Institutional factors in natural resource management in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa - Institutional Constraints to Small Farmer Development in Southern Africa - page 248

relatively efficiently over the years. However, new institutions have arisen in recent years.
One noticeable effect of this development is the emergence of considerable conflicts and
confusion between communities and within groups in the use of natural resources and
the extent to which they contribute to improved livelihoods and sometimes pose serious
threats to environmental sustainability. Case studies carried out in three communities were
reported and confirm the important differences in access to agricultural land and grazing
land and asset ownership, including livestock such as sheep and goats. There is evidence
that membership of groups has implications for welfare for the smallholder farmers; those
farmers who belong to farmer associations seemed to be better off than those who did
not. Working with local people to promote group or collective action, perhaps through
the introduction of collective innovation principles, may be a useful strategy to pursue as
government grapples with the task of saving the environment while addressing the serious
poverty in the rural areas of the country.

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