Socio-economic and Agroforestry Status: A Case Study of Small Timber Growers in Limpopo Province, South Africa

This study pointed to the state of the small timber growerssmall timber growers in terms of their socio-economic and agroforestryagroforestry readiness in the Limpopo Province, South AfricaSouth Africa. South Africa is considered a semi-arid country, vulnerable to water stress, particularly drought, and it falls among the 30 driest countries in the world. The Limpopo Province’s average annual rainfall is 600 mm and the threshold for rainfed agriculture is averaged at 250 mm annually. In terms of forestry, the forest plantationsplantations in South Africa use just 3% of the country’s total water resources and rainfall needs to be higher than 750 mm per annum to sustain commercial forestry. Furthermore, the Agricultural Research Council conducted an assessment aimed at identifying the small timber grower's socio-economic status. A total of 65 small timber growers participated in the study and were spread in districts as follows: Vhembe (40), Capricorn (21), and Mopani (4). The small timber growers were selected through a purposive sampling technique from the list of small timber growers provided by the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and Environment (DFFE), and Forestry South Africa (FSA). Quantitative and qualitative research designs were employed, as a structured questionnaire in English was developed, focus group and stakeholder discussions were held, as well as field observations to elicit information for the study. Data was coded, captured, and analyzed using the software package for socialsocial sciences (SPSS version 21). The decantal 1 km × 1 km approach was followed to determine the climatic conditions of the small timber grower’s plantations. The rainfall results in the visited small timber growers’ plantations are well above the threshold for average rainfall for agriculture and commercial forestry. It estimated annual rainfalls at 601–700 mm to 1001–2216 mm across the 33rd, 50th, and 66th percentiles. The results also indicated the small timber growers’ landland availability per agroforestry system as follows: agrosilvoculture (431 ha); apiculture (100 ha); agro-silvopasture (7069 ha); and silvipasture (3528 ha). Moreover, small timber growers with large land sizes and productionproduction inputs could allocate their land partly for trees, livestocklivestock, and bees, giving them a better position to participate in the marketmarket. The silvopasture and agro-silvopasture remain the most popular agroforestry systems among the small timber growers as they generate incomeincome through renting their plantations to nearby communities for livestock grazing ranging from R1000 to R9000 per month. The majority of the small timber growers (54/65) were selling trees (Blue gum, grandice, eucalyptus, pine, and moringa oleifera) in the informal marketinformal market for reasons such as inability to satisfy the quality standards in the formal marketsformal markets. For example, the highest price per ton was R900 (17), while the others were as follows: R300 per ton (1); R400 per ton (3); R500 per ton (9); R600 per ton (4); R700 per ton (6); R750 per ton (1); R800 per ton (12); and R850 per ton (1). In addition, the trees were serving as an important source of income, and communities were using some of the trees to build shelters and kraals for medicinal purposes, fuelwood, etc. The small timber growers’ non-wood forest productsproducts include livestock (cattle, goats, pigs, and sheep), cropscrops (Maize, sunflower, sugar beans, groundnuts, carrots, cabbage, tomatoes, onions, chilies, kale, Chinese spinach, spinach, green pepper, nuts, and sweet potatoes), and fruits (Banana, macadamia, litchis, mango, guava, naartjies, and avocados). Furthermore, the small timber growers were using different marketing channels to market their non-wood forest products for various reasons, for example, many opted (54/65) for informal markets for reasons such as inability to satisfy the quality standards in the formal markets, meanwhile, few (11/65) preferred formal markets for reasons such as a secured market with better returns. Currently, some small timber growers have successfully integrated trees with groundnuts, sweet potatoes, maize, and beans. The study recommended the continued establishment of agroforestry in the identified districts in Limpopo Province as it satisfied the basic requirements for agroforestry readiness, i.e., good climatic conditions, land availability, availability of production inputs, and the community's socio-economic status and involvement, toward food security.