Improving profit efficiency in vegetable farming, especially for Spinach, is vital in enhancing income, livelihoods, and nutrition security and reducing the poverty of smallholder farmers, particularly in developing countries like South Africa. Despite the country’s potential, spinach production faces major challenges, including unreliable markets, low adoption of modern production systems, and production inefficiencies that affect farm returns. This has been attributed to a lack of adequate and reliable information to guide producers on measures for improving productivity through cost effective production systems and efficient market systems, eventually leading to profit inefficiency. Therefore, this study sought to assess the profit efficiency of smallholder spinach producers under irrigated agriculture in the Eastern Cape Province, South Africa. The study made use of multi-stratified sampling procedures to select 150 spinach producers under irrigation. The stochastic profit frontier function was applied to assess the profit efficiency of smallholder spinach farmers. The results indicated that most farmers operated in farm sizes of 3 ha with an average age of 48 years. The estimates of the stochastic profit frontier function showed that farm size, cost of fertilizer, seed, and pesticides increased profit while labour used decreased profit. Findings indicated a 10% profit loss due to a mixture of technical and allocative inefficiency in the production of spinach, while farmers were able to attain an average profit inefficiency of 90%. Moreover, findings revealed numerous factors that positively affected the profit efficiency of spinach farmers, including socioeconomic, institutional, and cultural. The study findings imply that profit efficiency can increase significantly through the use of high-quality fertilizer, seeds, and pesticides. The allocative efficiency results indicate that improvement in access to extension services, farmers’ level of education, and farm experience can result in the increased allocative efficiency of spinach farmers in the study site. The study further suggests that smallholder farmers must adopt innovative technology to enhance their agricultural productivity, and this is likely to improve household income and nutrition security. Thus, the study recommends that policymakers and government must invest in farmers’ education through effective extension delivery programs and the provision of credit to help farmers increase their profit efficiency.

Agricultural programs play a significant role in reducing poverty, improving livelihoods, and increasing productivity. This study analyzed how the Fortune 40 initiative, an agricultural program, impacted the rural livelihoods of youth in Bushbuckridge Local Municipality. Primary data was collected from 43 beneficiaries using a questionnaire through face-to-face interviews. A cross-sectional research design and a quantitative research approach were employed. Descriptive statistics, a Sustainable Livelihood Approach framework, and an Ordered Probit Model were used to analyze the data. Beneficiaries' ages ranged from 22 to 38 years, with gender distribution being relatively balanced 53.5% female and 46.5% male. Challenges within the program included poor supervision, delays in input delivery, and theft. Overall, the Fortune 40 program had a moderate impact on rural livelihoods. The results indicated that factors such as age, household size, type of farming, access to credit, and land size influence the program's impact. The study recommends fair land allocation for farming and improved access to credit, particularly for youth, agricultural graduates involved in farming, and aspiring farmers.