The agricultural economy of South Africa is divided into two sections - large agro-industrial commercial farmers who grow food for profit and often for export, and small-scale farmers who grow food for their own consumption. There is a huge gap in between these two categories that could be filled by emerging farmers who grow food not just to eat, but to sell and earn an income and even to create jobs. There are roughly 3 million small-scale farmers in South Africa who produce food primarily to feed their families, and 240 000 black commercially oriented farmers that not only feed their families, but also provide jobs for 500 000 people. The small-scale farmers practice subsistence production or smallholder production which increases food supplies and thus cushion households from food price shocks, thereby improving household food security. It also improves human health since eating fresh vegetables has many nutrients and vitamins. If these farmers could expand their operations and grow more, they could generate a cash income. However, they face many challenges in their attempts to expand, most importantly, the poor quality of the land that they live on and the lack of seeds, water, mechanical interventions like tractors, and transport to get their extra products to the market. If they had these inputs, they could become the foundation of the country's emerging commercial farming class.