The contribution of community gardens to livelihood of participants : a case of Mudavula Village, Vhembe District, Limpopo Province

Abstract

This study focuses on the contribution of community gardens to livelihoods of participants. It was carried out among 7 community gardens in Mudavula village in Thulamela Municipality in Limpopo Province, South Africa. The village is located in Vhembe District. The aim of this study was to assess the technical efficiency and the contribution of community gardens to the livelihoods of participants at Mudavula Village. The objectives of the study were to determine the contribution of community gardens to food security and the livelihood of Mudavula community gardens’ participants using per capita production to determine the technical efficiency of the community gardens in the village and to identify sources of improvement of the contribution of the gardens towards food security and livelihoods. The findings from the descriptive and quantitative test revealed positive and negative relationship between variables and how the constraints affect their livelihood. The results shows that there is no relationship between gender and years of education, years of education and age, family size and age, employment and gender. The estimate of technical efficiency for the irrigated crops suffers more from omitted variable bias (OVB) than the rainfed equation. The study reveals that community gardens have positive impact to the livelihood of Mudavula villagers. It is therefore recommended that the Department of Agriculture capacitate farmers through their local extension officers to help empower them and equip them with the necessary skills and knowledge.

Key Words: community gardens, livelihood, technical efficiency, Mudavula