Youth, who make up the majority of South Africa's population and will be the future responsible citizens, confront numerous obstacles, including a lack of access to land, finance, markets, practical training, and incentives. The low interest of youngsters in agriculture is attributed to the poor status of agricultural output in Africa's rural areas due to a lack of government support. The study was conducted to assess the involvement of youths in agricultural activities in Eastern Cape Province, South Africa. The convenient sampling technique was used, and qualitative data were collected from 104 participants using a pre-tested structured questionnaire. The questionnaire covered demographic characteristics, land ownership status, contact with extension personnel, and involvement in farming activities, funding, and constraints. Descriptive statistics and chi-square test were used for data analysis. The results showed that there were more males (59.6%) participants than females (40.4%) and the majority (74%) were between 20 -35 years of age, 52.9% had senior secondary school level of education and came from a household size ranging from 6 -19. Approximately 88.5% of participants had an agricultural background with an annual income of less than R20,000.00. More than half (51.9 %) of the study population, had farming experience less than 5 years, while 52.9% owned less than 2 hectares of land, and 78.8% were self-employed. Findings revealed that age (χ 2 = 5.519, P < 0.01) and farming experience (χ 2 = 43.

The objective of this study was to examine the characteristics of small-scale livestock production systems in some communal areas of the Eastern Cape Province, South Africa. The parameters surveyed include sex, age, educational and marital status of the farmers, types of livestock raised and production system practiced. The study revealed that mixed crop-livestock production systems were dominant in the study area. Majority of the respondents (72.4%) were male and approximately 59% of the older male farmers were more than 70 years old with the highest mean flock size of 86. A total of 62% of these farmers had basic education and a mean family size of 5.9±3.0. Most of the sheep farmers (70.9%) bought their foundation stock, but 6.5% of them obtained theirs through bride price (lobola). Generally, livestock species owned by the respondents were sheep (71.8%), poultry (12.9%), cattle (7.7%), goats (4.4%), dogs (1.3%), pigs (0.6%) and others (1.3%). Family labour is mostly used for animal management and herding, being done by men (65%) and boys (30%), respectively. The natural veld provides highest feed resource base for the animals and almost all the respondents provide night shelter for their sheep, in the kraal that is adjacent to the main family house. The prevalence of gall sickness was ranked the highest (22.1%) among the diseases and parasites affecting sheep. While 80% of the respondents treated their animals with stock remedies, a very low proportion of them (3.4%) adopts an integrated approach of using commercial drugs and local herbs or call animal health technicians to treat sick animals.

Background: South Africa is recognised as one of the most biodiverse countries in terms of fauna and flora in the sub-Saharan region. More than 40% of farmers in remote rural areas of the Eastern Cape Province use medicinal plants for the treatment of different livestock ailments.Aim: The aim of the study was to identify and document plant species used for the treatment of tick-borne diseases in the Amathole and O.R. Tambo district municipalities of the Eastern Cape, South Africa.Methods: Semi-structured questionnaire was employed to obtain detailed information of ethnoveterinary medicinal plants used including parts, mode of preparation and mode of administration from 48 respondents between November 2013 and February 2014. The collected plant species were identified scientifically at the Stutterheim Dohne Herbarium, where voucher numbers were obtained and herbarium specimens were deposited. Data collected were subjected to descriptive statistical analysis.Results: A total of nine medicinal plant species belonging to eight families and represented by nine genera were identified. The most dominant inhabitants were trees (55.6%), followed by herbs (33.3%) and shrubs (11.1%). The most frequently used plant families for tick-borne diseases were Xanthorrhoeaceae, Ebenaceae, Proteaceae, Malvaceae, Asteraceae, Vitaceae, Loganiaceae and Iridaceae, and from these plant families, leaves (44.4%) were the most commonly used plant parts.Conclusion: The data display that people in rural areas have preserved some knowledge of ethnoveterinary practices for the treatment of tick-borne diseases. However, further studies on plants used for the treatment of tick-borne diseases can be advanced towards validation and standardisation by evaluating parameters such as efficacy, safety and toxicity, quality (phytochemicals) and dosage standards.

The study was conducted to identify farmers' perception and ranking of the most important constraints to sheep production at Sinqumeni administrative area, in Ngcobo local municipality of the Eastern Cape Province, South Africa. Data was collected using semi-structured questionnaire. The results showed that 72.6% of the surveyed farmers were males and 62.5% of the farmers were between the ages of 52-80 years. The most important challenges of sheep production perceived by the farmers were disease and parasites (27%), shortage of feed (16.7%), lack of infrastructure (16%), organized market access (14.7%), lack of water availability (10.1%), high cost of drugs/vaccines (9.8%), stock theft (5.7%) respectively. Thus, there is a need to forge strategic partnership with various stakeholders to control the identified challenges through ongoing training of farmers using a demonstration approach rather than an oral presentation, formation of cooperatives to minimise the cost of drugs; and conservation of feed and rain water harvesting in preparation for dry season can be a sustainable way of overcoming the constraints experienced by small-scale sheep producers.

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