Perceptions of Smallholder Farmers towards Organic Farming in South Africa

In South Africa, smallholder farming is an important aspect of livelihood. More so, organic farming is increasingly becoming popular among farmers. However, many studies undertaken focused on the trade possibilities of the industry leaving the farmers’ perceptions underrepresented. This study, there...

Descripción completa

Guardado en:

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales:	Solomon Eghosa Uhunamure, Zongho Kom, Karabo Shale, Nthaduleni Samuel Nethengwe, Jacobus Steyn
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	MDPI AG 2021
Materias:	agriculture compost farmers’ certification food production organic farming smallholder Agriculture (General) S1-972
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/90d3460e78d04df28ee9e861d4bc1039
Etiquetas:	Agregar Etiqueta Sin Etiquetas, Sea el primero en etiquetar este registro!

id	oai:doaj.org-article:90d3460e78d04df28ee9e861d4bc1039
record_format	dspace
spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:90d3460e78d04df28ee9e861d4bc10392021-11-25T16:01:15ZPerceptions of Smallholder Farmers towards Organic Farming in South Africa10.3390/agriculture111111572077-0472https://doaj.org/article/90d3460e78d04df28ee9e861d4bc10392021-11-01T00:00:00Zhttps://www.mdpi.com/2077-0472/11/11/1157https://doaj.org/toc/2077-0472In South Africa, smallholder farming is an important aspect of livelihood. More so, organic farming is increasingly becoming popular among farmers. However, many studies undertaken focused on the trade possibilities of the industry leaving the farmers’ perceptions underrepresented. This study, therefore, aims to capture the farmers’ opinions by evaluating the critical factors and policy implications of organic farming in the Limpopo Province of South Africa. A total of 220 semi-structured questionnaires were administered to smallholder farmers in the province. The results revealed that organic farming is gaining recognition according to 82.8% of the participants, and 86.6% believed that organic farming has high-profit returns. However, 88.4% of the respondents agreed that the required standards for organic farming are too restrictive while a further 74.6% indicated that organic farming certification is difficult to obtain. The results also indicated a statistically significant difference in the perceived benefits of organic farming (<i>p</i> ≤ 0.001) and access to markets (<i>p</i> = 0.042). Based on the results, the study suggests more awareness, training and ease of certification as a way forward in changing the perceptions of the farmers in the province.Solomon Eghosa UhunamureZongho KomKarabo ShaleNthaduleni Samuel NethengweJacobus SteynMDPI AGarticleagriculturecompostfarmers’ certificationfood productionorganic farmingsmallholderAgriculture (General)S1-972ENAgriculture, Vol 11, Iss 1157, p 1157 (2021)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	agriculture compost farmers’ certification food production organic farming smallholder Agriculture (General) S1-972
spellingShingle	agriculture compost farmers’ certification food production organic farming smallholder Agriculture (General) S1-972 Solomon Eghosa Uhunamure Zongho Kom Karabo Shale Nthaduleni Samuel Nethengwe Jacobus Steyn Perceptions of Smallholder Farmers towards Organic Farming in South Africa
description	In South Africa, smallholder farming is an important aspect of livelihood. More so, organic farming is increasingly becoming popular among farmers. However, many studies undertaken focused on the trade possibilities of the industry leaving the farmers’ perceptions underrepresented. This study, therefore, aims to capture the farmers’ opinions by evaluating the critical factors and policy implications of organic farming in the Limpopo Province of South Africa. A total of 220 semi-structured questionnaires were administered to smallholder farmers in the province. The results revealed that organic farming is gaining recognition according to 82.8% of the participants, and 86.6% believed that organic farming has high-profit returns. However, 88.4% of the respondents agreed that the required standards for organic farming are too restrictive while a further 74.6% indicated that organic farming certification is difficult to obtain. The results also indicated a statistically significant difference in the perceived benefits of organic farming (<i>p</i> ≤ 0.001) and access to markets (<i>p</i> = 0.042). Based on the results, the study suggests more awareness, training and ease of certification as a way forward in changing the perceptions of the farmers in the province.
format	article
author	Solomon Eghosa Uhunamure Zongho Kom Karabo Shale Nthaduleni Samuel Nethengwe Jacobus Steyn
author_facet	Solomon Eghosa Uhunamure Zongho Kom Karabo Shale Nthaduleni Samuel Nethengwe Jacobus Steyn
author_sort	Solomon Eghosa Uhunamure
title	Perceptions of Smallholder Farmers towards Organic Farming in South Africa
title_short	Perceptions of Smallholder Farmers towards Organic Farming in South Africa
title_full	Perceptions of Smallholder Farmers towards Organic Farming in South Africa
title_fullStr	Perceptions of Smallholder Farmers towards Organic Farming in South Africa
title_full_unstemmed	Perceptions of Smallholder Farmers towards Organic Farming in South Africa
title_sort	perceptions of smallholder farmers towards organic farming in south africa
publisher	MDPI AG
publishDate	2021
url	https://doaj.org/article/90d3460e78d04df28ee9e861d4bc1039
work_keys_str_mv	AT solomoneghosauhunamure perceptionsofsmallholderfarmerstowardsorganicfarminginsouthafrica AT zonghokom perceptionsofsmallholderfarmerstowardsorganicfarminginsouthafrica AT karaboshale perceptionsofsmallholderfarmerstowardsorganicfarminginsouthafrica AT nthadulenisamuelnethengwe perceptionsofsmallholderfarmerstowardsorganicfarminginsouthafrica AT jacobussteyn perceptionsofsmallholderfarmerstowardsorganicfarminginsouthafrica
_version_	1718413329710448640

Perceptions of Smallholder Farmers towards Organic Farming in South Africa

Ejemplares similares