Socio-economic Determinants of Flock Size in Small-scale Broiler Production in Capricorn District of Limpopo Province, South Africa

Luvhengo, Usapfa; Senyolo, Mmapatla Precious; Belete, Abenet

doi:10.1080/09709274.2015.11906946

Cited by 4 publications

(1 citation statement)

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“…Limpopo, according to reports, is the province that has the fewest broiler producers, who account for only about 3% of overall production [5]. The province features a dual agricultural system, with 273,000 small-scale farmers occupying 30% of agricultural land, and 5000 large-scale commercial farmers using the remaining 70% of the arable land [25]. Previously, the Capricorn District recorded the highest export of broiler meat in 2010, with an export share of 85%, which has been followed by a drastic decline ever since.…”

Section: Broiler Industry In the Limpopo Provincementioning

confidence: 99%

An Assessment of Economic Sustainability and Efficiency in Small-Scale Broiler Farms in Limpopo Province: A Review

et al. 2023

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An important factor in determining the success of a small-scale broiler farm is its economic viability and efficiency. During times of trouble for the industry, the idea receives more attention. The conceptual considerations of economic sustainability and efficiency are frequently quite constrained, according to the difficulties raised in this study and by other authors. There is a lack of information about South Africa's small-scale broiler production's economic viability and effectiveness. Furthermore, it is clear that small-scale broiler producers have the ability to increase their economic efficiency. By reducing the mortality rate, feed conversion rate, and production duration, both their technical and financial efficiency could be improved. Profitability in the production of broilers will be considerably increased by lowering the cost of these variable inputs, particularly feed and day-old chicks. Additionally, raising the education level, capacity utilization ratio, and broiler production would all contribute to raising the farms' efficiency levels. To ensure effective resource use and to maximize practicable profit, small-scale broiler producers who are not operating close to the profit frontier must make efforts to reduce both technical and allocation inefficiencies. Collectively, all these measures would ensure the economic sustainability of small-scale farmers in South Africa would be met. Moreover, the sustainability of small-scale broiler producers can be achieved if strategies that build local capacity and that empower them to sustain high levels of productivity are provided. In addition, the efficient use of resources will ensure that productivity is enhanced, and might increase profitability. It is therefore important to ensure that small-scale broiler producers achieve maximum profit for a given set of inputs. Approaches in assessing the farm-level profitability such as cost-benefit and gross margin analyses can be used.

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Section: Broiler Industry In the Limpopo Provincementioning

confidence: 99%

An Assessment of Economic Sustainability and Efficiency in Small-Scale Broiler Farms in Limpopo Province: A Review

et al. 2023

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Productivity and constraints of small-scale crop farming in the summer rainfall region of South Africa

2022

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The South African policy sphere hails the commercialisation of small-scale farming as the answer to a myriad of socio-economic, ecological and political challenges of rural livelihoods. Yet the low agricultural productivity of this sector challenges the realisation of this pathway. Through comparison with large-scale farmers, this review sought to elicit the main reasons for differences in productivity and explore the prospects of small-scale farming. It highlights that low productivity of small-scale farming cannot be solely ascribed to biophysical constraints and that differences rather arise at farm and regional level. Therefore, intervention strategies should not be solely sought at field scale, which seems to be the norm. While the prospects of small-scale farming may seem gloomy at first glance, opportunities such as investing in horticulture exist. Prospects for small-scale farming are limited by the country's very competitive and thriving large-scale farming that saturate most agricultural markets. A key conclusion from this review is that we still do not know enough about small-scale farming systems in South Africa. For example, what is the contribution of small-scale farming to the living income of households? Are farming households food and nutrition secure? In particular, the role of agriculture in improving rural livelihoods is poorly understood. Farming is likely to remain an important supplementary livelihood opportunity for the majority of rural households. As such, small-scale farming needs to be rethought as part of a broader livelihood strategy by all stakeholders while continuously seeking alternative entry points towards thriving rural livelihoods. This means provision of support for transition to more commercial farming activities for those with interest and sufficient resources, while alternative employment or social protection is provided for others. A key question for research is what types of farming (crops and livestock) and what scale of operation is needed to achieve commercial success in different regions.

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Estimation of Technical, Allocative, and Economic Efficiencies for Smallholder Broiler Producers in South Africa

et al. 2022

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The prevailing economic conditions as a result of COVID-19, climate change, and the Russia–Ukraine conflict, have led to renewed global interest in the efficiency of the agricultural sector. As a result of this, we investigated the efficiencies of 64 broiler producers in three districts covering the North West and Limpopo provinces in South Africa from 2019 to 2022, using a two-stage data envelopment analysis method with input orientation. The results show that producers operate on the upper bounds toward efficiency, but room for improvement still exists at 10%, 20%, and 28% on technical, allocative, and cost efficiencies. This indicates that inputs can still be reduced without changing the level of output and that the input combination is incompatible with cost minimization. Consequently, only 13%, 8%, and 4% of the sampled broiler producers exhibited technical, allocative, and cost efficiencies, respectively; the majority were women. The Vhembe, Capricorn, and Dr. Kenneth Kaunda (DRKK) districts had vastly different scores for each efficiency type, indicating that their differences in resource endowments, technology, and climate, necessitate the formulation of district-specific policies. The mortality rate, heating costs, and investments in health emerged as significant efficiency determinants. Overall, the findings provide insights into refocusing the country’s poultry sector in light of current shocks and the notable aspirations of the poultry master plan.

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Socio-economic Determinants of Flock Size in Small-scale Broiler Production in Capricorn District of Limpopo Province, South Africa

Cited by 4 publications

References 1 publication

An Assessment of Economic Sustainability and Efficiency in Small-Scale Broiler Farms in Limpopo Province: A Review

An Assessment of Economic Sustainability and Efficiency in Small-Scale Broiler Farms in Limpopo Province: A Review

Productivity and constraints of small-scale crop farming in the summer rainfall region of South Africa

Estimation of Technical, Allocative, and Economic Efficiencies for Smallholder Broiler Producers in South Africa

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