Evaluation of farmer’ skills for informed capacity development towards resilient food systems: The case of the state land allocation beneficiaries in North West province of South Africa

Various institutions have offered a range of training to smallholder farmers (SHFs). These trainings have been geared towards improving farming skills to improve yields and management of their farms effectively and efficiently. However, despite the training, SHF are reported to produce below the potential of their farms. Review of literature has revealed a limited information on the set of skills possessed by SHFs in South Africa. Such information is paramount to enable the creation and design of effective capacity building interventions. This paper seeks to evaluate the capabilities of SHFs by outlining the existing and further skills needed to ensure that the farms achieve their optimum potential. A skills audit was carried out on 179 SHFs in North West province. Chi square tests and discriminant analysis were performed to analyse data. Research findings revealed that 2% of the farmers rated their proficiency of planting and crop maintenance to be above average. Few (39.3%) farmers indicated to have an average to excellent skills in animal reproduction, and health care. Gender, tertiary education, age and fluency in speaking English and Afrikaans were socio-economic factors that drove farmer’s choice of skills. It is recommended that a comprehensive training plan for each allocated farm be developed for viable and thriving enterprises, geared towards building sustainable inclusive resilient agri-food systems, including technical support, mentorship and coaching. Participation of youth in training and offering of training in languages that farmers can speak fluently is recommended.