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Study exposes the stark reality of drought resilience among smallholder livestock farmers

05 June 2023 | Story Leonie Bolleurs | Photo Supplied

Prof Bahta — For the past three years, Prof Yonas Bahta has studied the resilience of smallholder livestock farmers in agricultural drought, and the competitiveness of agri-food commodities.

The agricultural sector is marked by farmers’ daily struggles, including price hikes, climate change effects, and pest and disease outbreaks.

Prof Yonas T Bahta, Associate Professor and astute National Research Foundation (NRF) C2-rated researcher in the Department of Agricultural Economics at the University of the Free State (UFS), found that smallholder farmers who received drought relief support saw an improvement in their welfare. The study also found that economic capital, social capital, human capital, and natural capital substantially affected the welfare of smallholder farmers.

Agricultural drought

These findings came from the study, titled: The resilience of households to agricultural drought in the Northern Cape province of South Africa. Prof Bahta’s aim with this study was threefold – to assess household resilience to agricultural drought among smallholder livestock farmers, to evaluate the welfare of smallholder farming households affected by agricultural drought, and to identify factors influencing agricultural drought resilience and food insecurity among smallholder livestock farmers.

During his investigation, he found that only 9% of the smallholder livestock farmers were resilient to agricultural drought. According to him, farming households with access to credit, farmers who received assistance from the government (such as training and feed) during drought, and farmers who are part of a cooperative proved to be more resilient to agricultural drought.

When it comes to food security, he discovered that assets, social safety nets, and indicators of adaptive capacity had a positive influence on households' ability to withstand food insecurity. Alternatively, climate change indicators negatively impacted households’ resilience to food insecurity.

For the past three years, he has studied the resilience of smallholder livestock farmers in agricultural drought. He believes that resilience – the ability to bounce back from adversities – is crucial.

According to him, both the smallholder livestock sector (farmers) and the agrifood industry need to develop resilience to effectively cope with and recover from agricultural drought, macroeconomic stability (inflation), competitiveness, productivity, and other related factors.

Competitiveness of agri-food commodities

Prof Bahta also launched investigations into the competitiveness of agri-food commodities in South Africa as well as Namibia.

The studies were titled: Competitiveness of Namibia’s Agrifood Commodities: Implications for Food Security and Competitiveness of South Africa’s Agrifood Commodities.

In these studies, he respectively looked at the competitiveness of South Africa’s and Namibia’s agrifood products, the factors that influence it, and its implication for food security.

In both countries, he discovered a combination of comparative advantage and disadvantage.

“South Africa and Namibia exhibited a trade structure that was less concentrated and not dependant on international trade in the agri-food industry, having minimal impact on Namibia's food security. The productivity of agriculture and GDP per capita positively influenced the comparative advantage of South Africa, whereas land productivity and GDP per capita influenced the degree of food insecurity in Namibia,” explains Prof Bahta the main research findings.

Research outputs

The study on the resilience of smallholder livestock farmers was supported by funding from the National Research Foundation. To explore the competitiveness of agri-food commodities, Prof Bahta collaborated with the Namibia University of Science and Technology (NUST), benefiting from their strong existing academic relationship. The UFS Office for International Affairs played a key role in facilitating this study, with research partnerships existing between the universities of both countries.

According to Prof Bahta, the findings of these two studies have resulted in the publication of more than 13 articles in journals ranking in the highest (Q1) and second highest categories (Q2) in the specific field. A paper will also be presented at the upcoming International Food and Agribusiness Management Association (IFAMA) international conference in New Zealand from 17 to 20 June 2023.

Furthermore, five popular articles on the main findings of the studies (written in non-technical language) were also published on these topics, focusing on the farmers and policy makers (as a policy brief and popular) as the target audience. These articles looked at, among others, the impact of policy intervention on food insecurity in times of shock; coping strategies of smallholder livestock farmers during food insecurity shocks; measuring the resilience of female smallholders in South Africa; and farming for success.

This study also resulted in the graduation of three master's students (two with distinction) and three honours students.

Looking ahead, Prof Bahta emphasises the necessity for conducting similar studies targeting both commercial and smallholder farmers, focusing on crops and livestock in various provinces across South Africa. He also feels that connections need to be established with universities besides NUST.

News Archive

Legal elite tackle thorny issue of corruption

2013-01-24

Our Faculty of Law brought together top experts and judges for a Symposium on Corruption, to investigate one of the most pressing concerns of South Africans.
Photo: Stephen Collett
24 January 2013

YouTube Video

Chief Justice Mogoeng Mogoeng yesterday (24 January 2013) concluded the proceedings of the first day of the International Symposium on Corruption, hosted by the Faculty of Law of the University of the Free State (UFS). In his address Justice Mogoeng made no excuses as to the magnitude of the threat corruption presents to South African citizens.

“Urgent action and efficient measures are called for to arrest this scourge, for the sake of our constitutional democracy,” he warned. “Our vibrant constitutional democracy will not and cannot survive in the face of rampant corruption.”

Justice Mogoeng said the spate of civil and labour unrest erupting throughout the country can be attributed to corruption. According to him the scope and far-reaching implications of corruption drives South Africans to “boiling point” and evokes “anger, frustration and a don’t-care-attitude that often manifests in widespread protest actions” and disrespect for the rule of law.

“South Africans, irrespective of race or creed, must identify and focus on their common enemies and find a conciliatory and unifying way of dealing with what divides them, including the lingering prejudices of the past,” Justice Mogoeng urged.

Despite the threat corruption poses, he stressed that all South Africans have a role to play in the fight against corruption and that there are different role players that can become involved in the process. Especially important is the media and faith-based agencies which, according to Justice Mogoeng, can regenerate morals and secure a “national moral code.” The State must further ensure enforcement of anti-corruption measures and preside over the selection of individuals of “solid character” to reside in agencies meant to fight corruption.

He highlighted the need for an unbiased and independent judiciary, one immune to outside influences controlled by powerful forces, as well as personal agendas.

Although Justice Mogoeng believes that the private sector is most guilty of transgressions based on corruption, he stated that a “well-coordinated war” against it must be waged in all sectors in order to stamp it out.

Justice Mogoeng presided over the unveiling of the redesigned foyer of the CR Swart Building and praised the Faculty of Law for its innovation with regard to the symposium.

“I look forward with great optimism to more well-organised symposiums that strike at the nerve-centre of the well-being of our constitutional democracy,” he concluded.

Symposium seeks answers and solutions

The Faculty of Law at the University of the Free State (UFS) concluded its International Symposium on Corruption on Friday 25 January 2013. The event featured a stellar cast of speakers, including the Chief Justice of South Africa, three current Supreme Court of Appeal judges, high-court judges, advocates, prosecutors, journalists, as well as local and international legal academics.

Throughout the two-day symposium, corruption was dissected as a severe problem in the South African socio-economic landscape and solutions were sought to alleviate the pressing concern.

The main attractions of the symposium were undoubtedly the attendance and presentations delivered by Chief Justice Mogoeng Mogoeng, as well as Prof. Leon Wessels. Prof. Wessels was described as “one of the founding fathers of the constitution of South Africa” by Judge Fritz Brand, a current Appeal Court judge and the third-longest serving judge in the country.

“Corruption is stealing the constitutional dream of this country. Corrupt leaders are fearless, those who expose corruption, are fearful,” Prof. Wessels warned.

Judge Brand closely trails the second longest serving judge in the country in former Kovsie, as well as former UFS Council Chairman, Judge Faan Hancke. Both judges addressed the symposium and chaired sessions, along with Prof. Johan Henning, Dean of the Faculty of Law, and Judge Ian van der Merwe, Chairman of the UFS Council.

It was, however, not all doom and gloom, as several of the speakers offered tangible ideas in what was often termed the “war on corruption”. Celebrated Sunday Times journalist Mzilikazi wa Afrika who has been arrested following the police leasing scandal which he exposed, urged South Africans to stand together in their fight against corruption, before it is too late.

People on the front lines in the day to day fight against corruption also spoke at the symposium, giving the audience a better understanding of the intricacies and challenges involved in the process. The Head of the National Prosecuting Authority’s Asset Forfeiture Unit, Mr Willie Hofmeyer, as well as Advocate Xolisile Khanyile, who is the Director of Public Prosecutions in the Free State, elucidated this struggle.

The symposium also hosted Prof. Chizu Makajima, a celebrated academic from the United Kingdom.

The two-day symposium ended in style as the delegates gathered in the Centenary Hall on the Bloemfontein Campus for lunch, with a further address by Prof. Leon Wessels

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