Oo Popoola

Youth unemployment in South Africa remains a pressing socio-economic concern. This paper introduces the Vertical Integration of Agric-Park Mentorship Scheme (VIA-PAYMES), a conceptual model designed to support young graduates in establishing sustainable agribusinesses. Rooted in social constructionism, the model is informed by Mosaic Theory, the Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD), and Scaffolding Theory, offering perspectives on how mentorship and experiential learning contribute to agripreneurial development. VIA-PAYMES proposes a vertically integrated agro-enterprise approach that combines mentorship, production, processing, and marketing within a unified ‘farm city’. Drawing on conceptual analysis rather than empirical fieldwork, the study introduces the VIA-PAYMES concept, which incorporates mentorship by experienced commercial farmers, structured training in production and agro-processing, and vertical integration within the agricultural value chain. As an exploratory and practice-oriented study, it aims to inform future pilot programmes and guide policy discourse on inclusive agricultural transformation. The paper highlights the potential of such a model to promote youth employment, rural development, and food security in developing economies.

South Africa faces escalating climate threats, with extreme weather events severely impacting agriculture, water resources, and food security. Addressing these challenges requires significant financial investment. This review synthesises literature and policy documents sourced from key databases, including Google Scholar, Web of Science, Scopus, and ScienceDirect, as well as the Mangosuthu University of Technology online library. Initial screening of over 150 sources identified 86 studies (49 peer-reviewed articles and 44 grey literature reports) based on relevance and inclusion criteria to examine the role of international climate finance in supporting subnational adaptation, particularly in the agricultural sector. This narrative literature review explores financial mechanisms, climate finance frameworks, and case studies of community-driven adaptation initiatives. The findings highlight the role of global climate funds, including the Adaptation Fund, Green Climate Fund, and COP28 pledges, in addressing South Africa’s adaptation finance gap. However, bureaucratic hurdles, inadequate institutional support, and limited direct funding for local adaptation persist. Community-driven initiatives that prioritise local decision-making, resource mobilisation, and participatory strategies remain underfunded despite their significance. This paper emphasises the need for improved financial accessibility, stronger governance, and enhanced collaboration between donors, government agencies, and grassroots organisations. Recommendations include aligning domestic finance frameworks with global funding criteria, streamlining fund disbursement, and integrating community-led adaptation into national policies. Strengthening these mechanisms can ensure financial resources reach vulnerable populations, enhancing resilience and promoting sustainable agricultural practices in South Africa.

This study explores the gendered dimensions of household livestock ownership in Lesotho through the perpectives of Feminist Political Ecology (FPE). Drawing on nationally representative cross-sectional data from the 2023–2024 Lesotho Demographic and Health Survey (LDHS), involving 9,810 households, the study utilises logistic regression to examine how gender, marital status, education, wealth, land tenure, rurality, and ecological zones influence livestock ownership. Findings reveal that male-headed households have significantly higher ownership rates than their female-headed counterparts, highlighting persistent patriarchal norms in resource access and decision-making. Ownership is positively associated with rural residence, land access, household size, and specific agro-ecological zones such as the Mountains and Senqu River Valley. Additionally, higher educational attainment is inversely related to livestock ownership, especially among men, suggesting a shift away from agricultural livelihoods. The study emphasises the structural nature of gender disparities and calls for policy interventions that address land tenure reforms, enhance support for female-headed households, and tailor rural development strategies to ecological and social contexts. These insights are essential for promoting inclusive and equitable livestock development in Lesotho.

Cooperatives are typically established to help create jobs and improve their members' economic and social conditions, among various other roles. Farmers’ cooperative societies play a vital role in enhancing the livelihood of resource-poor farmers. The government has initiated various support programmes to assist agricultural cooperative societies to remain viable; however, many cooperatives continue to flounder while some have collapsed. This study identifies operational components like members' roles, cooperative constitutions and decision-making processes, record-keeping, education and training of members, farm and financial management and level of extension service involvement as critical roles in sustaining agricultural cooperatives. Therefore, this study's objective was to assess the key operational components of vegetable cooperative societies and the level of extension support provided to the cooperatives in the study area. Ten functional vegetable cooperatives in the municipality were purposively selected for the study. At the same time, data for the survey was obtained from the board of directors and members of the cooperatives. Data was collected using semi-structured questionnaires consisting of closed and open-ended questions. The presentation of results was done using simple descriptive statistical tools. The study outcome shows that about 50% of the cooperatives noted that members were largely involved in the daily running of the cooperatives, governance, and decision-making processes. However, many cooperatives are constrained by the lack of training of its members on conflict resolutions (90%), with about 30% and 40% not receiving training on record keeping and financial management, respectively. The role of extension services towards the sustainability of the cooperatives is crucial. Most (80%) of the cooperatives indicated some level of interaction between the cooperatives and extension personnel, albeit the need to improve the frequency of extension visits, training, and follow-up appointments. The result of this study implies that cooperatives in the region need to improve in key operational areas. Extension personnel need to be more available to support cooperative activities effectively.

Smallholder scavenging chicken farmers (SCFs) are constantly faced with the challenge of improving productivity. One profound challenge is that many SCFs lack comprehensive knowledge and the skills necessary for operating an efficient production system. This study evaluated the effectiveness of the training offered to SCFs in Raymond Mhlaba Local Municipality (RMLM) on the best approach to improve scavenging chicken production. The data obtained was analysed quantitatively to assess differences in the management practices of the trained farmers before training (BT) and after training (AT). A paired sample t-test and Wilcoxon signed-rank test were used to conduct the study’s analysis. The results showed that the average flock size of the birds significantly increased post-training. There was a significant increase in the farmers’ use of supplementary feeding, local feedstuffs, artificial brooding and care of chicks, amongst other practices. These results indicate a marked improvement in their management practices post-training. Therefore, building the capacities of SCFs through training significantly improves their knowledge and skillsets. Periodic training of SCFs is recommended to keep them abreast of evolving management practices in SC production, as continual improvement in related competencies is important for enhancing local and national economic development.

The in-field rainwater harvesting technique (IRWHT) has been widely promoted for the sustainability of crop production, particularly in naturally water-stressed regions. It is a technology developed to harvest rainwater that could be put into efficient use for farming. The technology was a product of collaborative efforts of the Institute for Soil, Climate and Water (ISCW) of the Agricultural Research Council (ARC) and University of Fort Hare (UFH). The technology was piloted in several villages under Raymond Mhlaba Local Municipality (RMLM) from 2004 to 2012. Sixteen years after the introduction of the technology, the study examined the sustainability use of the technology amongst the adopters from the Tyhume valley area. The quantitative methodological approach was used for this study and simple random sampling technique was used to select 150 project respondents for the survey. Data was collected and analysed using Statistical Package for Social Science. Descriptive statistical analysis, frequency count, percentages, means and standard deviation were used for quantitative data analysis. Findings revealed that 96% of smallholder farmers discontinued the use of IRWHT, with the majority abandoning the technology 5 to 8 years post adoption. Amongst the reasons adduced by the respondents include complexity of the technology, space taking up by the technology for water retention/ storage and time to construct the basins. The technology was labour intensive, time consuming and requires lots of inputs. Findings also indicate that farmers experienced poor support after the pilot stage. The study recommends efficient and effective monitoring and evaluation of projects post pilot stage to consolidates adoption process.

Agricultural extension service delivery remains pivotal in disseminating contemporary and innovative agricultural information, and the training and capacity building of farmers; all of which are critical to increased farmer productivity. There are several agricultural extension methods used by extension field officers to engage their target farmers; some of the contact methods used, like the individual and group methods amongst others, necessitates close interactions between both parties. As such, physical contact between persons cannot be avoided. In the current spate of COVID-19 threats to global health, there is a possible risk of human-to-human transmission of the disease. Some temporary measures like social distancing and the ban of gatherings are currently utilised by many countries to mitigate the rapid spread of the virus. The findings of several research reports showed that these restrictions negatively impacted agricultural extension service deliveries. This paper, therefore, reviewed alternative media delivery mechanisms as a probable palliative measure in sustaining the continuous delivery of agricultural information to farmers. The paper recommends intensifying the use of the electronic extension (E-extension) system. The mobile and computer/web-based platforms should be significantly harnessed (where applicable), while concurrently promoting the intense use of print media, radio, television, agricultural documentaries and instructional videos.

The novel Corona virus pandemic has been extremely overwhelming at all levels causing massive economic setbacks for many countries including South Africa. The country witnessed an unprecedented scaling-down of its national economic activities, which called for an emergency response from the government. Several Covid-19 relief schemes were instituted by the government to ensure that farms of all sizes would survive. A support fund of R1.2 billion was allocated to the agriculture and food sector through the Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development (DALRRD). The fund was primarily meant to assist financially distressed small-scale farmers to ensure continued production and food security for the country. This study collated the conditions for financial Covid-19 stimulus support required from smallholders and analysed several factors that prevented some members of this vulnerable group from benefitting from the relief funds. These factors include complexities associated with satisfactorily categorizing smallholder producers, productivity, marketing and policy challenges, glitches in formalising smallholder producer operations, the farm-business record keeping pitfall, and the exclusion of subsistent producers. The paper suggests some possible corrective measures that could allow for more inclusive support to these categories of farmers; some of which includes a simple but robust financial traceability system for the farmers, and a need to continue to push for the completion of national registration process of smallholder producers.

This study examines the university–community alliance with regard to experiential learning activities that may be used to enhance the competencies of agricultural extension postgraduate students (AEPS). Through research and alliance, university education provides agricultural extension students with ideal learning spaces to explore cause-related social, economic, and sustainability aspects of agriculture. The objectives of the study were for the AEPS to work on community farms for between six to eight weeks, to identify production challenges, and to attempt to solve problems using a participatory action research (PAR) approach. Students collected data daily, using parameters that included types of agro-enterprise, agricultural practices, observation and control of pests and diseases, identification, and control of weed infestation types, control of predators, and management of various security challenges. Social media were also used to share posts (pictures and videos) of the various project activities with the public for discussion and knowledge sharing. Findings show that there was an improved relationship between the students and their community collaborators. All participants mutually benefited from the programme; students gained indigenous farming knowledge from the farmers, while farmers benefited from the scientific approaches to solving common farming problems employed by the students—mostly improvised technologies with local content. Both the students and the farmers learned from the knowledge shared by various followers on Facebook, who gave suggestions to address some of the challenges posted on social media. The programme advocates the need to shift from a mostly rigid, conventional curriculum to a more dynamic, interactive one, which embraces active experimentation with theoretical knowledge. It underscores the significance of experiential learning for developing students’ technical competencies. The success of the programme could influence curriculum development and re-design to accommodate more experience-based modules.