The challenges faced by rural agricultural cooperatives in South Africa: A case of KwaZulu-Natal

Abstract

Background: Food security in rural South Africa is constrained by climate variability, population pressure, and agrarian inequalities, limiting agricultural cooperatives and small-scale farmers’ livelihoods, market access, and value-chain participation. Aim: This study examines the challenges constraining the development and sustainability of agricultural cooperatives and small-scale farming in rural South Africa. Setting: The study was conducted in rural KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, where agricultural cooperatives and small-scale farming are vital to household livelihoods and local food security. Methods: A qualitative interpretivist design was employed. Data were collected from 47 cooperative leaders through 15 semi-structured interviews and four focus groups. Participants were purposively selected, and transcripts were thematically analysed. Results: Findings show that cooperative underperformance results from interconnected livelihood and institutional constraints rather than isolated weaknesses. Key barriers include mechanisation and irrigation deficits, ageing membership, financial exclusion, membership instability, fragmented government support, and market exclusion. These constraints weaken productivity, resilience, and cooperatives’ ability to support viable small-scale farming. Conclusion: Agricultural cooperatives and small-scale farmers face compounded structural, institutional, financial, and market-related barriers that undermine sustainable rural development. Contribution: The study contributes theoretically by extending the Sustainable Livelihoods Approach to cooperative development, demonstrating how asset deficits and institutional fragmentation interact to constrain small-scale farming sustainability.