Effect of Irrigation on Poverty among Small-Scale Farmers in Limpopo Province of South Africa

Despite the strength and stability of South African economy, poverty and inequality remain a glaring and persistent issue in the country. About 40% of the population live in outright poverty or continuing vulnerability to being poor, with poverty being more persistent in rural areas. The Forster-Greer-Thorbecke index and a Logit econometric model were used to measure the dynamics of poverty among irrigation and non-irrigation individuals and households. The poverty incidence, depth and severity were found to be higher among non-irrigation household than among irrigation households. In term of poverty depth, it will cost R51.08 per capita to eliminate poverty among small-scale farm families that practice non-irrigated, while R48.00 per capita will be needed to eliminate poverty among small-scale irrigation families.There was significant correlation between income poverty and capability and deprivation poverty. This Implies that policies aimed at mitigating income poverty may also mitigate capability and deprivation poverty.