Multidimensional lack of financial inclusion: the case for agrarian value chain finance institutions in rural Eastern Cape
type: CreativeWork
description: The Eastern Cape region has a diverse composition of smallholder farmers that conduct operations, mainly in rural dwellings, within an informal trading context. The study found a composition of informal and formally composed smallholder farmers that operate within and outside of value chains. Generally, smallholder farmers that operate independently (outside of value chain formations) and informally within the Eastern Cape context remain excluded from the financial system as they are unable to attract external capital, investment and are unable access a market beyond their close and surrounding areas. Then, in terms of the formally composed smallholder farmers that conduct farming operations within a value chain community context, these farmers are aided and supported by value chain coordinators to conduct efficient farm operations. Generally, within this context, the farmers are required to produce pre-determined production scales for an existing market and whilst adhering to value chain farming requirements, they are skilled up and educated to operate sustainable food production systems. The study has restricted the analyse to the smallholder farmers that operate within value chains in order to investigate the contextual environment of these farmers as well as to examine the key components that make these value chains successful. The Africa Intercontinental Free Trade Agreement and the South African government's investment in various strategic assets (i.e., ports in the Eastern Cape), has been a signal that the Eastern Cape has the potential to participate in significant value chains. Furthermore, the advent of COVID 19 pandemic has caused major disruptions in traditional and existing value chains (in the agrarian sector as whole) and given rise to more conscious and aware consumers (who prefer produce from environmentally friendly farming practises and distribution). This study provides a general analysis of the informal smallholder farmers and underlines the suc…
abstract: The Eastern Cape region has a diverse composition of smallholder farmers that conduct operations, mainly in rural dwellings, within an informal trading context. The study found a composition of informal and formally composed smallholder farmers that operate within and outside of value chains. Generally, smallholder farmers that operate independently (outside of value chain formations) and informally within the Eastern Cape context remain excluded from the financial system as they are unable to attract external capital, investment and are unable access a market beyond their close and surrounding areas. Then, in terms of the formally composed smallholder farmers that conduct farming operations within a value chain community context, these farmers are aided and supported by value chain coordinators to conduct efficient farm operations. Generally, within this context, the farmers are required to produce pre-determined production scales for an existing market and whilst adhering to value chain farming requirements, they are skilled up and educated to operate sustainable food production systems. The study has restricted the analyse to the smallholder farmers that operate within value chains in order to investigate the contextual environment of these farmers as well as to examine the key components that make these value chains successful. The Africa Intercontinental Free Trade Agreement and the South African government's investment in various strategic assets (i.e., ports in the Eastern Cape), has been a signal that the Eastern Cape has the potential to participate in significant value chains. Furthermore, the advent of COVID 19 pandemic has caused major disruptions in traditional and existing value chains (in the agrarian sector as whole) and given rise to more conscious and aware consumers (who prefer produce from environmentally friendly farming practises and distribution). This study provides a general analysis of the informal smallholder farmers and underlines the suc…
author: Ntisana, Malwande
keywords: development finance
date published: 2022
date modified: 2026-07-22T22:23:30Z
provider: University of Cape Town
publisher: Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations
type: WebPage
source organization: Graduate School of Business (GSB)

PropertyValue
property ID: Handle
value: http://hdl.handle.net/11427/39068