Unlocking markets to smallholders : lessons from South Africa

This book assesses the institutional, technical and market constraints as well as opportunities for smallholders, notably, emerging farmers in disadvantaged areas such as the former homelands of South Africa. Emerging farmers are formerly disadvantaged black people who started or will start their business with the support of special government programs. Public support programs have been developed which are part of the Black Economic Empowerment strategy of the South African government. These programs aim to improve the performance of emerging farmers. This requires, first and foremost, upgrading the emerging farmers skills by providing access to knowledge about agricultural and entrepreneurial practices. To become or to remain good farmers they also need access to suitable agricultural land and sufficient water for irrigation and for feeding their cattle. Finally, for emerging farmers to be engaged in viable farming operations, various factors need to be in place such as marketing and service institutions giving credit for agricultural inputs and investments; input markets for farm machinery, farm implements, fertilizers and quality seeds; as well as accessible output markets for the end products. This book develops a policy framework and potential institutional responses to unlock the relevant markets for smallholders.

Ajuruchukwu Obi and Herman D. van Schalkwyk and Aad van TilburgAad van Tilburg and Herman D. van SchalkwykBridget Jari and Gavin FraserAjuruchukwu Obi and Peter PoteJan A. Groenewald and André JoosteJan A. Groenewald and Jacobus Klopper and Herman D. van SchalkwykLindie Stroebel and Herman D. van SchalkwykJan A. Groenewald and Andries J. JordaanAjuruchukwu ObiAad van Tilburg and Litha Magingxa and Emma V. Kambewa and Herman D. van Schalkwyk and Alemu Zeruhin GudetaAad van Tilburg and Ajuruchukwu Obi

Preface	p. 7
1 Market access, poverty alleviation and socio-economic sustainability in South Africa	p. 13
1.1 Introduction	p. 13
1.2 Problem context	p. 17
1.3 Relevance of study to development in South Africa	p. 21
1.4 Objectives, research questions and research methodology	p. 22
1.5 Description of selected study areas	p. 24
1.6 Data collection and data analysis	p. 28
1.7 Organisation of the book	p. 29
References	p. 29
2 Strategies to improve smallholders' market access	p. 35
2.1 Introduction	p. 35
2.2 Theoretical constructs on the analysis of market access	p. 38
2.3 Bottlenecks for smallholder market access and the lessons learnt	p. 39
2.4 Stakeholder strategies to improve smallholders' market access	p. 45
2.5 Conclusions	p. 48
References	p. 49
Appendix 2.1 Case study 1: a marketing design study	p. 52
Appendix 2.2 Case study 2: sugarcane production by smallholders in KwaZulu-Natal	p. 53
Appendix 2.3 Case study 3: TEMO Agri Services	p. 55
Appendix 2.4 Case study 4: linking emerging farmers to the agribusiness sector - the case of the Golden Fleece project in the wool industry	p. 56
Appendix 2.5 Case study 5: emerging rooibos farmers in the Heiveld community on the South Bokkeveld plateau	p. 57
Appendix 2.6 Case study 6: mentorship alliance between South African farmers	p. 58
3 Influence of institutional and technical factors on market choices of smallholder farmers in the Kat River Valley	p. 59
3.1 Introduction	p. 59
3.2 Importance of smallholder farmers	p. 60
3.3 The study area: Kat River Valley	p. 68
3.4 Data collection and analysis	p. 70
3.5 Empirical results	p. 75
3.6 Conclusions and recommendations	p. 82
Acknowledgements	p. 85
References	p. 85
4 Technical constraints to market access for crop and livestock farmers in Nkonkobe Municipality, Eastern Cape province	p. 91
4.1 Introduction and problem context	p. 91
4.2 The study area and research methodology	p. 93
4.3 The variables	p. 95
4.4 Results and discussion	p. 99
4.5 Model adequacy	p. 106
4.6 Conclusions and recommendations	p. 107
References	p. 108
5 Smallholders and livestock markets	p. 113
5.1 Historical context	p. 113
5.2 Evolution of the beef sub-sector	p. 114
5.3 Livestock keeping in tribal areas	p. 117
5.4 Case studies	p. 120
5.5 Strategies to improve livestock marketing	p. 124
5.6 Conclusion	p. 129
References	p. 129
6 Unlocking markets to smallholder farmers: the potential role of contracting	p. 133
6.1 Introduction	p. 133
6.2 Changes in agricultural marketing	p. 133
6.3 Contracting as a means to overcome barriers to market entry	p. 135
6.4 Experience with contracting: case studies	p. 137
6.5 Recommendations	p. 143
6.6 Conclusion	p. 145
References	p. 145
7 Food retailing and agricultural development	p. 149
7.1 Introduction	p. 149
7.2 Supermarket diffusion into Africa	p. 149
7.3 Food retailing in South Africa	p. 152
7.4 Developments in the South African food retailing environment	p. 158
7.5 Impact of the rise of the supermarket industry on the agricultural sector	p. 163
7.6 Conclusion	p. 169
References	p. 170
8 Unlocking credit markets	p. 175
8.1 Introduction	p. 175
8.2 The supply-led approach to credit	p. 175
8.3 The demand-led approach	p. 177
8.4 The Grameen Bank	p. 178
8.5 Informal financial markets (microcredit)	p. 179
8.6 Alternative finance sources in South Africa	p. 181
8.7 Recommendations	p. 187
8.8 Conclusion	p. 190
References	p. 190
9 Governance structures for supply chain management in the smallholder farming systems of South Africa	p. 193
9.1 Introduction and problem context	p. 193
9.2 Methodology and focus areas	p. 195
9.3 Needs and aspirations of chain participants	p. 198
9.4 Resources and opportunities in the food supply chains	p. 202
9.5 Distribution and retail outlets	p. 208
9.6 Chain activities	p. 212
9.7 Conclusion	p. 214
References	p. 217
10 Smallholder market access and governance in supply chains	p. 219
10.1 Background	p. 219
10.2 Framework of analysis	p. 219
10.3 Case studies on domestic and international distribution	p. 225
10.4 Reflection on the questions posed	p. 235
10.5 Recommendations for institutional changes	p. 236
References	p. 237
11 Factors unlocking markets to smallholders: lessons, recommendations and stakeholders addressed	p. 243
11.1 Objectives and research questions of the book	p. 243
11.2 Results of the analysis in the chapters of the book	p. 248
11.3 Recommendations in relation to stakeholders addressed	p. 251
About the authors	p. 255
Index	p. 261

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