Barriers and Incentives to Potential Adoption of Biofuels Crops by Smallholder Farmers in the Eastern Cape Province, South Africa

The main objective of this study was to identify barriers and incentives that influence the potential adoption of biofuel crops by smallholder farmers. The study utilized a semi-structured questionnaire to record responses from 129 smallholder farmers that were identified through a snowballing sampling technique. The respondents were from the Oliver Tambo and Chris Hani District Municipalities in the Eastern Cape Province, South Africa. A Heckman two-step model was applied to analyze the data. Results obtained show that variables; arable land, incentives offered, challenges faced, labour source, were statistically significant to awareness of farmers to biofuel crops. Adoption of biofuel crops was statistical related to gender, qualification, membership to an association and knowledge on biofuel. It is recommended that smallholder farmers should be made aware of the proposed biofuel crops in order for them to adopt. Furthermore, for the biofuel industry to succeed, farmers in the semi-arid regions need to be educated on land improvement and notified of the expected returns if they are to participate in the production of biofuel crops.