Factors affecting the level of commercialization among households owning cattle. A case study of Makhado municipality of Vhembe district, Limpopo province, South Africa

This study analyzed the factors affecting the level of commercialization among households owning cattle. The study was conducted at the Makhado Local Municipality of Vhembe District, Limpopo Province, South Africa. The study used a quantitative research design whereby judgemental and stratified random sampling was used to select only house-holds owning cattle and this formed part of the sampling frame. Data were collected from 150 sampled households owning cattle in five villages within the municipality namely, Basani, Dumani, Njhakanjhaka, Shitaci, and Wayeni using a well-structured questionnaire that was administered to the respondents face-to-face. For empirical reasons, the study used two analytical techniques, namely Household Com-mercialization Index and Multinomial Logistic Regression Model. The empirical results reveal that eight variables were significant in affecting the level of commercialization among households owning cattle. These variables are the marital sta-tus of household head, the age of the household head, source of income, the occupation of household, access to market information, distance to the nearest market, membership to farmer organization, and land size. The study recommended that the government should encourage youth participation in agriculture in general and in cattle production in particular, promotion of gender equality in decision-making, encourage-ment of market orientation in cattle production, and establish-ment of cattle input support programs (e.g., feed, water, and disease control).