Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
apartheid system. Stutterheim is a district centre surrounded by nine rural communities.
Clearly distinguishable rural and peri-urban locations within the district justify its inclusion
for purposes of assessing income distribution and inequality, among other issues. Two
communities were enumerated to represent a rural setting (Ndakana) and a peri-urban
setting (Mlungisi).
3.4 Physical settings
The key factors influencing agriculture in the study area are the soils and climate. Stutterheim
experiences summer rainfall which is highly variable from year to year. The district is divided
into two fairly distinct zones, a drier Eastern zone and a wetter Western zone. Mean annual
rainfall is generally less than 600 mm per year and drops to less than 400 mm near the
Kei River. The climate can be considered as semi-arid, being dry and warm throughout
most of the year. Stutterheim experiences slightly extreme conditions with temperatures of
5-35 °C. Extensive areas are characterized by poor, shallow soils which are not conducive to
intensive, arable farming. The dominant vegetation communities are subtropical thicket, a
little afro-montane forest, and grasslands. Stutterheim as a whole is largely a stock-farming
district with a large number of livestock (cattle, goats and sheep). A local extension officer
estimates that some 4,700 ha is under cultivation, of which 1000 ha is under irrigation.
3.5 Socio-economic activities
The town and its surrounding rural communities boast a wide range of economic activities
and services. Agriculture is mostly small scale crop farming and open grazed livestock. The
key economic activities include home-based business like selling mobile phone air time,
tuck shops, tarvens, informal drinking places, etc., farming (livestock, vegetables, crops
and citrus) and forestry and associated industries such as saw milling. Forestry and saw
milling are the dominant economic activities employing the highest proportion of the local
population. The bulk of the population is employed in the forestry, and most are dependent
on social/old age grants (pension and child grants). Aside from local employment in forestry
and sawmills, Stutterheim town is the major source of employment. It hosts a number of
service providing institutions. Migrant workers also constitute a substantial proportion of
the population though they seem to be decreasing as reported by Beinart and Wotshela
(1995). Besides local employment in Stutterheim, some of the people are employed in the
surrounding cities such as Port Elizabeth, East London and King Williams Town. These
migrant workers are the key providers of remittances to Stutterheim.
Farming is largely for subsistence rather than commercial sale, although some black
commercial farmers are present. The district contains the best grazing lands suitable for
livestock production in the province. Households produce their food and generate income
from farming activities. Both livestock and crop farming are practised in the area but
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