Sheep Farming In South Africa Essay

1. Introduction
1.1. Background of Study
The role of livestock farming has grown significantly throughout the world and more especially in developing countries. It is playing a major role in agriculture and sustainable development in Africa. According to FPM (2004), livestock is fast becoming the most viable agricultural activity in a large part of South Africa. South Africa has a total land surface area of 122.3 million hectares, of which 68.6% is suitable for livestock farming particularly cattle, sheep and goats (FPM, 2004). Sheep farming is practised in most parts of Free State mostly in the Southern and Eastern of the province. According to DAFF (2003), approximately 80% of South Africa’s agricultural land is suitable for extensive livestock farming and approximately 590,000KM2 of land in South Africa is occupied by sheep and goats. This figure accounts for 53% of all agricultural

The country’s import of sheep products for the same period stood at US$14.71 million, giving a trade deficit of US$11.3 million (14.71 million-2.87 million) (DAFF, 2010). This high expenditure on sheep importation has become a great concern to the Government of South Africa because of its negative impact on the nation’s economic development. High importation of sheep products also exerts pressure on the foreign currency reserves of the country. Therefore, the South African government desires to reduce importation of sheep products by promoting domestic sheep production through productivity and efficiency enhancement measures. Enhancing domestic sheep production will reduce South Africa’s foreign expenditure on the importation of sheep products. Promotion of domestic sheep production will also enhance the output and income levels of farmers and eventually improve their standard of living through provision of employments for farmers, processors and