Perceptions on organic farming and selected organic fertilizers by subsistence farmers in Ga-Rankuwa, Pretoria, South Africa

Organic farming, which is a form of alternative or sustainable agriculture, makes a major contribution to the improvement of food security globally through recycling of natural resources. This study assessed 60 subsistence farmers’ perceptions of organic farming. Descriptive statistical analyses of randomly selected subsistence farmers indicated that the majority of respondents (80.0%) had previous knowledge of organic farming but had failed to practise it because they could not afford it. In addition, they thought organic fertilizers, such as dry sewage, human faeces and human urine were unacceptable because of their smell, their unhygienic nature and the respondents’ fear of disease epidemics. The female respondents’ order of decreasing preference for organic fertilizers was animal droppings > animal urine > human faeces > sewage > human urine, whereas for males it was chicken droppings > cow dung > animal urine > sewage and human urine > human faeces. Respondents with no high school education regarded chicken droppings most positively as an organic fertilizer (93.2%), followed by cow dung (84.1%), animal urine (66.0%) and human urine (27.3%), whereas the majority of respondents with tertiary education preferred sewage and human faeces as organic fertilizers. Fifty per cent of the respondents showed a willingness to convert to organic farming, dependent on the availability of information and education.