Effects of award incentives and competition on entrepreneurship development of women farmers in North West province, South Africa

Abstract

Female agricultural workers play an important role in feeding the world; hence, there is a need to encourage females in agricultural enterprises of developing countries. This study specifically identified the socioeconomic characteristics of the participants, their degree of participation, the constraints to their participation, as well as the benefits of and the level of commercialization of participants as a result of the AIC programme. This study employed a simple random sampling technique to collect data from 156 beneficiaries of the programme. Ordered probit regression and descriptive analysis were used in the analysis. The findings of the study show that the majority of the beneficiaries (75.6%) were involved in livestock production. The ordered probit regression model produced a good fit for the data and the computed F value was statistically significant (p < 0.01). The study, therefore, concluded that the programme motivates female subsistence farmers to advance to large-scale farming. The study recommends that the programme in North West province should be further strengthened and expanded to accommodate and encourage more females to participate in agriculture.