Land and Agrarian Studies (PLAAS), who estimates that it costs an estimated R15 20 million to – start up a commercial dairy farm of 400 cows today which deemed to be the minimum start up herd size for an economically viable dairy operation. Fruit and wine Overberg has a flourishing fruit and wine sector. However the capital and management intensity of these enterprises creates significant barriers to entry for small scale producers. There are some exceptions though such as Thandi Wines in Elgin established in 1995 owned by 250 farm-worker families who hold 55% shares in the company and an ownership shares in three farms, ranging between 50% to 100% shareholding. Thandi Wines (Pty) Ltd became a stand-alone wine company as from October 2009. The majority of attempts to broaden the ownership base in this sector has been through share equity schemes where employees have accessed government grants to obtain a share in the business in which they are employed.(). There is currently a project in planning at Belleview farm near Villiersdorp where the owners have sold a portion of the property to DRDLR through the Proactive Land Acquisition Strategy (PLAS) who will in turn rent this on to the workers. The place of smallholder producers in the District economy The contribution which smallholder producers make to the formal agricultural economy of the Overberg is miniscule in financial terms. The context is characterised by the increasing dominance of a small number of large producers and agri-businesses operating at ever larger scales. However in a setting shadowed by high levels of unemployment and poverty in the rural areas, on farms and in small rural towns in the District there are strong arguments that agriculture can make an important contribution to the livelihoods of poor households as a source of food and a generator of additional cash. These arguments acknowledge that agricultural activities are associated with high levels of risk with drought, unseasonal weather, fire, pests, predators and theft. They recognise that high transaction costs and difficulties in accessing formal markets confine many small producers to a particular kind of adaptive and often informal agricultural production in the margins. Despite these constraints there are some areas where access to land, water, infrastructure, support and markets have enabled the emergence of a small number of producers who are increasingly reliant on income from agriculture as a major source of their livelihood. For the SPSS to be localised and adapted to conditions in the Overberg there needs to be a much better understanding of the profile and production contexts of small producers in different settings.
Land and Agrarian Studies (PLAAS), who estimates that it costs an estimated R15 – 20 million to start up a commercial dairy farm of 400 cows today which deemed to be the minimum start up herd size for an economically viable dairy operation. Fruit and wine Overberg has a flourishing fruit and wine sector. However the capital and management intensity of these enterprises creates significant barriers to entry for small scale producers. There are some exceptions though such as Thandi Wines in Elgin established in 1995 owned by 250 farm-worker families who hold 55% shares in the company and an ownership shares in three farms, ranging between 50% to 100% shareholding. Thandi Wines (Pty) Ltd became a stand-alone wine company as from October 2009. The majority of attempts to broaden the ownership base in this sector has been through share equity schemes where employees have accessed government grants to obtain a share in the business in which they are employed.(). There is currently a project in planning at Belleview farm near Villiersdorp where the owners have sold a portion of the property to DRDLR through the Proactive Land Acquisition Strategy (PLAS) who will in turn rent this on to the workers. The place of smallholder producers in the District economy The contribution which smallholder producers make to the formal agricultural economy of the Overberg is miniscule in financial terms. The context is characterised by the increasing dominance of a small number of large producers and agri-businesses operating at ever larger scales. However in a setting shadowed by high levels of unemployment and poverty in the rural areas, on farms and in small rural towns in the District there are strong arguments that agriculture can make an important contribution to the livelihoods of poor households as a source of food and a generator of additional cash. These arguments acknowledge that agricultural activities are associated with high levels of risk with drought, unseasonal weather, fire, pests, predators and theft. They recognise that high transaction costs and difficulties in accessing formal markets confine many small producers to a particular kind of adaptive and often informal agricultural production in the margins. Despite these constraints there are some areas where access to land, water, infrastructure, support and markets have enabled the emergence of a small number of producers who are increasingly reliant on income from agriculture as a major source of their livelihood. For the SPSS to be localised and adapted to conditions in the Overberg there needs to be a much better understanding of the profile and production contexts of small producers in different settings.