Agriculture and co-operative labour in Shixini, Transkei, South Africa

This working paper provides research findings emanating from the De-Agrarianisation and Rural Employment (DARE) Research Programme, coordinated by the African Studies Centre, Leiden. The aim of the Programme was to examine, from a multidisciplinary perspective, the changes in size and significance of the peasant population in sub-Saharan African countries and to draw attention to the new labour patterns and unfolding rural-urban relations now taking place. This paper is based on research in South Africa, namely in Shixini, an Administrative Area which is part of the Jinqi Tribal Authority, located in Willowvale district, former Transkei, in the Eastern Cape. The paper looks at the extent to which agrarian activities are still important within rural areas, or the extent to which agrarian activities are being replaced or supplemented by other economic activities (income diversification). The conclusion is that most of the homesteads in Shixini derive at least part of their livelihood from agricultural activities; that no homestead can survive without some form of cash income (in the form of migrant labour earnings or social and disability pensions); and that very few are able to secure access to cash by selling agricultural products

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