The poverty alleviation and food security role of agriculture Module 3

Contribution of agricultural growth to poverty reduction: Extract from South African case study  Does agricultural growth reduce poverty?;  Agricultural growth linkages in communal areas;  Growth and income multipliers associated with growth in processed and unprocessed commodity exports.

Poverty profile of SA  50 th wealthiest country  Poor social indicators: 107 th out of 173  50 th worst life expectancy  Gini coeffiecient of 0.68  Poverty estimates:52% below income poverty line  Perceptions of poverty: isolation; lack of security, mainly rural..

Does agricultural growth reduce poverty? Poverty transitions and mobility. Testing the role played by agricultural activities in alleviating poverty or facilitating mobility. Revisits to 1993 PSLSD households, in Transition matrix reveals high levels of mobility 1993 to 1998 – households entered agricultural production – thus 49% of HHs in KZN involved in agriculture 81% of HHs involved in agric in 1993 still practicing in 1998 Only 17% in informal small business sector

Does agricultural growth reduce poverty? (2) Agricultural production emerges as a better option for poverty reduction to 50% of informal entrepreneurs HHs involved in agriculture less likely to be poor. 40% of HHs involved in agric were above threshold. Severity of poverty is also lower. HHs never involved in agric were ‘structurally poor’ and ‘structurally downward’. 37% of agric HHs were never poor.

Agricultural growth multipliers Agricultural growth linkages: Case study in KZN Growth mulitplier of 1.28 and 1.32 (others: 1.35: 1.98)  increase in small-farm income could stimulate economic growth but maybe lower than expectations  SAM analysis in Western Cape (income multipliers) Scenario: 5% increase in agricultural exports Gross output increase by 1.84%; labour income increase between 1.22% for whites and 1.84% for Africans; elementary occupations benefitted the most.