Purpose: Creating 'self-reliance' and improving 'livelihood sustainability' amongst small-scale sugarcane farmers remains challenging in part because the underpinning theories are poorly understood. Methodology: This study comprised a literature review to clarify the two concepts and a field study conducted amongst small-scale sugarcane farmers in South Africa. Findings: Key to fostering sustainable livelihoods is developing human capital. Self-reliance lies in human capacity and thus impacts directly on achieving livelihood objectives. The process of developing self-reliance among farmers embraces understanding the characteristics of small-scale farmers and building farmers' capacity to run their farming enterprises, ensure sustainability of the enterprise and continuously learn. Farmers' perspectives show that self-reliance indicators are interconnected and interdependent. Building farmer capacity goes beyond improving knowledge and skills to genuine inclusive participation in farmer development programmes especially inclusion in decision-making. Practical implications: Understanding the significance of self-reliance helps extension workers prioritise building human capital as the starting point in strengthening livelihoods, and guides planning, implementing and evaluating extension programmes enhancing the capacity of farmers to run their farming operations, ensure sustainability and continuously learn. Theoretical implications: This reinforces the growing understanding that extension is primarily a function of developing human capacity rather than finding specific technological solutions to challenges faced by farmers. The findings provide fresh insight into livelihoods and extension theory, bringing them closer together. Value: Strengthening the theoretical connection between livelihoods and extension gives each more power and functionality and increases synergy between them.