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Small-scale livestock farmers’ participation in markets: evidence from the land reform beneficiaries in the central Karoo, Western Cape, South Africa


P Cheteni
X Mokhele

Abstract

Since the launch of the Land Redistribution for Agricultural Development (LRAD) programme by the government, several small-scale farmers have slowly integrated into the mainstream markets. The main objective of the study was to evaluate and analyse the factors affecting participation in mainstream markets by the small-scale livestock farmers in the Central Karoo, Western Cape Province of South Africa. A sample of 36 small-scale farmer projects was purposively selected from the study area, and the data was collected using a semi-structured questionnaire. Thereafter a multinomial regression model was applied to the primary data. The results show that age, farming experience, number of beneficiaries, employment status and farmer training have a strong positive effect on the likelihood of small-scale livestock farmers marketing their sheep to the mainstream markets such as abattoirs and auctions. Furthermore, distance to the nearest market, access to market infrastructure and access to credit have a negative impact on the likelihood of those participating in the formal markets. The study suggests that the government should address the challenges faced by the small-scale farmers through interventions and improving access to markets.

Keywords: Factors, LRAD, small-scale, mainstream markets, Central Karoo, multinomial model


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eISSN: 2413-3221
print ISSN: 0301-603X