Farmers' willingness to pay for agricultural extension services in Limpopo province, South Africa

Abstract

The provision of agricultural extension services in South Africa has transitioned from state-funded systems to privatised models, raising questions about smallholder farmers’ willingness to pay for such services. This study employs a binary probit model on a sample of 319 smallholder farmers in Thulamela and Collins Chabane municipalities to examine their willingness to pay for agricultural extension services. The results show that marital status, farm size, perceived improvements in production output, privatisation of extension services and proximity to extension officers significantly influence farmers’ willingness to pay for extension services. Notably, although annual income was anticipated to influence the likelihood of payment, it exhibited minimal effect. The findings emphasise the importance of enhancing the quality of public extension services and adopting pluralistic approaches to effectively address farmers’ diverse requirements. Future research is needed to explore more robust theoretical frameworks for likely-to-pay analyses of smallholder farmers in developing countries.