The report presents the status of the South African household based on agriculture as depicted in the Population Census of 2011 addressing the three agriculture related questions in the Census 2011 questionnaire” said Statistician General Pali Lehohla.

The number of households engaged in agriculture (also referred to as agricultural households in the report), was 2,9 million in 2011. Nationally, 24,9%, 20,7% and 16,3% of agricultural households were located in KwaZulu-Natal, Eastern Cape and Limpopo respectively. The lowest percentages of agricultural households were recorded for the Free State, Western Cape and Northern Cape at 7,0%, 2,9% and 1,9% respectively.

Northern Cape (33,2%) had the highest proportion of households that reported livestock ownership, whereas North West (35,9%) reported the highest proportion of agricultural households engaged in poultry production. The highest proportion of agricultural households in vegetable production was reported in Free State (36,6%).

‘Animals only’ production constituted the major form of household agricultural activity in all provinces, with the exception of Western Cape (26,0%), Free State (26,5%) and Gauteng (16,6%). ‘Crops only’ production was the second most dominantly reported activity. The provinces with highest proportion of agricultural household heads with no schooling were Mpumalanga (31,5%), Limpopo (30,5%) and KwaZulu-Natal (27,1%).

Limpopo (32,6%) and Eastern Cape (32,2%) had the highest proportions of agricultural household heads with no income.

“There are many stories behind Census numbers and the Agricultural Household numbers touch on poverty issues of this country, municipalities and government at large can use this data for better planning and to implement change” said Mr. Lehohla.