The Impact of Sustainable Land Management Practices on Household Welfare and Determinants among Smallholder Maize Farmers in South Africa

Oluwaseun Samuel Oduniyi and Sibongile Sylvia Tekana
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Oluwaseun Samuel Oduniyi: Department of Agriculture and Animal health, Florida Science Campus, University of South Africa, Johannesburg 1709, South Africa
Sibongile Sylvia Tekana: Department of Agriculture and Animal health, Florida Science Campus, University of South Africa, Johannesburg 1709, South Africa

Land, 2021, vol. 10, issue 5, 1-16

Abstract: This study investigated the impact of Sustainable Land Management Practices (SLMP) on the smallholder maize farmer’s welfare in the Gert Sibande District in the Mpumalanga Province of South Africa. Farmers’ welfare is paramount to agricultural development and rural vitalisation, especially in sub-Saharan Africa. The aim of the study is to identify the factors that influence the adoption of SLMP and to assess its impact on the net farm income. A multivariate-probit (MVP) model was used to analyse the determinants of SLMP adopted and an efficient endogenous switching regression model (ESRM) was used to estimate the impact of SLMP on the net farm income of the smallholder maize farmers. The MVP results show that household socio-economic characteristics and institutional factors statistically influenced the choice of SLMP. Subsequently, the pair-wise correlation matrix of the MVP model revealed complementarities among all SLMP implemented by the farmers. Similarly, the ESRM treatment effect indicated that the average net farm income of farmers who adopted SLMP were significantly higher than that of the group who did not. Consequently, the study recommended support policies on farmers’ demography, farm-based characteristics, and institutional factors to improve the welfare of the farmers and promote rural vitalisation.

Keywords: SLMP; MVP; ESRM; South Africa (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q15 Q2 Q24 Q28 Q5 R14 R52 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jlands:v:10:y:2021:i:5:p:508-:d:551243

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