The findings of this study indicated, contrary to expectations, that irrigation farmers who expressed needs for water did not engage in certain types of goal-oriented behavior designed to resolve those needs any more so than did those who did not express these needs. There were four measures of goal-orientation which included: Attendance at meetings about the Bear River Project, actively seeking information about said Project and positive attitude toward development of the Bear River. There were significant relationships, however, between expressed water needs and worries over the water supply, the experiencing of human problems related to water use and perceived threats associated with the possibility of losing water. It was discovered that the farmers' belief that surplus water exists in the Bear River was a major factor associated with both their attitude toward development of the Bear River and their perception of benefits of the Project. This would suggest that farmers perceive that development must first be possible by the existence of reserve water in the Bear River. An incidental yet important finding of the study was that a good portion of the farmers who favored some kind of development felt that the Project as planned would be a hindrance to the water situation in their areas.

South Africa and other developing countries are grappling with high levels of poverty as a result of slow to negligible rural development. Irrigation development is one essential component that can be used to address the challenges faced by smallholder farmers in rural areas. In the President‟s “State of the Nation Address” in 2011, the President of South Africa outlined measures to reduce hunger and poverty in communal areas through enhanced government‟s expenditures in rural infrastructure developments, especially for such amenities as irrigation and roads, with a view to promoting food security. The broad objective of this study is to assess livelihood strategies and opportunities with regard to farming in Qamata area of Intsika Yethu Local Municipality. The stratified random sampling method was applied in order to choose a sample of 70 household that were interviewed by means of semi-structured questionnaires. Out of these, 53 belonged to the irrigation project and 17 farmers were non-irrigation farmers. The results show that women play an active role in agriculture. The Multiple Regression model was used to assess the relative importance of different livelihood strategies adopted by both irrigation and non-irrigation farmers in improving household food security and welfare in Qamata. More specifically, the study assessed the impact of different livelihood strategies on production of butternut, goats, maize and poultry (Chicken) in Qamata. The results show increased agricultural production, crop diversification and higher incomes from irrigation farming as compared to dry land farming. Irrigation farming has enabled many households to diversify their sources of income and therefore include activities and enterprises that contribute to enhanced household welfare. The study showed that household size is crucial in crop production, followed by gender of the household head. The government and research institutes need to come up with programmes to train people on ways to produce crop and livestock products more efficiently.