Journal
AGRICULTURE-BASEL
Volume 11, Issue 11, Pages -Publisher
MDPI
DOI: 10.3390/agriculture11111157
Keywords
agriculture; compost; farmers' certification; food production; organic farming; smallholder
Categories
Funding
- Centre for Postgraduate Studies and the Postdoctoral Fellowship/Research Committee of the Cape Peninsula University of Technology
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This study aims to capture smallholder farmers' opinions on organic farming in Limpopo Province, South Africa, revealing that while organic farming is gaining recognition and seen as profitable, the stringent standards and difficulty in certification are major challenges. The results suggest the need for more awareness, training, and simplified certification processes to change farmers' perceptions in the province.
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 (p & LE; 0.001) and access to markets (p = 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.
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