Adoption of irrigation technology to combat household food insecurity in the resource-constrained farming systems of the Eastern Cape Province, South Africa

Sustainable water management has been identified as a powerful tool to combat persistent food insecurity in South Africa’s poor rural communities. The irrigation revitalisation scheme was launched in the first decade of post-Apartheid South Africa and focused on smallholder farmers in the former homeland areas. However, the adoption of irrigation technology has been limited, while official data point to worsening poverty rates and food insecurity as agricultural output declines in the face of rising prices. There is thus strong policy interest to ascertain the circumstances in which irrigation adoption can be enhanced. A cross-sectional research design was utilised to collect data from 200 farmers (adopters and non-adopters) selected through a combination of purposive and stratified sampling methods. Probit regression results suggest that irrigation adoption is influenced by distance to the irrigation scheme, age of the farmer, family size, credit access, extension contact, and group membership. Water management programmes that address community access to irrigation water are likely to enhance adoption of irrigation technology, with credit access and extension provided to ensure sustainable use of the technology.Keywords: Eastern Cape, Extension services, Food insecurity, Irrigation adoption,Smallholder farmer

Cost and Returns Analysis of Snail Production in Obio-Akpor Local Government Area, Rivers State, Nigeria

The study examined snail production cost and return analysis in Obio-Akpor Local Government Area of Rivers State, Nigeria. The study draws its essence from the fact that the supply of protein to the increasing population of Nigeria is inadequate. Given its profitability level, snail farming can serve as an important protein supplement to bridge the food insecurity gap. Through field surveys, copies of structured questionnaires were employed for collecting data from 40 snail farmers, who were randomly sampled. The analytical tools include frequencies, percentages, budgetary techniques, multiple regression, and mean scores. The results showed that snail farming was dominated by males (65%). The farmers were predominantly aged between 21 and 59, with a 67.5% score. Budgetary analysis showed that the farmers received a monthly net farm income of ₦113,000 (275.494 USD) and a gross margin of ₦1 345 000 (3279.11 USD), thus entailing the enterprise's profitability. Results of the multiple regression showed that variables like marital status and the purpose for farming were significant in determining the profitability status of snail farmers. Lack of collateral to secure loans to support farming and the problem of disease infected from contamination were some of the critical factors which constrained snail production, both jointly having a mean score of 3.35. It is recommended that the government give surety to registered farmers who do not have collateral to secure loans