Assessing the effects of the Fetsa Tlala food initiative programme on small-scale farmers' households at a selected village in Polokwane Local Municipality, South Africa

Abstract

The Fetša Tlala Food Initiative Programme was established by the Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries in 2013. It is an integrated government framework which aims to increase food security by addressing the causes of food insecurity in rural communities. The objectives of this research were to explore factors that influenced the programme’s outputs and its overall effectiveness. This study purposefully selected 23 households of small-scale farmer participants and applied a qualitative, semi-structured interview data collection method followed by a thematic content analysis. The research findings indicate that the programme did facilitate increased access to resources which improved some of the beneficiaries’ livelihood opportunities and household food security. However, there were a myriad of challenges that influenced the effectiveness of the programme. Despite these challenges, the beneficiaries were able to build localised resilience to some of the obstacles they encountered. The study recommends increased, regular and consistent support from the programme organisers.