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Assessing the commercialization potential of the former Transkei’s land and water resources through an integrated water-land-agricultural nexus in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa.

F. Materechera-Mitochi, M. Weaver, O.N. Odume, O. Mabhula

December 2024-March 2028

Overview

The Eastern Cape Province contributes as a major player in the agricultural economy of South Africa supplying 31% of the country’s milk, 27% of its citrus and about 39% of its wool (Sihlobo, 2023). Much of this production comes from outside of the former Transkei area, raising the question of why is it that commercialization of agriculture and its value chain remain so low in the former Transkei. The former Transkei has untapped water resources and arable lands, yet commercialization of the agricultural sector is still lagging despite its potential to address poverty, inequality and accelerate wealth creation. The reasons why agricultural commercialization in the former Transkei has remained low include 1) a lack of integrated planning that views water, land and agriculture as part of a holistic system, 2) poor investment in human capital development, value-chain exploration and access to market, and 3) piece-meal policies and strategy frameworks that have failed to deliver on their intended outcomes. Therefore, this project, which brings together a team of expert researchers from the private and public sectors as well as academia, is set to i) explore ways in which agricultural commercialization can be accelerated using water as an entry point, and ii) to provide an integrated planning approach that accounts for the diversity of variables (e.g., land, water, human capital development, access to market) to accelerate commercialization potential. The project objectives are:

1. To review sectoral policies and frameworks to identify gaps in commercialization support and develop an integrated plan, introducing parallel support pillars e.g., education and curriculums, financial and legal systems etc. for the commercialization of agriculture in selected areas within the former Transkei (OR Tambo district municipality).
2. To establish an integrated mapping of the potential areas for commercialization and develop a multidimensional matrix for the areas with the greatest potential.
3. To assess the skills demand in support of commercialization as well as the potential local and international markets using a value chain-based approach towards skills demand analysis that will be co-assessed with the community.
4. To develop a guideline for land and water use in support of commercialization of agriculture in the former Transkei (OR Tambo district municipality) for cross-sectoral implementation, while paying attention to how such commercialization may support livelihoods and social-economic well-being.

Last Modified: Thu, 19 Mar 2026 09:12:21 SAST