Globally, climate change is a major challenge facing farmers. This phenomenon threatens the sustainability of smallholder farmers in rural communities who depend solely on agriculture. Farmers are known to take suitable steps to adapt when they observe change and adjust their farming practices to cope with climate change. However, livestock farmers' response to climate change is very low due to insufficient scientific and context-based evidence. Hence, this paper sought to investigate the determinants of livestock small-scale farmers' choices and adaptive strategies in response to the effects of climate change in Raymond Mhlaba Local Municipality. The study used a cross-sectional research design to collect data from 220 livestock farmers using a semi-structured questionnaire. The study used multinomial logistic regression to analyse the data. Empirical results reveal that access to weather forecasts and extension services, farmers' perception of climate change, level of education, age of the household head, distance to input markets, member of farm organisation, income from livestock sales, and livestock holding affect livestock farming decision for climate change adaptation. Therefore, the study recommends that the government improve farmers' access to accurate and timely agro-meteorological forecasts, capacity building, and technical support for income diversification through improved provision of agricultural extension services.

Communal farming is mainly practised in most rural areas of South Africa, and agricultural production plays a significant part in rural livelihoods. Lack of access to adequate resources has led to high vulnerability. Farmers' understanding, awareness, and experience of extension services are important. Extension services are vital in supporting farmers in acquiring information, gaining knowledge and skills, and engaging in agricultural production to solve farming-related problems. Therefore, the paper seeks to determine farmers' perceptions of extension services accessed. The study used a cross-sectional research design to collect data using a 5-Likert scale questionnaire. A snowball sampling method was used to select 115 communal farmers from Ntsimbini village in Port St Johns Local Municipality. Descriptive statistics and principal component analysis were used to analyse the collected data. The study's findings revealed that production challenges associated with limited access to support services affect crop and livestock production. Findings on farmers' perceptions revealed poor access to production inputs and infrastructural support. Therefore, extension services accessibility affects production inputs and infrastructural support. The study recommends that access and use of extension support services be improved through communication strategies conducive to all stakeholders involved in communal farming, as this will help improve access to support services for farmers.

This study examines the university–community alliance with regard to experiential learning activities that may be used to enhance the competencies of agricultural extension postgraduate students (AEPS). Through research and alliance, university education provides agricultural extension students with ideal learning spaces to explore cause-related social, economic, and sustainability aspects of agriculture. The objectives of the study were for the AEPS to work on community farms for between six to eight weeks, to identify production challenges, and to attempt to solve problems using a participatory action research (PAR) approach. Students collected data daily, using parameters that included types of agro-enterprise, agricultural practices, observation and control of pests and diseases, identification, and control of weed infestation types, control of predators, and management of various security challenges. Social media were also used to share posts (pictures and videos) of the various project activities with the public for discussion and knowledge sharing. Findings show that there was an improved relationship between the students and their community collaborators. All participants mutually benefited from the programme; students gained indigenous farming knowledge from the farmers, while farmers benefited from the scientific approaches to solving common farming problems employed by the students—mostly improvised technologies with local content. Both the students and the farmers learned from the knowledge shared by various followers on Facebook, who gave suggestions to address some of the challenges posted on social media. The programme advocates the need to shift from a mostly rigid, conventional curriculum to a more dynamic, interactive one, which embraces active experimentation with theoretical knowledge. It underscores the significance of experiential learning for developing students’ technical competencies. The success of the programme could influence curriculum development and re-design to accommodate more experience-based modules.