Opportunities and Constraints Faced by Smallholder Farmers in the Vhembe District, Limpopo Province in South Africa

This paper highlighted the opportunities and constraints faced by smallholder farmers in the Vhembe District Municipality (VDM) of Limpopo province. The VDM is well-known for agricultural opportunities as different agricultural commodities such as vegetables and fruits are produced in this district. The Agricultural Research Council (ARC) conducted an assessment in VDM in collaboration with the Department of Rural Development and Land Reform (DRDLR) aimed at identifying opportunities and constraints faced by smallholder farmers. A total of (52) horticultural projects with 1003 beneficiaries participated in the study and were from the following four local municipalities: Mutale, Thulamela, Makhado and Musina. Quantitative and qualitative research designs were employed as copies of structured questionnaire written in English were developed to elicit information for the study. The study also included group discussion, stakeholder’s discussion, as well as field observations. Purposive sampling technique was used in selecting fifty-two (52) projects, in order to cover the uniformity and homogenous characteristics such as infrastructure requirements, skills availability, production challenges and agricultural training needs, among other factors. Data was coded, captured and analysed using Social Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) and descriptive analysis was conducted. The results showed that some of the opportunities available in VDM is the high agricultural production in some parts of Vhembe, while market access, the use of traditional land and limited water resources remain some of the constraints hindering the development of the agriculture sector in the area. The study recommends the establishment of fruits and vegetable markets through possible links to AgriPark in the Vhembe local municipalities. This will ensure increased production and consumption of fruit and vegetables, creating a complete and viable agro-value chain that will expand community-driven agricultural production and processing, and enhance the role of horticultural crops in addressing the immense malnutrition problem of vulnerable groups in South Africa. Lastly, it is important to note that establishing fruits and vegetable markets (AgriPark) in the VDM will create job opportunities for local people and stimulate the local economy. © 2021, The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.