Abstract
There is extensive research on agriculture in South Africa, stemming from comparative studies on
agriculture in different contexts, such as food security, land, and the history before, during colonial rule
and in post-colonial societies. However, there is a dearth of studies on the lived experiences of smallscale
black women farmers and the challenges they face. Black women, especially, were the ones greatly
discriminated against by the Native land Act of 1913 based on their gender, marital status and race. It is
noted that women have been and still are at the forefront of food security, and they play a large role in
the farming sector, but continue to face many challenges associated with access to resources such as land,
extension services, water, and seeds among other much needed resources to run successful farms. This
study sought to explore the challenges faced by Black small-scale women famers when farming in
Maubane, Hammanskraal, how this affects their livelihood sustainability and the vulnerabilities this
causes in their lives by analysing the different agricultural policies drafted to mitigate these challenges.
A qualitative research approach was used to explore their challenges. Semi- structured telephonic
interviews with open-ended questions were conducted with eight small-scale women farmers. From the
interviews conducted, the women faced different challenges ranging from access to resources (proper
infrastructure, water, machinery and tools), access to financial support, agricultural information,
extension services, quality seeds at affordable prices and access to ownership of the land they are farming
on. While the women did not have challenges accessing the land they farmed on, they experienced some
insecure tenure, especially women who were leasing their land and those who inherited land. In addition,
the women resorted to different non-farming sustainable livelihood strategies, including creating and
selling by-products from their produce, working part time or full time in the formal and informal sectors,
opening businesses and facilitating training to supplement their farming to mitigate the challenges they
faced. A greater part of mitigating the challenges faced by the women would entail government
transparency and inclusivity in policy making processes, prioritising ownership of land for black women,
and creating strategies for agricultural information sharing for rural communities. Keywords: Small-scale, Women, Agriculture, Sustainable livelihoods, Challenges, Food security.