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Abstract:
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The possibilities for livestock commercialization by smallholder farmers in communal
land use systems of Blouberg Local Municipality (BLM) were evaluated using
Agricultural Research for Development (ARD), a holistic approach to collective rural
innovation and development. Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA) tools such as meetings,
semi-structured interviews, focus groups discussions and workshops provided a platform
for an inter- institutional and inter-disciplinary team of researchers to explore possibilities
for commercialization under the communal land use system, and to gather different
perspectives of the key stakeholders involved in the challenge.
The aim of this study was to contribute to the development of an efficient and effective
approach to better deal with the commercialization aspects of livestock production in
communal land use systems. The findings of the study indicate that smallholder farmers
are keeping livestock mainly to reach their subsistence objectives, and commercialization
is not an eminent issue for these farmers. This is in contrast to the initial view of the
Limpopo Department of Agriculture (LDA) that farmers are ready to commercialize.
The main challenge facing the commercialisation of livestock in communal grazing areas
is organisation of farmers. The management of the veld, establishment of water points
within the veld and building capacity on general livestock management strategies are the
most important developmental strategies, which all require communal action.
Furthermore, the farmers vary little with regards to their farming objectives (subsistence)
and grouping farmers into clusters/typologies may not be necessary for the short-term
future interventions. |