Market Participation Decision of Emerging Farmers Under the Land Restitution Programme in Limpopo Province, South Africa

Abstract

This paper examined the factors influencing market participation decisions and the level of the emerging farmers under the land restitution programme in Limpopo Province, South Africa. The study used stratified and purposive sampling to sample 200 emerging farmers. The results of the descriptive statistics revealed that approximately 33% of emerging farmers participated in the markets. The double-hurdle results indicated that age, post-settlement support, training, irrigation, market information, transportation, credit access, extension services and farmer association membership positively influenced participation decisions and level. In contrast, non-farm businesses, sources of income and enterprises negatively influenced participation decisions and levels. This paper recommends providing support services entailing credit, training and marketing cooperatives to improve and strengthen market participation by emerging farmers in Limpopo Province.