Investigation of Challenges Faced by Small-Scale Sheep Farmers in the Northern Cape (Hantam Karoo), South Africa

The study aimed to evaluate the challenges facing small-scale sheep farming systems and their production practices in the Hantam Karoo. The challenges facing small-scale sheep farming systems have been under scrutiny due to crises related to environmental, productivity and social issues. A better understanding of these unique responses could guide the development of improved strategies to increase small-scale sheep production in South Africa. Structured and unstructured questionnaires were used to collect data from 32 small-scale sheep farmers. The questionnaire includes both closed-ended questions and open-ended questions. The descriptive analysis was done by using the statistical package for the social sciences (SPSS version 22). The results revealed the following challenges faced by small-scale sheep farmers: overgrazing (54%), shortage of grazing land (85%), poor grazing veld (85%), poor condition of sheep (40%), predation (94%) and infrastructure issues (59%). Furthermore, sheep diseases, gender imbalance, lack of youth interest in agriculture, and lack of knowledge of the selection of specific traits were some of the challenges. In 2017, there was drought, which was responsible for poor grazing and poor conditions of sheep. Finally, the results revealed that agricultural extensionists need to address the shortage of grazing land, predation, infrastructure, livestock diseases, gender imbalances and selection of sheep for breeding to achieve sustainable development goals. Future studies should consider multi-criteria analysis when assessing the challenges of small-scale sheep farming systems in South Africa.