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Abstract:
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The study was conducted in partial fulfillment of the requirements of the Agricultural Research for
Development training programme offered by the Agricultural Research Council and the
International Centre for development oriented Research in Agriculture. The study was conducted at
Leeukraal and Tafelkop villages in the Sekhukhune District of Limpopo Province. The purpose of
the study was to identify soil conservation practices in the area and develop conservation
agriculture strategies that can be implemented by the Limpopo Department of Agriculture in the
district for sustainable crop production.
A partnership has been formed by Limpopo Provincial Department of Agriculture (LDA),
Universities of Venda and Limpopo, Local Municipalities and ARC concerned about the low level of
crop production in the area. Food security and scarce of resources by small-scale farmers are
believed to be some of the challenges that are faced by farmers in Sekhukhune district. It is
envisaged that, through the (ARD) programme, this partnership will assist in planning and
implementation of future agricultural development projects in the province.
Participatory Rural Appraisal tools were used to collect the data. Stakeholders’ perceptions were
gathered and development strategies were proposed by the team. These strategies were validated,
through a stakeholder workshop, with the all the relevant stakeholders including the farmers in both
the targeted villages. Both villages were visited to observe the farming practices as well as natural
resources that are available. Although the soils of these villages appear to be good, there is limited
crop production due to a number of factors, which includes erratic rainfall, unavailability of relevant
farming equipments and soil degradation.
The recommendations that were developed during this study can be employed provided that there
is an appropriate partnership amongst the relevant stakeholders. |