Perception of Agricultural Smallholder Farmers on Public Extension and Advisory Services in Ethekwini Municipality, Kwazulu-Natal Province

The government’s inability in South Africa to ensure that formulated programs, structures, and policies adequately accommodate smallholder farmers hinders the sector’s ability to grow and develop. This study examines the agricultural smallholder farmers’ perception of the service delivered by the extension and advisory officers. The researchers obtained the primary data from fifteen focus group discussions with the smallholder farmers and three senior government officials under the Department of Agriculture & Rural Development who willingly responded to face-to-face semi-structured interviews. Using thematic analysis, the authors found that the public extension &advisory Officers do not provide substantial support to smallholder farmers seeking access to markets. The study results also show that the agricultural smallholder farmers are dissatisfied with the public extension and advisory officers’ services. Smallholder farmers continue to experience numerous challenges, although the extension and advisory program was implemented to help farmers deal with some challenges for growth and sustainability. New results are expected to provide empirical evidence regarding the performance of extension and advisory officers on smallholder sectors’ development. Furthermore, study results can be used as guidelines for the government when considering the best approaches and capacity building for smallholder farmers.