Smallholder sugarcane producers’ perceptions and practices in bioenergy production in Ehlanzeni District, Mpumalanga Province, South Africa

Abstract

Smallholder sugarcane production has an important role in promoting the participation of smallholder farmers in the bioenergy sector. There is not much which is known about smallholder farmers’ potential and willingness to engage in the bioenergy sector. The main objective of the research was to assess small-scale farmers’ potential and willingness to engage in bioenergy production from sugarcane. The specific objectives of the study were to determine factors affecting small-scale sugarcane producers’ potential to participate in bioenergy production; assess the current practices and the level of engagement in bioenergy production of smallholder sugarcane producers; evaluate factors affecting farmers’ willingness to participate in bioenergy production from sugarcane; and highlight what resources and institutional support is required for the smallholders to fully participate in the bioenergy sector. Bioenergy is a form of renewable produced from biomass, primarily derived from plants such as forest residues, woody crops, and crop waste, among others. Renewable energy helps to reduce the carbon footprint of energy sources. Smallholder farmers have an opportunity to contribute to the reduction in the greenhouse gas emissions and contribute to climate change mitigation. The study was conducted with smallholder sugarcane farmers in Ehlanzeni District, Mpumalanga Province, South Africa. A quantitative research approach was employed for the research. Following an ethical clearance with Reference 2022/CAES_HREC/050 from the College of Agriculture and Environmental Science's Health and Research Ethics Committee, Thus, given a population of 893 smallholder farmers, a sample size of 269 smallholders was generated using Microsoft Excel's rand function. A total of 134 farmers were interviewed in November 2021. The data was collected using a semi-structured questionnaire. Both descriptive statistics and econometric model were used to analyze the data. Two regression models (Ordinal Least Squares regression and Principal Components Regression were estimated). Data was analyzed using both SPSS V28 and STATA 17. The findings showed that none of the farmers are currently engaged in bioenergy production. However, interest to engage in the sector was very high. Sugarcane harvesting is mainly manual, though a few uses mechanical harvesting, which is expensive. Most of the farmers burn their sugarcane before harvesting. Four factors were significant in influencing the bagasse potential from farmers ‘sugarcane production. These were the farmer’s age, land ownership, access to credit and cooperative membership. Also, four factors were significant in influencing them willingness to participate in the bioenergy sector these were land under sugarcane production, land tenure security and their perceptions on land and food security. The study concludes that it is important to focus on young farmers to promote the bioenergy sector in smallholder farming. Inadequate land inhibits smallholder sugarcane farmers from seizing opportunities from the bioenergy sector. The current financial support mechanisms for smallholder farmers in the sugarcane industry and collective action arrangements do not enhance farmers’ propensity to participate in bioenergy production. It was also concluded that improving the land tenure security of smallholder sugarcane farmers would enhance their willingness to participate in bioenergy production. Furthermore, smallholder farmers who believe that the production of bioenergy requires large tracts of land are more willing to engage in bioenergy production compared to their counterparts. This is because of the anticipation of support which comes with such kinds of projects. Unfavourable opinions on the possible compromise between food security and bioenergy. The study advocates for youth development activities to boost young participation in sugarcane cultivation. A revamp of the financial support system and collective action arrangements would enhance the participation of farmers in the bioenergy sector. The farmers’ sugarcane trash management practices should be changed. Green harvesting should be promoted in smallholder sugarcane farming. Knowledge is critical and thus training is needed to improve the farmers’ knowledge of trash management practices, bioenergy, and associated processes. Land reform/ redistribution in the country should support the creation of secure land tenure rights for farmers. The farmers’ fears regarding the bioenergy sector should be addressed before any intervention. The negative perceptions can derail any progress made in promoting bioenergy within the smallholder farming sector. There is also a need to ensure that any bioenergy programme in the smallholder sugarcane sector should not affect the production of crops for food security.