Factors associated with land acquisition for food production among small-scale farmers in South Africa

The purpose of this study is to investigate determinants of land tenure, agricultural activities involvement, and the use of agricultural products and stock keeping among small-scale farmers across all nine provinces of South Africa. Little is known regarding tenure status that households typically use to access land across nine provinces of South Africa. The characteristics of household heads in small-scale farming still under-researched; and sociodemographic characteristics for household subsistence still scanty in the literature. GHS between 2015 and 2018 from StatsSA was employed. GHS questionnaire was used to sample households. Stratified design used for primary sampling units (PSUs), but dwelling units (DUs) were sampled using systematic sampling. For data analysis, SPSS version 27 was used, performed univariate analysis, cross-tabulation, and chisquare to test relationship. Logistic regression used to explore leading factors for tenure security. This study establishes that small-scale farming is almost the foremost livelihood option for the rural lives of South Africa. The findings of the study established that within the context of South Africa there are female headed households involved in agricultural activities. Accessing land by the landless poor people was discovered as a foremost challenge which resulted in food insecurity and poverty in rural dwellings. Land is accessed through tribal authority by household heads to practice small-scale farming in it. Under tribal authority, land is generally allocated to men, most of rural women as a result do not have access to land rights of their own. The study findings found that farm products produced by female headed households are used as the main source of food for household consumption. Given the fact that a number of them are poor, they found themselves to be less excluded from land acquisition. The study discovered further that, age, employment, household headship, and level of education are the leading contributing factors to acquire land across nine South African provinces.