Agricultural support programmes in the developing areas of South Africa

[摘要] The Farmer Support Programme (FSP) was introduced in South Africa by theDevelopment BanK of Southern Africa (DBSA) as one of the major agriculturaldevelopment strategies to support black farmers who have been historically deniedaccess to basic support services. The introduction of this paradigm shift indevelopment thinking was also a response to the ineffective but costly large scaleproject approach in black agriculture during the 1970s and 1980s.The main objective of this study was to evaluate the performance of the FSP andassess the contribution of the programme to increased agricultural productivity andimproved household food security. This was achieved through a three yearresearch programme which included two rounds of household surveys of FSPparticipants in three areas, i.e. Venda, Lebowa and KaNgwane and throughinterviews with the implementing agents, farmer groups and extensionists in theseareas. The implementnticn and success of each of the FSPs were evaluated. Theprovision of each of che support elements included in the programme, i.e. credit,extension, input provision, mechanisation services and marketing was also criticallyevaluated based on a literature survey of the international experience on provisionof support services to smallholders in developing countries. The implementat:o., of farmer support programmes succeeded in improving theaccess to basic supp~:t services of agricultural households in the developing areasof South Africa. The FSP thus succeeded in alleviating many of the constraintsthese households experienced because they were previously denied many of thebasic support services and institutions. The evidence from the three case studiesshows, however, that the results of the improved access and comprehensiveprovision of services are not uniform. The varying degree of success can beattributed to a number of factors, such as the historical context of the target areas,the different approaches followed by implementing agents in the implementationof the programmes, the natural resource base and finally the degree of farmerparticipation. It was determined that coordination, commitment and participationare crucial eler t3nts i~ • the successful implementation of farmer supportprogrammes.This study has shown that the FSP has the potential to improve agriculturalproductivity and household food security if correctly implemented. The evaluationof the FSPs in the three areas has provided valuable lessons for futureimplementation of FSPs. In addition to the lessons and suggested improvementsit is recommended that the task of levelling the playing field for the farmers in thedeveloping areas of South Africa, should be given a high priority in the Departmentof Agriculture in the new government. With the expected change in emphasis andreorientation towards black small-scale farmers the case for a national strategy tonormalise agricultural support services should be high on the agenda. Acoordinated national strategy with localised programmes based on the principlesand lessons of the FSP would be the best way to equalise access to all basicagricultural support services.

[发布机构] University of Pretoria