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Livelihoods in the wake of agricultural commercialisation in South Africa's poverty nodes: insights from small-scale irrigation schemes in Limpopo Province

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  • Barbara Tapela

Abstract

Small-scale irrigation farming is envisaged to play a progressively larger role in rural development and to help reduce some inequalities in South Africa's space economy. Since the late 1990s, the government has aimed to 'revitalise' government-owned small-scale irrigation schemes, many located in former homelands. Its macro-policy shifts seem to favour the creation of a black farming elite. Important questions are whether neoliberal policies will harm the poorest and most vulnerable in irrigation farming communities, and whether a new class of petty commodity producers can establish themselves in global commodity chains. This paper looks at vulnerability and marginalisation in selected small-scale irrigation schemes in Limpopo Province. The findings suggest that existing approaches to agricultural commercialisation may not reduce rural poverty and inequality. Although these approaches help to integrate resource-poor irrigation farmers into globalised commodity production sectors, they could undermine the livelihoods of the poorest and most vulnerable in these communities.

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  • Barbara Tapela, 2008. "Livelihoods in the wake of agricultural commercialisation in South Africa's poverty nodes: insights from small-scale irrigation schemes in Limpopo Province," Development Southern Africa, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 25(2), pages 181-198.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:deveza:v:25:y:2008:i:2:p:181-198
    DOI: 10.1080/03768350802090584
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Bastidas, Elena P., 1999. "Gender issues and women's participation in irrigated agriculture: The case of two private irrigation canals in Carchi, Ecuador," IWMI Research Reports 44576, International Water Management Institute.
    2. Perret, Sylvain R., 2001. "New Water Policy, Irrigation Management Transfer And Smallholding Irrigation Schemes In South Africa: Institutional Challenges," Working Papers 18053, University of Pretoria, Department of Agricultural Economics, Extension and Rural Development.
    3. Bastidas, E. P., 1999. "Gender issues and women's participation in irrigated agriculture: the case of two private irrigation canals in Carchi, Ecuador," IWMI Research Reports H024891, International Water Management Institute.
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    Cited by:

    1. Yi Cai & Chunping Xia, 2018. "Interpretive Structural Analysis of Interrelationships among the Elements of Characteristic Agriculture Development in Chinese Rural Poverty Alleviation," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(3), pages 1-19, March.
    2. Marc C. A. Wegerif & Arantxa Guereña, 2020. "Land Inequality Trends and Drivers," Land, MDPI, vol. 9(4), pages 1-23, March.
    3. Thinah Moyo, 2024. "Smallholder Irrigation and Rural Livelihoods in Limpopo Province of South Africa: What is the Contribution to Household Food Security and Income?," International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science, International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science (IJRISS), vol. 8(2), pages 1241-1259, February.

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