Water use in the post-harvest value chain of traditional leafy vegetables has neither beensufficiently documented nor scientifically investigated. To this end, this study investigatedwater use in the post-harvest value chain of traditional leafy vegetables at Ha-Mphaila villagein Limpopo Province of South Africa. It applied the value chain framework to map actors andidentify production, post-harvest handling as well as consumption practices of selectedtraditional leafy vegetables. A total of 106 questionnaires and 9 interviews with key informantswere conducted, to answer the research objectives.In terms of value chain mapping, the main actors identified were producers, retailers, hawkers,value chain enablers (government, non- governmental organisations, University of Venda) andconsumers. Three main traditional leafy vegetables were identified: Black nightshade, Chinesecabbage and Pumpkin leaves. The study mapped both formal and informal market channelswhich these actors use along the post-harvest value chain. In terms of water use efficiency,returns on water use were analysed for each crop along each market channel. The formal andinformal channels were also compared to establish efficiency. The informal channel used byhawkers was found to have a higher gross margin per cubic metre than the formal channel.Hawkers have a higher gross margin per cubic metre compared to farmers. This was the casefor all vegetables selected in the study. This is the case for all the crops involved, Blacknightshade (ZAR 2 682.37 per cubic metre), Chinese cabbage (ZAR 1 330.42 per cubic metre)and Pumpkin leaves (ZAR 2 352.94 per cubic metre) compared to farmers of Black nightshade(ZAR 2 381.56 per cubic metre), Chinese cabbage (ZAR 665.46 per cubic metre) and Pumpkinleaves (ZAR 2 352.3 per cubic metre) respectively.The study further employed an ordinary least squares (OLS) regression method to determinethe factors affecting variation in water used by actors in the post-harvest value chain of eachvegetable. A number of factors had influence on the total amount of water used for eachvegetable. The factors that statistically affected total water use of Black nightshade includedpost-harvest training, informal channel (hawkers) and the number of days a participant spentat the market. In the case of Chinese cabbage, post-harvest training and access to the informalchannels significantly influenced the total water usage in the post-harvest value chain of thisvegetable. For Pumpkin leaves, experience of traders and post-harvest training (access toextension) significantly in influenced variation in water use. ivThe study recommends that participants in the post-harvest value chain should be taught aboutpost-harvest handling processes which include marketing and post-harvest water managementtraining. Furthermore, given that there are so many benefits attributed from participating ininformal trading, policy makers need to identify ways of how to promote informal trade byoffering actors training and advice on better post-harvest technologies and marketinfrastructure.