An Analysis of the Effectiveness of the Fetša Tlala Initiative on the Food and Nutrition Security of Women Smallholder Farmers in Limpopo Province, South Africa

The Fetša Tlala Initiative is one of the development projects which were designed to contribute towards the achievement of the South African National Development Plan, 2030. The objective of the research was to analyse the effectiveness of the Fetša Tlala Initiative on the food and nutrition security of women smallholder farmers residing in Semaneng village, Limpopo Province, South Africa. The reason for focusing on women smallholder farmers was that whilst there has been research undertaken on the effectiveness of the Fetša Tlala Initiative, there has not been a study that focuses exclusively on women’s perspectives about the Initiative. The study, thus, sought to break exploratory ground about the effectiveness of the Fetša Tlala Initiative from the viewpoint of women smallholder farmers. The study, thus, adopted a qualitative research design in the form of an exploratory case study. Data were collected using a semi-structured interview guide from 16 participants who were purposefully selected. Face-to-face interviews were conducted and then reflected upon using an inductive thematic analysis. Results of the research indicated that the food security initiative had mixed results. On the positive side, and consistent with one objective of the broader Fetša Tlala Initiative, agricultural inputs increased amongst the women smallholder farmers, which assisted them to boost their yields and improve household food security. The Initiative also empowered the women smallholder farmers by strengthening their collective resilience in the face of adversities they encountered during the project. Notwithstanding these successes, the research findings also indicate that the effectiveness of the Initiative was reduced because of the inconsistent institutional support provided by the appointed Fetša Tlala Initiative project managers. The inconsistent institutional support represented a top-down planning and management strategy premised upon a centralised decision-making model. As a consequence of this style of planning and management, the beneficiaries could only respond by building localised resilience to the challenges. Such agency from the beneficiaries suggests that future Fetša Tlala projects might benefit from a decentralised decision-making planning and management strategy, that is inclusive of the project beneficiaries from the outset. The paper recommends continuation of the Fetša Tlala Initiative with emphasis on transforming the institutional support so that future beneficiaries are included in decision making processes from the inception phases through to completion of projects. Key words: Community resilience, Empowerment, Household food security, Resource constraints, Rural development