1 / 25

Measurement and Analysis of Rural Household Income in South Africa

This study examines the measurement and analysis of rural household income in South Africa, specifically focusing on the dualistic economy and the case of the former homelands. It discusses the limitations of existing data sources and explores the tools and surveys used to gather information on farming income and non-farm income. The results highlight the importance of non-farm income in the former homelands and provide insights into the total income of farm households in South Africa.

paredes
Download Presentation

Measurement and Analysis of Rural Household Income in South Africa

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. Measurement and Analysis of Rural Household Income in a Dualistic Economy: The Case of South Africa Johann Kirsten University of Pretoria & Walter Moldenhauer Department of Agriculture

  2. Essence of the problem • Regular agricultural censuses and intermittent agricultural surveys provided a relatively good overview of farm income, assets, land size, etc. in the so-called ‘commercial sector’. • Only very limited statistics on farm household activities, sales, income was available from the agricultural sector in the ‘former homelands’.

  3. Essence of the problem • None of the agricultural censuses in the pre-1994 years covered these regions resulting in only a one-sided picture of the total agricultural sector and also a total data void on rural households and livelihoods in the ‘former homelands’.

  4. Tools for Rural Income Measurement & Analysis • Agricultural censuses & surveys • Rural indicators / surveys

  5. Agricultural Censuses & Surveys • Main information source on farming income. • Did not consider total household income. • The censuses & surveys were regularly conducted. • Were mainly based on mail questionnaires, which farmers had to complete. • Results were fairly aggregated.

  6. Agricultural Censuses & Surveys (2) • It only covered the so-called ‘commercial sector.’ • Farmers in the homelands were excluded from the censuses & surveys. • Had a fairly good coverage. • Income were measured solely on income earned from agricultural activities. • Partly because farming was considered a full-time activity.

  7. Agricultural Censuses & surveys (3) • The censuses and surveys continued to exclude farmers from the former homelands. • Hence, the vital information needed to steer policy in the new democracy was not available.

  8. Survey of Large & Small-scale Agriculture 2000 • This was Statistics South Africa’s first attempt to collect data on the small-scale and subsistence farming sector in south Africa. • Divided the farming sector into a former south Africa and a former homelands region. • Former SA: large-scale commercial farms. • Former homelands: small & subsistence farms from the former homelands.

  9. Survey of Large & Small-scale Agriculture 2000 (Income) • This was the first attempt to measure income as the amount generated from agricultural and non-agricultural activities. • Results contained information on total income, farming turnover, expenses, debt, farming profit and total profit. • Information was useful to estimate non-farm income for the 2 regions.

  10. Farming Income and Non-farm Income As a Percentage of Total Income of Farm Households in South Africa

  11. Results • Results revealed that only 13.7% of total farming operations were situated in the Former SA, received 98.8% of total farm income. • Non-farm income was far more important in the former homelands. • The 943 000 farming operations in the former homelands covered a total land surface of 97,3 million hectares while the 150 000 farming operations in the former South Africa covered a total land surface of 217,98 million hectares.

  12. Total land surface of farming operations according to geographical location

  13. Census of Commercial Agriculture 2002 • Once again it only covered the activities on commercial farms in South Africa. • For the purposes of the census, a commercial farm was defined as a farm that is registered for Value Added Tax (VAT). • As far as income is concerned, one can consider the census as step towards the right direction.

  14. Census of Commercial Agriculture 2002 (2) • The census captured all income earned from farming activities as well as other sources of income. • The biggest problem here lies in the last section: ‘other sources of income’. It is not clear whether salaries from non-farm employment were captured here.

  15. Results • The preliminary findings were released on 15 September 2004. • According to the results, there were 45 818 active commercial farming units in South Africa in 2002. This is a decrease of 12 162 farming units since the last agricultural census in 1993. • Although there were fewer farming units, the gross farming income generated was R53 billion compared to the R39 billion generated in 1993 at 2002 constant prices.

  16. Principal Statistics; 1993 & 2002

  17. Results • Gross farming income as released on 15 Sep 2004, only includes income earned from agricultural products sold. • Household income was once again not reported

  18. Rural Indicators / Surveys • Prior to democracy in 1994, government had little interest very few surveys were undertaken in the former homeland areas. • Various studies and data ‘panel-beating’ exercises tried to fill this information gap.

  19. PSLSD, 1993 • The Project for Statistics and Living Standards and Development (PSLSD) was the first South African household survey. • Was undertaken in the last half of 1993 by a consortium of South African survey groups and universities. • It was a comprehensive household survey and collected a broad array of information on the socio-economic conditions of households.

  20. KIDS 1993 - 1997 • The KwaZulu-Natal Income Dynamics Survey (KIDS) was a re-survey of households surveyed by the PSLSD in KwaZulu-Natal with the aim of addressing the dynamics of poverty in South Africa.

  21. The Rural Survey of 1997 • Was conducted by Statistics South Africa (STATSSA) in 1997. • Was specifically designed to provide in-depth information about living conditions of rural households in the former homelands of South Africa. • The sampling frame was derived from the 1996 population census database and yielded a sample of +/- 6 000 households.

  22. Results • In June 1997, about 12.7 million people, or 31.4% of the total South African population, lived in rural areas of the former homelands of South Africa. • Access to farmland is crucial for these rural households since they either depend entirely on farming activities for their survival and generation of income, or depend on these activities to supplement their main source or sources of income.

  23. Results (2) • As many as 71% of the 2.4 million households (approximately 1.7 million) in the rural areas in the former homelands had access to land for farming purposes. • Only 3% of the 2.4 million households in the sample relied on farming activities as their main source of income. • Household income was mostly generated from household members’ salaries and wages and pensions received by the senior citizens of the households.

  24. Most Important Sources of Income of Households in Rural Areas

  25. Conclusion: Treatment of household income in different agricultural and rural surveys

More Related