Effect of market participation on the nutrition security status of the rural smallholder farmers: the case of Limpopo and Mpumalanga provinces, South Africa

Increased market participation of smallholder farmers can result in improved livelihood and nutrition outcomes. However, smallholder farmers encounter several obstacles that hinder their ability to participate in the market. As a result, the objective of this study is to investigate the factors that influence market participation and its impact on household nutrition security. The study relied on secondary data gathered from a sample size of 1520 people. About 389 of smallholder farmers participated in the market. The results from Food consumption Score showed that 54% farmers were within the acceptable food consumption diets, while 30% and 16% were in the borderline and poor diets, respectively. According to the Household Dietary Diversity Score findings, 57% of smallholder farmers consumed highly diverse diets, while 25% and 18% of smallholder farmers consumed diets with medium dietary diversity and low dietary diversity, respectively. Gender of household, receiving social grants and a higher wealth index had positive impact on market participation. The results from Poisson endogenous treatment effect model showed that household size, ownership of livestock, social grant, wealth index, access to market information, and involvement in crop production had a positive and statistically significant impact on household nutrition security. On the other hand, agricultural assistance showed a negative and significant impact on household nutrition security. Providing nutrition education among smallholder farmers can help to raise awareness of the importance of nutrition security. More nutrition programs and workshops thed to be conducted in rural areas to help smallholder farmers on improving their nutrition security status.