The potential of smallholder irrigated agriculture to enhance food security and alleviate rural poverty has led the South African Government to prioritise and invest significantly in irrigation establishment, rehabilitation and revitalisation. The question addressed in this study pertains to the extent to which smallholder irrigation has been able to reduce poverty in the rural communities to justify this investment. Using a sample of 251 farmers, this study found that factors such as land size, perceived soil fertility, household size, and access to support services were significant predictors of irrigation participation. The results from the treatment effect model indicated that access to irrigation plays a positive role in the welfare of rural households, with irrigators spending about ZAR2 000 per adult equivalent on consumption more than the non-irrigators. The study, therefore, concluded that government investments in smallholder irrigation for poverty reduction are justified. The other factors that influenced household consumption were off-farm income, land size, livestock size, education level, family size and access to support services and infrastructure. The study recommends that investments in smallholder irrigation continue for poverty reduction, and that priority should also be on finding other feasible rural micro-projects and development initiatives to complement smallholder irrigation and significantly reduce rural poverty.

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Extensive evidence indicates that fruit and vegetable (F+V) consumption leads to reduced chances of diet related non-communicable diseases (NCDs). However, the F+V consumption levels remain low. This paper investigates the extent to which access to information technologies improves F+V consumption in South Africa. A nationally representative sample of 20,908 households was analysed using the Poisson and logit regression models. The study results indicated that most households do not consume sufficient F+V per day. Only 26% of the household heads consumed F+V at least five times a day. Access to mobile phones, radio, television, and internet was associated with increasing frequency of F+V consumption, and higher chances that a household would consume the minimum recommended levels. The association between the communication technologies and F+V consumption varied. Television access had the highest association with both foods, while internet was only significantly associated with vegetable consumption. Several demographic and socio-economic factors played a key role in shaping F+V consumption patterns. The results show that there is scope to disseminate nutrition awareness and education programs, through mobile phones, internet, radio and television in South Africa. The interventions to promote F+V consumption should be tailored according to the different socio-economic profiles of the population.

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South Africa's National Development Plan entrenches the importance of a capable developmental state for the country's social and economic development. Likewise, the potential of science, technology and innovation to address development challenges is emphasised. The developmental state and inclusive innovation ideas have been in and out of the policy agenda since 1996 but have recently gained renewed policy attention. As part of an inclusive innovation for development agenda, the Department of Science and Technology facilitated the demonstration of a suite of basic service innovations in 'distressed' municipalities. This paper, using a mixed-methods approach, draws on the assessment of these demonstrations to reflect on key features which come to the fore in both the developmental state and inclusive innovation literature as crucial for success. In order to enjoy a measure of success in terms of developmental states and inclusive innovation for development, similar conditions are necessary: the encouragement and fostering of active participation by all stakeholders; sufficient financial resources and human capabilities at all levels; and strong collaborative and cohesive networks with similar purposes in mind. Once these form part of practice we are likely to see better implementation of inclusive innovation for development.

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This paper investigates the impact of entrepreneurial competencies on food security among rural farming households in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa (SA). A total of 513 rural households were randomly selected, and the descriptive results indicated that 51% of these households were food insecure, and they were somewhat negative about their entrepreneurial competencies. The estimated results indicated that entrepreneurship had a positive impact on food security. The study findings suggest that stimulating entrepreneurship through developing entrepreneurial competencies among the farming households is important for improved food security among rural households in SA.

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