African Journal of Agricultural Research Vol. 6(13), pp. 2935-2940, 4 July, 2011 Available online at http://www.academicjournals.org/AJAR DOI: 10.5897/AJAR10.393 ISSN 1991-637X ©2011 Academic Journals Full Length Research Paper Analyzing wastewater use possibilities: Prospects of garden irrigation in the Middle Olifants sub-basin N. S. Molepo*, A. Belete and J. J. Hlongwane Department of Agricultural Economics, University of Limpopo, P. Bag X1106, Sovenga 0727, South Africa. Accepted 9 November, 2010 The purpose of the study is to analyze the relevance of wastewater as one possibility to deal with the scarce water situation in the Middle Olifants Sub-basin. The Middle Olifants sub-basin is the third most water stressed sub-basin in South Africa. It is an arid and semi-arid region which includes different water user groups like growing industrial zones, large and small-scale farming with irrigation activities. The study used stratified random sampling technique due to the fact that some households use wastewater and others do not use wastewater. The analysis using both descriptive statistics and logistic regression model revealed that there are several socio-economic factors (for example, education level, water source, water quantity, availability of garden, etc.) that affect the usage of wastewater for agricultural purposes. This implies that the Department of Water and Forestry and other private institutions need to raise the public awareness campaign in the communities in order to encourage people to use the wastewater efficiently so that fresh water could be conserved. Policies on wastewater use have tended to focus on treatment before use and the implementation of strict regulations. In South Africa clear policy guidelines on how to optimize the benefits and minimize the risks of this practice are lacking. Key words: Wastewater, Middle Olifants, logistic regression, households. INTRODUCTION Growing demands for freshwater resources in water scarce countries such as South Africa, pressure on the agricultural sector to give up part of its allocation to prime use sectors such as households and industries increases. The use of wastewater in irrigation could become important to supplement supply and also to increase efficiency in water use (World Bank, 2005). The Middle Olifants sub-basin is the third most water stressed sub-basin in South Africa. The sub-basin comprises of arid and semi-arid region which includes different water user groups like growing industrial zones, large and small-scale farming with irrigation activities. The usage of wastewater in Middle Olifants increases household food security. Households in the rural areas use treated and *Corresponding author. E-mail: solmol@webmail.co.za Tel: +2772 776 2190. Abbreviations: CMAs, Catchment Management Agencies; DWAF, Department of Water and Forestry. untreated wastewater for growing cash crops, lawn, landscaping and horticultural plants. This is done for multiple reasons such as water scarcity, reliability of wastewater supply, nutrient value of water, etc. (Tewari, 1998). According to Speelman et al. (2005), semi-arid North West of South Africa experience water scarcity, which makes wastewater use one possible way of improving efficiency and holding great potential for saving valuable freshwater resources. Local socio-economic conditions and culture are also factors that influence the choice of crops that farmers or household irrigate. Most vegetables irrigated with wastewater in Pakistan are eaten cooked, whereas in Dakar, most are normally eaten raw (Faruqui and Jayyousi, 2002). Additionally, the rationale for using wastewater varies enormously in different contexts. In Tunisia, many farmers would be unable to earn a livelihood without using wastewater – they have no other choice. In other cases, for example, in Vietnam, two different scenarios can occur in some cases, farmers may inadvertently use wastewater even when they do have an adequate supply of water, because