Assessing the performance of strategic partnership programme for smallholder irrigation schemes in Limpopo province and opportunities for revitalisation of affected schemes

Abstract

The Government of South Africa has supported smallholder irrigation as a means to create jobs, alleviate poverty, and promote pro-poor sustainable agricultural and economic growth, while also ensuring water and food security. The Limpopo Department of Agriculture (LDA) supported this initiative by identifying potential farming areas to be developed into commercial irrigation schemes through the Revitalisation of Small Holder Irrigation Schemes Programme (RESIS). The RESIS programme supported smallholder irrigation schemes by improving agricultural productivity, improving rural development by improving rural livelihoods and enhancing food and water security. Over R150 million was spent on the RESIS programme for eleven smallholder irrigation schemes in Limpopo Province alone. However, after the revitalisation of the irrigation infrastructure, there were no significant farming activities taking place within the irrigation schemes due to farmers not having the necessary inputs and machinery, as well as skills such as marketing to operate on a commercial scale. It was for this reason that LDA adopted the strategic partnership model, which was envisaged to support the operationalisation of smallholder farms into farming commercial enterprises. However, this initiative has proven to be a nightmare for most farmers and concerned stakeholders. Although some irrigation schemes have shown significant results, others have not achieved the intended outcome and have performed poorly, while others have collapsed. During a Water Research Commission (WRC) study conducted in 2018 on the factors affecting the underperformance of small irrigation schemes, the issue of strategic partnership was encountered several times as the main cause of the failure of some of the irrigation schemes assessed. It is against this background that the need for a follow-up study was identified to determine and analyse the performance of the existing strategic partner concept of Limpopo Province.

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