The degree and determinants of crop commercialization among emerging smallholder farmers in the former homelands of the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa

Emerging smallholders in the former homelands have been a subject of extensive academic research in South Africa over the past two decades. These farmers are largely described as those coming from previously disadvantaged racial groups, mainly black, who at least sell part of their produce and aspire to fully commercialise their production. But how much is �at least�? This article seeks to contribute to the literature by determining the degree of commercialisation using the Crop Commercialisation Index. Factors influencing maize commercialisation were also determined using Binary Logistic Regression. A sample of 115 household heads was drawn randomly from three districts of the Eastern Cape Province and interviewed using a local language. Results show that emerging farmers in the study area are more commercial orientated in vegetable production than in maize. Binary Logistic Regression suggests that hiring external labour strongly promotes maize commercialisation. Key words: Emerging smallholders, commercialisation, Eastern Cape, South Africa.