**1. Introduction**

Agriculture, among all other sectors, has proven to have a closer relationship with natural resources and her impacts have been significant to mankind over the centuries [1]. Livestock farming has contributed tremendously to the livelihood and social status of humans [2].

This sector has been lacking behind compared to others in developing countries. There are very few partnership and corporate organizations in the agricultural sector, because the factor of production is costly (such as the inability to acquire land, low land nutritional value, the high cost of mechanization, lack of capital and access to good roads, etc.) [3]. Therefore, many farmers prefer to operate individually. This gives rise to many smallholders than commercial farmers in developing countries [4]. Statistically, smallholder farmers have been found to contribute largely to the agricultural industry, especially in developing countries [1]. Also, it was reported that local production had contributed a larger quota (63%) to the total livestock population in South Africa [5, 6]. More research has been conducted to improve, increase production efficiency and solve some challenges facing small-scale farmers [4, 7].

As indicated by other researchers, there are other problematic factors facing small scale farmers and limiting livestock production in Africa [8]. According to Vink and Rooyen [9], there were 8 million households in South Africa located in rural areas in 2006, of these 17% (1.3 million households) had access to land for farming purposes and 97% of those households engaged in some form of farming activity. Recent data shows that 43% of South Africans can be referred to as 'rural survivalists' [10]. Most households clustered in former homeland areas; the current households in KwaZulu-Natal were said to be located on relatively small plots of land [9]. They depended on multiple livelihood strategies with farming being an important but small contribution to livelihoods. At that time 78% of households engaging in agricultural production did so as an extra source of food for the household, 6% as an extra source of income, 3% as the main source of income and 8% as the main source of food. These smallholders, characterized by small plots of arable land and low output [11], are faced with a wide range of challenges including limited access to factors of production, credit, information and markets [12].

It is factual that the smallholder sector in South Africa is striving to provide employment and food security [13]. But the critical issue is how these farmers can improve their competitiveness by participating sustainably in agri-food supply chains [12]. Other factors that are recently identified and less investigated affecting agricultural development are gender ownership, inherited cultural management practices and cultural belief systems of certain livestock [14]. Rural farmers still hold the belief that livestock farming is not a source of income and it becomes a major barrier to commercialization of goats and cattle particularly in the agricultural industry [15–17].

Therefore, this study aimed at determining the effect of cultural views and management practices on livestock commercialization; secondly, evaluating livestock gender ownership and its productivity effect on socioeconomic development at Umsinga municipality.
