Oluwasogo David Olorunfemi

The cultivation of indigenous crops (ICs) has long been regarded as an essential social and economic activity for rural households, providing a diverse and consistent supply of products and benefits. Despite this, ICs have not been sufficiently integrated into stable diets and remain underutilized across sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). Accordingly, this review examines the utilization trends and contributions of ICs to rural agrarian households in SSA. A systematic search following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) framework was conducted across two databases and identified 76 relevant studies. The findings highlight that rural socio-economic conditions, including poverty, food and nutrition insecurity, necessitate the utilization of these crops. The review further reveals that while some rural agrarian households have made efforts to utilize these crops to improve their livelihoods through food provision, income generation, medicinal support, and ecological resilience, various constraints limit their utilization and full potential. These constraints include limited market access, a lack of appropriate-quality seeds, inadequate production knowledge, and insufficient government support and investment. These findings underscore the need to implement policies, institutional frameworks, and increased investment to address these constraints and promote the widespread utilization of these crops, thereby contributing to improved rural livelihoods across SSA.

Underutilised indigenous crops (UICs) are increasingly recognised for their potential to contribute to climate-resilient agriculture, dietary diversification, and household food security among smallholder farmers in South Africa. However, evidence regarding farmers’ knowledge, attitudes, and practices (KAP) toward these crops remains limited. This study examined the KAP of smallholder farmers toward UICs and assessed factors associated with their adoption in selected municipalities of South Africa. A quantitative cross-sectional survey was conducted among 205 smallholder farming households using a structured questionnaire. Respondents were selected through a multi-stage sampling procedure involving purposive, snowball, and stratified sampling. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics, Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) regression, binary logistic regression, and bootstrap mediation analysis. Results showed that smallholder farmers generally possessed positive knowledge and attitudes toward UICs, particularly regarding their nutritional value, adaptability to local climatic conditions, and contribution to household food security. However, utilisation practices remained uneven across households. Age, farming experience, water availability, extension support, and market access were significantly associated with adoption. Formal bootstrap mediation analysis (1000 simulations) did not support attitudinal mediation of the knowledge-adoption relationship (ACME = −0.007, 95% CI: −0.079 to 0.059, p = 0.802), suggesting that knowledge operates through mechanisms other than attitudinal change. The study concludes that UICs possess significant potential to contribute to food security and climate adaptation in the study areas, but stronger institutional support, extension services, and market development are required for wider adoption.

Globally, mycotoxin contamination of maize is a fundamental concern due to significant economic losses and toxic health effects on humans and animals. This study analyses the perceived effects of mycotoxin contamination and the use of control measures among smallholder maize farmers in South Africa using Mbombela as a case study. A two-stage sampling procedure was used to select 152 registered smallholder maize farmers in Mbombela, South Africa. Data was collected with a structured questionnaire administered by trained enumerators. Descriptive and multiple linear regression analyses were carried out using SPSS (Version 28). The findings revealed that many farmers had a high perception of the effects of mycotoxin contamination, and the most prominent prevention and control practices were good field management, storage of maize in clean, well-ventilated stores, and proper sorting of harvested grains. Multiple linear regression results revealed that farming experience, media exposure, extension visit, mycotoxin-related training, mycotoxin awareness, and perception index significantly influenced farmers’ utilization of mycotoxin prevention and control practices. The study recommended that agricultural professionals develop robust mycotoxin-related training and advisory services to enhance and strengthen farmers’ awareness and perceptions, and to promote the sustained use of effective agricultural practices to combat mycotoxin contamination.

Promoting resilience, increasing productivity and sustainability, and profit maximization remain key challenges facing farmers globally. These are exacerbated by factors such as climate change, low to no access to technological advancement, financial constraints, poor technical and management skills, inadequate government support, and limited access to resources. However, there are diverse strategies that abound, including on-farm diversification, that farmers could leverage on to address these numerous and complex challenges. This study investigated the determinants of on-farm diversification strategies among smallholders in Mpumalanga Province. The study employed a quantitative approach using closed-ended survey questionnaires to elicit information from a total of 465 farmers who were randomly sampled from a total population of 14,411. The data gathered were analysed using descriptive statistics to determine the on-farm diversification strategies employed by farmers and the factors influencing the use of these strategies. A binary logistic regression model was employed to establish the relationship between on-farm diversification strategies and the determining factors. More than half of the farmers were female (51.8%), with only 48.2% male. The majority (59.1%) of the farmers were between the ages of 36 and 60, with only 20.2% youth participation in farming. Slightly more than half (50.8%) of the farmers practise mixed farming as their on-farm diversification strategy, while only 4.3% of the farmers practise mono-cropping. The study identified significant variables such as level of education (p = 0.001), secondary source of income (p = 0.057), farmland size (p = 0.022), number of farm assistants (p = 0.016), and on-farm diversification awareness as key determinants of on-farm diversification among smallholder farmers in Mpumalanga Province. Therefore, it is recommended that policies within the agricultural sector be revised to encourage on-farm diversification in order to motivate farmers to transition to agripreneurship for poverty alleviation, food security and rural economic development (RED).

Precision agriculture adopts a transformative and distinct approach that aims to maintain symmetry between economic productivity and ecological welfare within the broader context of the agricultural sector. The conceptualisation and implementation of precision agriculture emerge as a propulsion in developed countries, whereas discussions have been minimal in developing countries such as South Africa. Agricultural extension as a conduit of agricultural development, transformation, and sustainability has been forthcoming in the policy framework that enables the adoption and implementation of precision agriculture. This paper examined the implementation, opportunities, adoption challenges, and promotion of precision agriculture through extension services in South Africa. The review focused on literature articles published between 2003 and 2022. This review manuscript retrieved 5612 articles, of which 123 were appraised and reviewed after screening for applicability and relevance. Moreover, grey literature was also meticulously selected and extensively reviewed. Joint Research Centre (JRC) of the European Commission, Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), African Development Bank (AfDB), International Society for Precision Agriculture (ISPA), and Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (DAFF) documents were used in this review. The review revealed that extension practitioners must be adequately trained in precision agriculture technology transfer and dissemination to efficiently render technology-related services to farmers. Moreover, the South African government should expedite a policy shift to address technology adoption gaps in precision agriculture. Finally, it concluded by expatriating that more research ought to be undertaken to explore and work out modalities for precision agriculture adoption and implementation in a broader context of the South African agricultural sector characteristics, dynamics, and scenarios.

The study analysed the perception of organic farming practices among smallholder farmers in Mbombela, Mpumalanga, South Africa. An interview-administered questionnaire collected data from 80 randomly sampled smallholder farmers. The elicited data was descriptively analysed using percentages, averages, and ranks. In contrast, a multiple linear regression model was used to determine the socioeconomic factors that influence smallholder farmers' utilisation of organic farming practices. The findings revealed that although smallholder farmers were aware of organic agricultural methods, adopting organic practices is still yet to be widespread and optimal in the area. This is due to some severe challenges indicated by the respondents, including inadequate government support, the unpredictability of climate change, inadequate access to grants and credit facilities, inadequate collaboration and collective action among farmers, and inadequate access to extension services. Furthermore, the findings of the regression model revealed that formal education and organic farming training attendance were significant socioeconomic factors influencing smallholder farmer’s utilisation of organic farming practices. Given the need to scale up the adoption of organic farming practices in the area, it was recommended that increased government support, adequate access to credit facilities and significant improvement and effectiveness of extension services in providing training and encouraging collective action among the smallholder farmers is required.

Sustainable farming practices (SFPs) are often touted as vehicles for improving crop productivity and the livelihoods of many rural households. However, SFP’s adoption rates remain persistently low, especially among smallholder farmers in many rural parts of developing countries. Thus, this study aimed to evaluate the adoption of SFPs amongst smallholder crop farmers in Mbombela, South Africa. A simple random sampling procedure was employed to collect data from 294 farmers who were solely specializing in crop production. The data were collected using a structured questionnaire, and the analysis was performed with descriptive statistics. A multivariate probit model was adopted to determine the socio-economic determinants of adopting SFPs. The findings of this study confirm that SFPs are essential for addressing the abiotic and biophysical challenges that impede crop productivity, as farmers view these practices as highly beneficial in their farming activities. Also, the results reveal that crop rotation was the most adopted practice, whereas intercropping and conservation tillage were the least adopted practices in the surveyed area. Furthermore, the study showed that “gender, years of education, off-farm income, annual income, marital status, and satisfaction with extension services” were significant socio-economic attributes that do indeed influence the adoption of SFPs by smallholder crop farmers in the surveyed area. These findings underscore the need for the Ministry of Agriculture and rural development stakeholders to address issues relating to economic incentives, improve farmers’ perception of SFPs, provide financial literacy and support programs, and intensify efforts to promote underutilized practices.

Sustainable agricultural practices (SAPs) remain the panacea to addressing challenges relating to climate change, low rainfall, and low agricultural productivity in many rural parts of sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). These practices include but are not limited to crop rotation, intercropping, cover cropping, and conservation tillage. The aforementioned practices have been scientifically proven to enhance crop productivity while safeguarding environmental resources. This review assesses the trends, effectiveness, and challenges associated with the adoption and utilization of SAPs among smallholder farmers in the SSA region, analyzing the literature and reports from 2000 to 2024 sourced from databases such as Google Scholar and Scopus. The inclusion criteria focused on key concepts such as SAPs, adoption, and challenges. Findings indicate that crop rotation, intercropping, improved seed varieties, manure, and mulching are among the most adopted practices. In reality, practices such as conservation tillage, agroforestry, and water harvesting systems remain the least adopted practices in many rural parts of SSA. The review further reveals that challenges relating to land tenure insecurity, lack of knowledge, training, and limited access to financial institutions all have a direct or indirect influence on farmers’ choice of adoption. Overcoming the aforementioned challenges through policy interventions and capacity building is vital for improved crop productivity and rural livelihoods.

Smallholder farmers’ participation in collective marketing is essential for the growth of smallholder farming businesses and the sustainability of their livelihoods. Collective marketing provides smallholder farmers with increased opportunities to scale up market access and participation. Given the challenges that the majority of smallholder farmers still face regarding market access and participation, this review was conducted to explore the trends and effects of collective marketing participation, as well as the barriers to participation among smallholder farmers in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). The results show that collective marketing has a high potential to give smallholder farmers access to both formal and informal market participation, as well as recognition by public and private support structures. To improve collective marketing participation among SSA countries, more focused and content-specific strategies and interventions are needed to address the complex socio-economic and structural barriers that limit smallholder farmers’ ability to fully benefit from collective marketing initiatives across the region.