Intervention Strategy for Enhancing Livelihoods of Land Reform Farmers in Waterberg District, South Africa

Abstract

Despite South Africa implementing various land reform policies post 1994 to address poverty and inequality, poor performance of restitution farms and unimproved livelihoods of farm beneficiaries still exist. Hence, the objective of the study was to develop an intervention strategy between July 2016 and June 2017, to improve livelihoods of farm beneficiaries in South Africa and beyond. Quantitative and qualitative methods were used to collect and analyse data. Transformative research design was used. Focus group discussions, non-participatory observation, interviews and feedback sessions were used to collect qualitative data from 26 key informants in Waterberg District. A questionnaire was utilized to collect quantitative data from 289 farm beneficiaries drawn from 32 farms in the District. Qualitative data, was analysed using Thematic content while Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) version 25 was used for quantitative data. Ranking analysis was performed to determine factors contributing to non-performance of the farms. Majority of respondents (84.4%) agreed that farm production decreased and beneficiaries’ livelihoods remained the same since restoration. Therefore, an intervention strategy that included support production system, improved market access and incorporation of agricultural economic experts and engineers was developed to unleash agricultural potential in restitution farms.