The impacts of access to credit and information communication technology (ICT) on small-scale sugarcane farmers’ food security status in Ndwedwe Local Municipality of iLembe, KwaZulu Natal Province.

Abstract

Access to credit and Information Communication Technology (ICT) are the most valuable resources in improving small-scale sugarcane farmer’s practices. These two resources make the life of these farmers easier financially, socially, and economically. Despite the significant contribution of credit and ICT on sugarcane production, smallscale farmers are faced with difficulties in accessing them which affect their ability to generate sustainable income. Apart from complications in accessing credit and ICT, the adoption of ICT by farmers is of paramount importance to ensure its applicability for the quick access to credit through online or the internet. Adopting Information Communication technology is important to help Small-scale farmers’ access credit thereby increasing their farm production. Therefore, alleviating the disproportionate burden of food insecurity in South Africa requires focused initiatives to assist small-scale farmers to adopt Information Communication Technology and be able to access credit. The main objective of this study was to determine the impact that credit and ICT have on food security of small-scale sugarcane farmers. The specific objectives were to determine the effect of access to credit; and information and Communication technology on the income of small-scale sugarcane farmers, assess the impact that determinants of ICT and credit accessibility have on the food security of small-scale sugarcane farmers and to assess efficiency among small-scale sugarcane farmers in South Africa using the Zero-efficiency stochastic frontier approach. A multi stage sampling procedure was used to select three villages namely, Ndwedwe Mission, Nhlangano, and Sonkombo of Ndwedwe Local Municipality, employing a quantitative research approach. The study used 300 small-scale sugarcane farmers which were randomly selected. The Recursive Bivariate Probit Regression model was applied to assess the access to credit by farmers and its influence on the adoption of ICT. The results from the Recursive Bivariate Probit Regression .model showed that access to credit , education and extension support with coefficient had a positive and significant influence on the adoption of ICT, while marital status and non-farm income had a negative and significant influence. On the other hand, gender and marital status had a positive and significant relationship with access to credit while age and non-farm income showed a negative and significant relationship. The study secondly assessed the impacts that determinants of ICT and credit accessibility have on the food security of small-scale sugarcane farmers. The two-step generalized linear square model with a control function was used to assess the combined effect of ICT adoption and access to credit on household food security in terms of HFIAS. HFIAS revealed that out of the total sample size, 86.7% of the small-scale farmers were food insecure while 13.3% were food secure. Age of the household head and low income had a negative and significant contribution to the food insecurity status. The results also showed that Seed cane and transportation costs decreased food security among small-scale farmers. In the last objective, the study employed the Zero-efficiency stochastic frontier approach to assess efficiency among small-scale sugarcane farmers. The results show that farmers received high efficiency (40%) at 0.71-0.90 efficiency scores while they received low efficiency (15%) at 0.51- 0.70 efficiency score. Age, gender, household size and seed cane age had a positive and significant influence on farmers’ efficiency. On the other hand, education and non-farm income had a negative and significant influence on farmers’ efficiency. An improvement in the factors that affect small-scale farmers’ production can lead to improvement in access to credit and adoption of ICT which in turn improves farm income and food security. Small-scale farmers need to be encouraged to get some education on how to adopt ICT and access credit. More training and workshops need to be conducted to teach and train farmers on the requirements needed to apply for formal credit. Moreover, they need to be trained on how to adopt modern information technology. This can help them to produce more efficiently and generate more income. Extension workers need to provide advisory support to small-scale farmers that need agricultural access to credit for agricultural activities.