Performance and sustainability of commercial cooperatives and sole proprietorships citrus farms in Mpumalanga province, South Africa

Abstract

Citrus farming is one of the specialised crops which need special attention in order to have a better product at the end of the value chain. Citrus crops that are well looked after produce good income while poor crops become costly to the farmer. Any suspicions of pests' damage may render the consignment for export to be turned down at the expense of a farmer. The objectives of this paper were to assess performance and sustainability between cooperatives and sole proprietorship citrus farms. The research also looked at the reasons as to why some farmers are more successful than others who farm in the same region with similar circumstances and challenges. This study compared the performance of commercial cooperatives and sole proprietorships of citrus farmers in Mpumalanga Province. A total of 40 farmers were interviewed in order to establish their scale of performance and contribution to sustainability. The findings revealed that the knowledge was a critical factor as they were found knowledgeable in citrus, such as management, business planning, packaging and marketing. It is recommended that the emerging citrus farmers should be exposed to acquisition of appropriate knowledge and skills if they have to perform better.

Competitiveness of Micro, Small and Medium Entrepreneurs during Economic Disruption

“…There is no distinction in the law between the owner and the business entity for sole proprietors because they have full responsibility. As a solo proprietor, the owner often controls business decisions and reinvestments (Manenzhe et al, 2020). Table 3 presents the MSME's Net worth.…”

Why do agricultural co-operatives fail to attract youth and create rural employment? Evidence from a case study of Zanokhanyo in Butterworth, Eastern Cape

“…This leads to poor productivity and less competitiveness, which are crucial in the rest of the South African agricultural sector (D'Haese & Bostyn, 2001;Genis, 2015). On the one hand, Manenzhe, Zwane and Van Niekerk (2020) argue that sound business knowledge and farming skills are key to the success of cooperatives, while on the other hand, Magagula and Tsvakirai (2020) have provided evidence of youth's interest in agriculture and agribusiness participation. The combination of these ideas may be indicative of the potential of that exist in agricultural cooperatives for creating employment and business opportunities for young people.…”