IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v16y2024i5p1952-d1346922.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

An Analysis of the Acceptance of Water Management Systems among Smallholder Farmers in Numbi, Mpumalanga Province, South Africa

Author

Listed:
  • Mishal Trevor Morepje

    (School of Agricultural Sciences, University of Mpumalanga, Mbombela 1200, South Africa)

  • Isaac Azikiwe Agholor

    (School of Agricultural Sciences, University of Mpumalanga, Mbombela 1200, South Africa)

  • Moses Zakhele Sithole

    (School of Agricultural Sciences, University of Mpumalanga, Mbombela 1200, South Africa)

  • Lethu Inneth Mgwenya

    (School of Agricultural Sciences, University of Mpumalanga, Mbombela 1200, South Africa)

  • Nomzamo Sharon Msweli

    (School of Agricultural Sciences, University of Mpumalanga, Mbombela 1200, South Africa)

  • Variety Nkateko Thabane

    (School of Agricultural Sciences, University of Mpumalanga, Mbombela 1200, South Africa)

Abstract

The study investigated the relationship between smallholder farmers’ socioeconomic characteristics and their choice to implement formal water management systems in the context of agricultural output in Numbi, Mpumalanga Province, South Africa. Numbi is a farming community situated in the Mbombela Local Municipality within the Ehlanzeni District Municipality of Mpumalanga Province. The study featured 141 smallholder farmers who were chosen using a straightforward random sampling method. A systematic and structured questionnaire was used to collect the data, and binary logistic regression was used to analyze the acceptability of formal water management systems among smallholder farmers. The results revealed statistically significant relationships with gender ( p = 0.025), age ( p = 0.186), educational level ( p = 0.087), farm size ( p = 0.151), household size ( p = 0.041), and the use of alternative irrigation ( p < 0.001). These findings underscore the importance of socioeconomic factors in influencing smallholder farmers’ openness to adopting formal water management systems. The study, therefore, recommends that policymakers, extension agents, and other stakeholders should prioritize farmer socioeconomic factors when advocating for the acceptance of formal water management systems. Hence, water-use efficiency, increased crop yields, and livelihood security will be eminent, thus improving the overall farmer quality of life in the study area.

Suggested Citation

  • Mishal Trevor Morepje & Isaac Azikiwe Agholor & Moses Zakhele Sithole & Lethu Inneth Mgwenya & Nomzamo Sharon Msweli & Variety Nkateko Thabane, 2024. "An Analysis of the Acceptance of Water Management Systems among Smallholder Farmers in Numbi, Mpumalanga Province, South Africa," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(5), pages 1-18, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:16:y:2024:i:5:p:1952-:d:1346922
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/16/5/1952/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/16/5/1952/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Mao, Hui & Zhou, Li & Ifft, Jennifer & Ying, RuiYao, 2019. "Risk preferences, production contracts and technology adoption by broiler farmers in China," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 54(C), pages 147-159.
    2. Liu Wenxin & Zhang Yao & Xu Ruifan & Zhang Zhen, 2022. "Water shortage risk evaluation and its primary cause: Empirical evidence from rural China," Natural Resources Forum, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 46(2), pages 179-199, May.
    3. Jean‐Paul Chavas & Céline Nauges, 2020. "Uncertainty, Learning, and Technology Adoption in Agriculture," Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 42(1), pages 42-53, March.
    4. Elahi, Ehsan & Khalid, Zainab & Zhang, Zhixin, 2022. "Understanding farmers’ intention and willingness to install renewable energy technology: A solution to reduce the environmental emissions of agriculture," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 309(C).
    5. Edinam Dope Setsoafia & Wanglin Ma & Alan Renwick, 2022. "Effects of sustainable agricultural practices on farm income and food security in northern Ghana," Agricultural and Food Economics, Springer;Italian Society of Agricultural Economics (SIDEA), vol. 10(1), pages 1-15, December.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Zhaoxue Gai & Ying Xu & Guoming Du, 2023. "Spatio-Temporal Differentiation and Driving Factors of Carbon Storage in Cultivated Land-Use Transition," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(5), pages 1-16, February.
    2. Wei Zheng & Hongliang Qiu & Alastair M. Morrison, 2023. "Applying a Combination of SEM and fsQCA to Predict Tourist Resource-Saving Behavioral Intentions in Rural Tourism: An Extension of the Theory of Planned Behavior," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(2), pages 1-23, January.
    3. Janina Jędrzejczak-Gas & Joanna Wyrwa & Anetta Barska, 2024. "Sustainable Energy Development and Sustainable Economic Development in EU Countries," Energies, MDPI, vol. 17(7), pages 1-20, April.
    4. Khanna, Madhu, 2021. "Digital Transformation for a Sustainable Agriculture: Opportunities and Challenges," 2021 Conference, August 17-31, 2021, Virtual 315052, International Association of Agricultural Economists.
    5. Diane Kapgen & Laurence Roudart, 2023. "A Multidisciplinary Approach to Assess Smallholder Farmers' Adoption of New Technologies in Development Interventions," The European Journal of Development Research, Palgrave Macmillan;European Association of Development Research and Training Institutes (EADI), vol. 35(4), pages 974-995, August.
    6. Das, Nandini & Gupta, Anubhab & Majumder, Binoy & Das, Mahamitra & Muniappan, Rangaswamy, 2024. "Does Training Farmers on Multiple Technologies Deter Adoption? Evidence from a Farm Management Training Program in Bangladesh," 2024 Annual Meeting, July 28-30, New Orleans, LA 343784, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    7. Andrei Kirilenko & Nikolai Dronin, 2022. "Recent grain production boom in Russia in historical context," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 171(3), pages 1-19, April.
    8. Du Peng & Ehsan Elahi & Zainab Khalid, 2023. "Productive Service Agglomeration, Human Capital Level, and Urban Economic Performance," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(9), pages 1-25, April.
    9. Bingquan Liu & Boyang Nie & Yakun Wang & Xuemin Han & Yongqing Li, 2023. "Does New Infrastructure Affect Regional Carbon Intensity? Empirical Evidence from China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(24), pages 1-20, December.
    10. Albiona Pestisha & Zoltán Gabnai & Aidana Chalgynbayeva & Péter Lengyel & Attila Bai, 2023. "On-Farm Renewable Energy Systems: A Systematic Review," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(2), pages 1-25, January.
    11. Theodoros Skevas & Ray Massey & Jasper Grashuis, 2022. "Farmer adoption and intensity of use of extreme weather adaptation and mitigation strategies: evidence from a sample of Missouri farmers," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 174(1), pages 1-23, September.
    12. Coronese, Matteo & Occelli, Martina & Lamperti, Francesco & Roventini, Andrea, 2023. "AgriLOVE: Agriculture, land-use and technical change in an evolutionary, agent-based model," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 208(C).
    13. Calise, Francesco & Cappiello, Francesco Liberato & Cimmino, Luca & Dentice d’Accadia, Massimo & Vicidomini, Maria, 2024. "A solar-assisted liquefied biomethane production by anaerobic digestion: Dynamic simulations for harbors," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 189(PB).
    14. Huitao Shen & Tao Zhang & Yanxia Zhao & Aibin Wu & Zhenhua Zheng & Jiansheng Cao, 2023. "Effects of Precipitation Variation on Annual and Winter Soil Respiration in a Semiarid Mountain Shrubland in Northern China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(9), pages 1-13, May.
    15. Yan Zhao & Ehsan Elahi & Zainab Khalid & Xuegang Sun & Fang Sun, 2023. "Environmental, Social and Governance Performance: Analysis of CEO Power and Corporate Risk," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(2), pages 1-18, January.
    16. Min Zhu & Mengqi Sun & Ehsan Elahi & Yajie Li & Zainab Khalid, 2023. "Analyzing the Relationship between Green Finance and Agricultural Industrial Upgrading: A Panel Data Study of 31 Provinces in China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(12), pages 1-19, June.
    17. Madhu Khanna & Shady S. Atallah & Saurajyoti Kar & Bijay Sharma & Linghui Wu & Chengzheng Yu & Girish Chowdhary & Chinmay Soman & Kaiyu Guan, 2022. "Digital transformation for a sustainable agriculture in the United States: Opportunities and challenges," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 53(6), pages 924-937, November.
    18. Kasin Ransikarbum & Wattana Chanthakhot & Tony Glimm & Jettarat Janmontree, 2023. "Evaluation of Sourcing Decision for Hydrogen Supply Chain Using an Integrated Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis (MCDA) Tool," Resources, MDPI, vol. 12(4), pages 1-22, April.
    19. Gang Li & Ehsan Elahi & Xingshuai Wang, 2023. "Population age structure, asset price, and financial stability," Managerial and Decision Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 44(4), pages 2041-2056, June.
    20. Jutao Zeng & Jie Lyu, 2023. "Simultaneous Decisions to Undertake Off-Farm Work and Straw Return: The Role of Cognitive Ability," Land, MDPI, vol. 12(8), pages 1-21, August.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:16:y:2024:i:5:p:1952-:d:1346922. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.