (SWOT) analysis to explore strategic issues. Farms were classified into 3 groups based on their SWOT issues: A-better-off farms dominated by extensive land uses (n = 22), B- better-off farms dominated by intensive land uses (n = 24), and C- poor farms dominated by either extensive or intensive uses (n = 4). Farmers' social class, conditions of farm physical capital endowment, and the characteristics of the land use activities determined the strengths and weaknesses of LR farms. Strengths of group A farms were good physical capital and less external financial support requirements, and weaknesses were that partnerships were unlikely and family labour was costly. The distinct strength of group B farms was that partnerships were likely, and their high need for external financial support was a distinct weakness. Group C farms had distinct strengths in that family labour was cheap, and insufficient physical capital was their weakness. Acknowledging the diversity in strengths and weaknesses of farms is essential for land reform to play a critical role in rural development. We envisage that financial support from the state, will yield improved production in poor farms. Private investors will yield high production in the better-off farms only if farmers adopt climate-smart agricultural practices.

South Africa implemented land reform for the past two decades to contribute to addressing challenges posed by inequality, poverty and unemployment. Systematic classification of farming system types in land reform is lacking, and distinguishing the types with common characteristics (e.g. farm size, land use activities and livelihood strategies) is essential for implementing targeted agricultural development. In addition, understanding the drivers that lead to different farming system types might contribute to policy making and design of well-suited management options. We investigated 50 land reform farms in the Waterberg District, South Africa. We used principal component analysis (PCA) and two-step cluster analysis to assess the diversity of farming system types and factors driving such diversity. Indicators characterising the ruminant, monogastric, horticulture and crop farming, land use, and economic importance were collected to assess the target-farms and included in the PCA. Four farming system types were distinguished: crop plus ruminants-CR, horticulture-H, ruminants-R, and monogastric-M. The presence of type CR and R was driven by land reform policies which transferred farms of large sizes (+/- 1160 ha) for extensive resource use, in cognisance of the semi-arid conditions of the study area. Land reform policies drove the presence of the type H and M by targeting capital endowed farmers and areas with potential for horticulture, and by ensuring that farmers are physical capital endowed. Capital endowed farmers were in all four identified farming system types, be that as it may, limited external physical and financial capital support restricted capital poor farmers to type CR and M.

Countries have pursued land reform (LR) to contribute towards equity, poverty alleviation and job creation. Land confiscation and market-assisted approaches are used the most in expediting LR. The approach adopted in each of the countries will depend on the prevailing circumstances and priorities of those advocating for LR. South Africa implemented LR for the past two decades aimed to provide meaningful contribution to the livelihood of beneficiaries, among others. However, economic quantification of livelihood gains attained by households (hhs) from LR farms is unknown. The present paper aimed to quantify the economic contributions to livelihoods of various activities at LR farms, and to analyse factors underlying these contributions. We surveyed 87 hhs who were active in 43 LR farms in the Waterberg District, Limpopo Province. Five LR farm types were distinguished: Restitution (Rest), settlement/land acquisition grant (SLAG), land redistribution for agricultural development phases 1 and 2 (LRAD1 and LRAD2) and proactive land acquisition strategy (PLAS) farms. We used a stepwise approach for data collection, which included focus group discussions, household (hh) surveys and livelihood pie charts. On-farm contributions were higher (+/- 49.5%) in LRAD1, LRAD2 and PLAS, compared to on-farm contributions of hhs in Rest and SLAG (+/- 15.5%), because most of the hh heads (+/- 68.3%) were younger (<59 years), and hhs were physical capital endowed and farmed in physical capital endowed farms. Livestock farming was a key land use activity because of the prevailing agroecological conditions. The LR policy should prioritise provision of farm physical capital and livestock production to improve on-farm livelihood contributions in physical capital poor farms.

The aim of this paper was to investigate the role of agricultural extension and training for sustainable food security.Improvement of a country's human capacity for productivity is a prerequisite for social and economic development.This study is a review of the envisaged role of agricultural extension and training for sustainable food security amongst smallholder farmers in South Africa.Findings revealed that agricultural extension can contribute to sustainable food security through knowledge dissemination to farmers, for informed decision making.However, for the extension personnel to be better equipped for knowledge dissemination and to realise the goal of sustainable food security, sustained agricultural extension human resource development through investment in education is a prerequisite.Moreover, institutions of higher education need to play a developmental role through establishing linkages with research, extension and farming communities in order to promote sustainable food security, and to increase the relevance of information and technology passed down to farmers.As such, there is a need for extension educators to ensure that training is responsive to the current needs of farmers.There is a need for models of extension education which are flexible enough to adapt to the environmental, social, economic and physical changes.Therefore, the findings of this study provide guidelines for reforms in extension education systems.This is of importance for informed policy crafting towards improved public extension services.

National challenges of food insecurity and unemployment in South Africa prompted an increase in expectations for agricultural land acquired through land reform programmes to make meaningful contributions. Embedded in these expectations is the need for understanding the situation in reformed farms. This study reviewed policies and literature on land reform, and analyzed beneficiary participation in reformed farms and the impact of land reform on land use in land restitution and land redistribution farms in the Waterberg District Municipality. Data were collected through individual surveys, key informants interviews and stakeholder workshop. Beneficiary participation levels were significantly lower in restitution farms (18% per farm) than in redistribution farms (65% per farm). The changes in land redistribution policy over time resulted in significant differences in beneficiary participation among land redistribution models, with participation levels increasing with time. Land redistribution model SLAG had the lowest beneficiary participation level (19% per farm) while the latest model PLAS had the highest (100% per farm). The changes in land redistribution policy over time resulted in significant differences in extent of land used among land redistribution models, though the trend was not systemic. On average, redistribution farms under SLAG and LRAD2 models used <= 70% of the farm land, while farms under LRAD1 and PLAS models used more than 90% of the farm land. The research approach used in this study found similar results in beneficiary participation to those in literature where case studies approach was used in restitution farms. On the contrary, in redistribution farms the research approach resulted in findings that differed from case study literature and revealed the needs for representative sample and time if conclusive recommendations were to be reached.

The challenges of food security and agricultural development in South Africa cannot simply be solved by limiting extension and research development to the public sector.However, if shortcomings arise in the public sector while addressing extension, research and development, the potential involvement of the private sector is increased.The current lack of public and private partnerships (PPPs) in extension, research and development increase the difficulty of solving the food security challenges in South Africa.The current study investigated the role of extension and research as processes for the development for sustainable food security, and the need for developing PPP's in South Africa.The study is based on a comprehensive theoretical review of available literature and government policies.Analysis of the data collected revealed that the improvement of agricultural production, with the goal of sustainable food security, in South Africa, might not be achieved without an effective agricultural extension service that is strongly linked to research.It was also found that public sector extension work is a necessity for the growth of the industry, but is limited by inadequate resources, bureaucratic work and the multidimensional work requirements.A need has been identified by the government to encourage the participation from the private sector in agricultural extension and research development.

AbstractThe study was carried out in Munyati resettlement area, Chikomba district in Mashonaland East Province, Zimbabwe with the objective of determining factors that affect smallholder commercialization of farming enterprises. Both qualitative and quantitative techniques were used to collect data from 102 randomly sampled smallholder farmers using a questionnaire. Input and output commercialization indices were derived for all the participating farmers. Tobit model was used to regress the indices and farmer specific variables. The paper reveals that the farmers are fairly commercialized for both input and output sides. In addition, factors that determine input and output commercialization are varied. The paper recommends increased public and private sector contribution towards commercialization through training and financial support. Increased remittances by family members outside farming are recommended. The study concludes that smallholder farmers have a great potential for commercialization if necessary conditions are availed.Key Words: Agricultural InputsCommercialization IndexTobit Regression

Land redistribution programme has been going on in South Africa for the past two decades; with anticipation that it will address national challenges of inequalities, food insecurity and unemployment. Studies on land redistribution programmes had been based on few farms and could not provide general assessment of the programme. This study focused on large number of redistributed farms in the Waterberg District Municipality, with an aim of analysing the effect of changes made to the land redistribution programme (leading to four distinguishable models over time) on the degree of beneficiation and the extent of land use. Data were collected through individual surveys, key informants interviews and stakeholder workshop. The numbers of beneficiaries and the level of beneficiary participation, both on averages per farm, were different (p<0.05) among land redistribution models. The extent of land used for crops differed (p<0.05) among models when expressed in hectares per farm, but no differences were observed when expressed as percentage of total farm land. The number of beneficiaries decreased while the level of beneficiary participation decreased over time. The extent of land used for livestock differed (p<0.05) among models when expressed both in hectares and as percentages of total farm land. Although the models differed in extent of land used, there were no identifiable trends over time. The changes in land redistribution programme over time were found to be a trade-off between the number of beneficiaries and level of participation. The lack of trends on extent of land use could be attributed to the fact that previous land ownership, intended land us, developments in agricultural sector of an area and the social class of beneficiaries represented the context in which land redistribution was being implemented. All these factors did not result in systematic trends on the extent of land use.

Understanding the roles of women in agriculture and planning programs relevant to their roles and needs is a prerequisite for the success of agricultural development programs. This study is about the roles and activities of women in the agricultural economy in the six selected agricultural projects relating to their responsibilities in food production, food processing and distribution and secondly, the study looks at the extent of their involvement or participation in farming and decision-making. The problem investigated was the insufficient focus on women’s roles and their activities in agricultural production by the Department of Agriculture of Limpopo Province. A structured questionnaire was used to collect primary data from a randomly selected sample of 100 women. Other primary data was obtained from another randomly selected sample of 137 farmers, that is, male (71) and female (66) farmers who formed different focus group discussions. This resulted in a random sample of 237 respondents for the study. Key informants interviews and transact walks were used to collect other primary data. Secondary data was obtained from literature. Data was compiled by using D Base Program and analysed using the Statistical Package of Social Science Program. The study results showed that women are major contributors to agriculture and play a primary role in ensuring the food security and nutritional status of their household members. Their level of participation and involvement both in terms of time and number of days they spend doing farm work exceed that of men. They have absolute freedom indecision-making. The battle for food security in the study areas can be won only if the invaluable contribution made by women is recognized, their potential as farmers can be developed and they be involved in decision-making processes. Key words : roles and activities, agriculture, food security, household livelihood.

Four models of the South African land redistribution programme were distinguishable i.e. model A (SLAG: 1995 — 2000), model B (LRAD1: 2001 — 2007), model C (LRAD2: 2008 — 2010) and model D (PLAS: 2006 to 2012). The models differed in emphasis given to social and economic objectives of land reform, which was influenced by the national needs at the time of model conceptualisation and implementation. The earlier model, SLAG, was social oriented while the later models had economic viability as the main objective. This study investigated the socio-economic outcomes during the evolution of the land redistribution programme. Sixty farms that represented evolution models of the land redistribution programme were selected. Socio-economic data were collected from farm representatives by means of semi-structured questionnaires. Additional data were collected from stakeholders through key-informants interviews. In time, land redistribution had decreasing social contributions: There were 57 households benefitting per farm on average during model A with level of participation in land administration and/or use at 20 % and the beneficiary numbers decreased with time to an average of 3 individuals in model D with levels of participation at 100 %. The proportional land usage per farm improved from 60 % under model A to 100% under model D. The type of land being reformed and planned agricultural sector developments of the area contributed to variations in land use. The evolution affected beneficiary numbers negatively and participation levels positively, confirming the shift from social to economic objective. Other factors had more influence on land use than the evolution of the redistribution programme.