Abstract In the post-apartheid era, agricultural support has been focused on small-scale farmers. Although the support manifests through an array of initiatives, the largest expenditure is on land reform and the Comprehensive Agricultural Support Programme (CASP). However, the impact has been minimal, with few farmers benefiting. This systematic literature review study argues that the design of the government initiatives directed at small-scale farmers contains loopholes that allow the manifestation of certain behaviours explainable by three theoretical concepts from the field of economics of information, namely adverse selection, moral hazard, and opportunistic behaviour. After a comprehensive review and discussion of these concepts, we identify, through a systematic literature review, cases that illustrate the behaviour explained by these concepts within CASP and in the land redistribution programme. Our findings show that agents (service providers, farmers, and government officials) involved in the process of rendering support to small-scale farmers act on these existing loopholes in a manner that is beneficial to themselves. We recommend that efforts be made to minimise such behaviours in order to reduce transaction costs and improve the effectiveness of the support initiatives. We also identify potential future research avenues and how they can be approached.

中文翻译：

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南非的小规模农业、土地改革和政府支持：识别道德风险、机会主义行为和逆向选择

摘要 在后种族隔离时代，农业支持主要集中在小农户身上。虽然支持体现在一系列举措上，但最大的支出是土地改革和综合农业支持计划（CASP）。然而，影响微乎其微，很少有农民从中受益。这项系统的文献回顾研究认为，针对小农的政府举措的设计存在漏洞，这些漏洞允许某些行为的表现可以用信息经济学领域的三个理论概念来解释，即逆向选择、道德风险和机会主义行为。在对这些概念进行全面回顾和讨论后，我们通过系统的文献回顾确定，在 CASP 和土地再分配计划中说明这些概念所解释的行为的案例。我们的研究结果表明，参与向小农提供支持过程的代理人（服务提供者、农民和政府官员）以对自己有利的方式对这些现有漏洞采取行动。我们建议努力尽量减少此类行为，以降低交易成本并提高支持计划的有效性。我们还确定了潜在的未来研究途径以及如何接近它们。和政府官员）参与向小农提供支持的过程中，以对自己有利的方式对这些现有漏洞采取行动。我们建议努力尽量减少此类行为，以降低交易成本并提高支持计划的有效性。我们还确定了潜在的未来研究途径以及如何接近它们。和政府官员）参与向小农提供支持的过程中，以对自己有利的方式对这些现有漏洞采取行动。我们建议努力尽量减少此类行为，以降低交易成本并提高支持计划的有效性。我们还确定了潜在的未来研究途径以及如何接近它们。