Socio-economic factors affecting home gardens as a livelihood strategy in rural areas of the Eastern Cape province, South Africa

Abstract

Home gardens have been identified as one of the possible ways of producing food and offer great solutions to some of the issues surrounding poverty alleviation and improving food security in rural areas. However, home gardens' potential as a living strategy has not been recognized and affected by many factors. Therefore, the study examines socio-economic factors influencing home gardens as a living strategy in rural areas of the Eastern Cape Province. The study was conducted in the Eastern Cape Province rural areas, where data was collected from 200 households using snowball sampling. The study made use of descriptive and logit regression models for analysis. The study results reveal that female households actively participated in home gardens with an average of 46 years. Households were landowners with an average farm size of 3 Ha and owning farm assets. Home gardens contributed immensely to households by providing food for home consumption and generating income from crops and vegetables. The study concludes that Socio-economic factors were the factors influencing home gardens as the living strategy in rural areas. Therefore, the study recommends the provision of external personnel in rural areas to assist home gardeners in improving their productivity.

Assessing the Determinants of Adopting Urban Tree Planting as Climate Change Mitigation Strategy in Enugu Metropolis, Nigeria

“…The study results showed that the majority (69%) of the farming households were married and this played a huge role in decision-making, as married farmers thought about the well-being of their households, as well as assisted in the provision of family labour. These results were in line with the findings of [44]. Household size was employed as a proxy for measuring household labour with the study results indicating that the mean household size was five persons per household, which played an important role in tree planting.…”

“…Comparatively, to discriminant examination, the Logit regression model is more applicable to a larger range of exploration conditions. Due to its superior comparative mathematical simplicity, this model was adopted over the Probit model [43,44]. The ability of this model to more effectively address the primary research objectives as well as the characteristics of the data and sample (association between variables, slope indicating how the log odds ratio is in favour of adoption urban tree planting) led to its selection.…”

The Impact of Smallholder Irrigation Scheme on Household Welfare in Farm-Managed Irrigation Scheme Communities in the Eastern Cape Province, South Africa

“…The average number of years spent in school by smallholder farmers was 12 years, which is equivalent to secondary education in South Africa. These farmers were in line with Mujuru et al (2022), Sigigaba et al (2021) and Mdiya and Mdoda (2021) that smallholder farmers in the Eastern Cape Province are literate, which enables them the opportunity to access new innovative agricultural practices, market information and take well-informed decision regarding the farm as they are knowledgeable. This played an important role in smallholder irrigation farming as they have all the necessary skills and knowledge to operate farms and machinery to enhance productivity.…”

Income Contribution of Backyard Gardening and its Association with Household Food Security: A Case Study in an Urban Setting

“…For instance, Dissanayake and Manawadu (2019) found that factors such as basic knowledge in crop production practices, ability to obtain quality seeds and planting materials were among factors affecting the backyard gardeners' food security status. Mdiya and Mdoda (2021) found that location, years spent in school, total household income, land ownership, age, off-farm income, and family size were among other factors affecting backyard gardeners' food security status. Research by Mcata and Obi (2015) as well as Mokone (2016) conclude that household income, engagement in non-farm activities, years of experience in gardening, and the proportion of produce consumed impacted the food security status of backyard gardeners.…”

“…Some insights on household indicators that can explain the food security status of households practising backyard gardening in South Africa is given in various studies that include Mcata and Obi (2015); Dissanayake and Manawadu (2019); Mdiya and Mdoda (2021); Mokone (2016). For instance, Dissanayake and Manawadu (2019) found that factors such as basic knowledge in crop production practices, ability to obtain quality seeds and planting materials were among factors affecting the backyard gardeners' food security status.…”