Classification and characterisation of smallholder farmers in South Africa: a brief review

Abstract

The South African agricultural sector has gone through various transformation phases since 1994, with a major focus on smallholder farming. The evolution of the agricultural sector as articulated by various academics and scholars indicates the change from a white commercial sector to a black focused smallholder sector (DAFF, 2011; Kirsten and van Zyl, 1998; Hendricks, 2014; Vink and Van Rooyen, 2009; Pienaar, 2013). With the new constitution in 1994 came the deregulation of core functions of the government, although some responsibilities still reside with the national government. Government portfolios were rearranged into either national or provincial skills, with agrarian capacities classed as common capabilities (Oettle et al. 1998; Van Niekerk, 2012). Currently, the Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries