Technical and Allocative Efficiency Challenges Smallholder Maize Farmers Face in Limpopo Province, South Africa

Maize is crucial in Limpopo because it is a staple food crop in the province; hence, high and sustainable production is important. The study determined the challenges smallholder maize farmers face in the Limpopo province regarding their technical and allocative efficiency. A stratified sampling technique was used to select 307 participants in the study area. A five-point Likert Scale was used as a data collection method to measure the extent to which each factor is a challenge to the smallholder maize growers in the study area. Principal component analysis was further used to identify specific variables that accounted for the variability found in those variables. This was carried out using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 29. The results showed that access to production inputs such as fertilisers, pesticides, and herbicides is one of the major challenges facing smallholder maize farmers in the study area, among others. Over 80% of the respondents found it difficult to access fertilisers. A total of 46.9% strongly disagreed, and 40.4% disagreed that pesticides are easily accessible, which means that over 80% of the participants found it difficult to access pesticides. Most of the participants also indicated that herbicides are not easily accessible, with 48.9% of the sampled population agreeing that herbicides are easily accessible, and 39.4% disagreeing with the statement. Principal component analysis results revealed that the first factor (PC1) accounted for 21.789% of the variance, the second factor (PC2) for 15.880%, the third factor (PC3) for 12.036%, the fourth factor (PC4) for 7.344%, the fifth factor (PC5) for 6.385%, and the sixth factor (PC6) for 5.701%. Among the suggestions made was the necessity for the adoption of policies that would allow farmers to receive better training and better access to enhanced agricultural inputs from both non-governmental groups and the government. This will assist in ensuring productivity. Key words: Principal component analysis, maize, smallholder farmers, Limpopo province, South Africa