Agriculture is a backbone for the overall development of Africa. It is widely acknowledged that the small-scale farmers need empowerment through extension services to achieve the National Development Plan of South Africa. The aim of this paper is to improve the understanding of different role players on the concept of agricultural extension service in South Africa. This study concentrated on the rarely assessed different role players' concept of extension service, especially farmers and agricultural extension officers with respect to the objective of extension, agricultural extension principles, extension teaching, and methods teaching aids and tools. The results found that a general mismatch exists between farmers and agricultural extension officers on the conceptualisation of indicators such as extension objectives and teaching methods. A match exits on indicators of extension principles as well as teaching aids and tools. The article suggests that to promote sustainable agricultural development, agricultural extension should be critically considered with the development policy of ending hunger and poverty in South Africa.
Heat stress affects dairy cows' feed intake, reproductive system and milk production. This study analysed the financial implications of heat stress for small scale milk producers. The semi-arid regions of the Free State-Bloemfontein, Bothaville, and Bethlehem were selected for the study. To estimate the impact of heat stress on milk production, baseline (1950-1999) and mid-century (2040-2070) climate data and Temperature Humidity Index thresholds (THI thershold) of 70 and 65 were used. Mid-century data with no adaptation strategy resulted in a doubled loss, while moderate heat-mitigation strategies (wetting and forced ventilation) resulted in positive improvements in milk production and income of farmers. Results show strong polynomial correlations (R 2 of 0.73-0.79) between the T max and milk-production losses where above T max of 25 C, milk-production loss increased sharply. The combined average loss of milk production during the hot summer was estimated at 0.35 liters per cow in a day, which is equivalent to ZAR1.27 per cow per day. With changing climate, the highest revenue loss was recorded in the MPI_ESM_MR future climate scenario. Moreover, results from the questionnaires show that heat stress reduces farmers' milk production significantly in the summertime, and for most of the respondents, measures that should be taken are too costly to apply. Exhaustive analysis of the economic impacts of heat stress on milk production is recommended for future studies, as it is an important sector in alleviating household food insecurity in South Africa.
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