Magister Commercii - MCom / Women play an important role in food security. Growing, processing, purchasing, preparing and serving food to their families is a common and distinctive relationship they have to food in most societies in the world. They also play a critical role in food security. Yet, studies show that women are the most vulnerable to household food insecurity. At the heart of women’s differential vulnerability to household food insecurity is their lack of ownership of the means of food production, mainly land. Food is grown on land and access to land for productive purposes is vital for food security, especially for women who have little other means of securing food aside from performing subsistence farming for household food security. Thus, analyzing women experiences of accessing land and productive resources, and the manner in which such access shapes their empowerment and ability to achieve household food security is important. In this dissertation, women’s empowerment refers to a process where women gain the ability to make strategic life choices; I take the position that for women to be empowered, their access to resources, individual capacities and agency must be improved. Thus, this dissertation aims to examine the lived experiences of female farmers in Stellenbosch in terms of access to land and productive resources, and the implications this kind of access has for women’s empowerment and household food security.

A thesis submitted to the Faculty of Science, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. Johannesburg 2016. / Human-wildlife conflict (HWC) occurs when wild animals depredate crops and livestock and threaten human safety, which subsequently results in retaliatory or deliberate persecution of wildlife by farmers. The aim of my study was to establish how subsistence and commercial farmers that ranched or cultivated in the same geographic area were affected by and responded to problem animals in selected localities of north-eastern South Africa. I first conducted a global meta-analysis of the scientific literature concerning HWC, which revealed several findings. 1) Local communities contiguous with protected areas worldwide were affected by the highest number of damage-causing wildlife (49 species) compared with subsistence farmers and commercial farmers. 2) Contrary to my prediction, subsistence farmers did not experience the highest number of depredation incidences, instead, commercial farmers were more prone to HWC, possibly due to a greater research focus on commercial agri-pastoral farming. 3) Consistent with the prediction that developing countries could potentially experience regular encounters with wildlife, rural people in Africa and Asia experienced conflict with the broadest diversity of mammals. 4) South Africa offers a regional exemplar of global patterns in HWC. Subsequently, I investigated how subsistence and commercial farmers that operated concurrently in selected localities of north-eastern South Africa were affected by and managed damage-causing wildlife. In addition, I gauged the attitudes and opinions of subsistence and commercial farmers to wildlife and conservation issues, and assessed the attitudes and opinions of conservation practitioners towards people living on protected area boundaries. Finally, I investigated the movement patterns of African wild dog (wild dog) Lycaon pictus in areas where they are lethally persecuted, as a case study of HWC. To achieve these aims, I employed a combination of methods and approaches to acquire information regarding the demographic and physical attributes (such as fencing and use of irrigation) of subsistence and commercial farms, in addition to respondent attitudes and opinions that were collectively important predictors of the scale of HWC. These included semi-structured questionnaire interviews, site inspections on farms and subsistence gardens to verify farm attributes, geographic information system attitude indexes (methods to visualise the spatial distribution of respondent attitudes) and satellite or radio-collared wild dog individuals. Several variables, such as large households (≥ seven occupants per household) and environmental-related challenges (e.g. insect pests, soil erosion, and the absence of electrified fencing) exacerbated HWC, especially regarding carnivores. Maize Zea mays, was the most frequently raided crop (by primates) on both subsistence and commercial farms. Poultry and young livestock were most often depredated throughout the study sites, with caracal Caracal caracal, wild dog and leopard Panthera pardus being the main depredators. My findings supported the prediction that commercial farmers more readily shot and poisoned wildlife compared to subsistence farmers. Commercial farmers most frequently persecuted carnivores, while subsistence farmers mainly persecuted primates. Subsistence and commercial farmers held positive and negative attitudes towards wildlife for different reasons. Collectively, positive attitudes related to ecocentric values (concern for the ecosystem) such as environmental education, tourism and a willingness to learn about non-harmful damage-causing animal control, while negative attitudes pertained to stray wildlife and resource damage, specifically to crop and livestock depredation. Although conservation practitioners held positive attitudes of local human communities (relating to community-conservation oriented values), negative attitudes also existed (pertaining to a disinterest and indifference towards the socio-economic needs of local human communities and poaching). My study of wild dogs showed that although the home range of free-ranging packs intersected with lethal-controlling commercial farmers, one pack in the Waterberg, Limpopo Province, reduced potential encounters with farmers by utilising vegetation thickets as refugia. I concluded that subsistence farmers and commercial farmers were similarly affected by HWC but differed in the type of farming commodity depredated. While commercial farmers may be able to discourage depredation by using fencing and lethal control, such resources are unaffordable or unavailable to subsistence farmers. Instead, they utilised passive methods to deter wildlife (e.g. chasing, guarding fields). The loss of household food to depredation coupled with adverse environmental factors may compromise the food security of poor households. Although tensions between local human communities and conservation authorities exist, the positive attitudes and opinions of subsistence and commercial farmers towards biodiversity, as well as the reported alacrity of conservation authorities for community conservation, may provide the basis for future discussions on joint wildlife management. In the absence of such collaborations, wildlife will continue to experience conflict in farmed areas, or they might adapt by modifying their behaviour, as demonstrated in one wild dog pack. / LG2017

This study examines whether aquaculture has the potential to reduce deforestation in the Peruvian Amazon. The natural resources of the Peruvian Amazon are subject to extreme pressures due to increases in subsistence farming, cattle ranching, and logging in the region. The resulting loss of biodiversity has affected the delicate soil balance that is characteristic of the Amazon, and has contributed to water pollution as well as erosion (Guerra et al. 2001). One of the highest rates of deforestation in the Amazon basin can be found at the foothills of the eastern Andes (Lepers et al. 2005), which includes the area in this study, located in the Peruvian state of Amazonas. In this part of the Amazon, deforestation is mainly caused by small-scale subsistence agriculture (Achard et al. 1998) such as that found in the communities of Condorcanqui. Fishing is an essential part of the socio-economic system that functions in the Peruvian Amazon. Fish meat is the most important source of animal protein in the Amazon, and the main generator of cash for indigenous people (McDaniel, 1997). However, freshwater Amazonian fisheries have been subject to extreme overexploitation in the past few decades (Rainforest Conservation Fund, 1999). Boats with technological equipment and large-scale capacities have threatened stocks in local rivers and oxbow lakes, which has affected the ability of small-scale, native fisherman to support themselves (Rainforest Conservation Fund, 1999). The Instituto de Investigaciones de la Amazonia Peruana (IIAP) has assisted the development of fish farming in the Condorcanqui region as a way to augment diets and decrease the ecological impact of subsistence farming. Fish farming can also be seen as a way to substitute for the loss of traditional river fishing. IIAP has become the leading governmental organization in fisheries research and aquaculture in the Peruvian Amazon, and works to provide native-species fingerlings, and educational courses to native aquaculturists. This study surveys the subsistence villages along road and river communities to determine the impact of fish farming on deforestation in the Condorcanqui region. This region is populated by small communities of indigenous Awajún and Wampí tribesmen, who practice subsistence agriculture. Data was collected from a sample of 184 families in ten different communities. Five of the villages were situated along the banks of the Nieva or Santiago river systems, while the other five were accessible by road, travelling southwest from the town of Santa Maria de Nieva. Data was collected with the assistance of the Research Institute of the Peruvian Amazon (IIAP), which provided a guide who had relations with all of the communities. All of the families in the sample practice subsistence agriculture, while 104 of the respondents supplement their agricultural crops with fish from aquaculture ponds integrated into their farmland. The participants answered a range of questions about the size of their farms, and the productivity of their land. We use a variety of regression-based approaches to determine how incorporating aquaculture into subsistence farmlands affects deforestation rates after controlling for socioeconomic and farm characteristics. Our study suggests that an extra square meter of aquaculture reduces the area deforested for crops on approximately a one for one basis. However, aquaculture should maintain its productivity for much longer than cropping, as it does not depend on soils whose fertility can be exhausted in a few years. Our simulations, based on our survey results, indicate that over time aquaculture should reduce deforestation significantly, especially in areas where soils provide only a few years of subsistence crops. These should be regarded as interesting but preliminary results. Because we used a convenience-based sampling approach, our results could be affected by selection bias. In addition, we do not have enough information to test whether selection bias in the implementation of fish farming affect our results. Therefore, these results suggest that aquaculture could be useful in limiting deforestation, but additional work should use experimental methods or more in-depth surveys to measure the effect of aquaculture on deforestation.

Diss. (sammanfattning). Uppsala : Sveriges lantbruksuniv., 2003. / Härtill 4 uppsatser.

Submitted by Paulo Henrique Pereira Pinto null (paulogeographer@yahoo.com.br) on 2017-11-14T01:36:12Z No. of bitstreams: 1 pinto_php_dr_rcla.pdf: 39503405 bytes, checksum: a6ca5bebc1a5cc606e7c8e45a389b1a1 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by LUIZA DE MENEZES ROMANETTO (luizamenezes@reitoria.unesp.br) on 2017-11-20T14:00:41Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 pinto_php_dr_rcla.pdf: 39503405 bytes, checksum: a6ca5bebc1a5cc606e7c8e45a389b1a1 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2017-11-20T14:00:41Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 pinto_php_dr_rcla.pdf: 39503405 bytes, checksum: a6ca5bebc1a5cc606e7c8e45a389b1a1 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2017-11-07 / Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq) / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES) / A região sudeste do Estado do Tocantins apresenta longos períodos de ausência de chuva com variabilidade significativa do início ao término da estação chuvosa (outubro a abril). Durante esses períodos, são verificados inúmeros transtornos à população rural desta área, principalmente no que se refere ao abastecimento para consumo e produção da agricultura familiar. Diante dessa situação, o governo do Estado implantou projetos para mitigar os efeitos da falta d’água na região. Entretanto, devido aos critérios de aplicação, os projetos não apresentaram resultados satisfatórios. Nesse sentido, esta pesquisa pretende fornecer subsídios ao planejamento e à gestão da bacia hidrográfica do Rio Palma, a partir de uma proposta metodológica que aborda de forma sistêmica os processos físico-naturais e a dinâmica climática, assim como aspectos sociais, que podem ter relação com o fenômeno. A abordagem metodológica desta pesquisa foi realizada em três etapas: na primeira, foi realizada uma adaptação da Análise Empírica da Fragilidade Ambiental, que consiste na síntese do estudo das fragilidades ambientais com base em características do relevo, solo, cobertura vegetal e da pluviosidade. Algumas das principais características da bacia hidrográfica foram averiguadas por meio da análise morfométrica, assim como dados relacionados à morfologia, pedologia, geologia e vegetação. Na segunda etapa buscou-se conhecer os aspectos da Gênese e Dinâmica climática regional e local. Para tanto, foi realizada a análise dos tipos de tempo e da participação dos sistemas atmosféricos, a qual consiste na identificação das massas de ar geradoras de chuvas e da sucessão habitual e excepcional dos estados atmosféricos em uma determinada área. Para isso, foram utilizados dados meteorológicos do Instituto Nacional de Meteorologia e hidrológicos da Agência Nacional de Águas. A terceira etapa consistiu na identificação da Vulnerabilidade Social da população da bacia hidrográfica do Rio Palma por meio da aplicação do Índice de Vulnerabilidade Social (IVS). Por fim, produziu-se uma análise integrada entre a fragilidade ambiental e a vulnerabilidade social. A realização de estudos como este no Estado do Tocantins é de grande relevância, principalmente devido à sua contribuição para o direcionamento de novas abordagens, sobretudo em face do contexto de fronteira agrícola vivenciado pelo Estado, tanto por motivos ambientais quanto econômicos e sociais. / The Southeast region of Tocantins State presents large periods of lack of rain, and demonstrates significant variability over all the rainy season (from October to April). Through these periods, are noticed innumerous problems to the rural population of this area, mainly concerning to the rural supply of water to consumption and to familiar agriculture production. In this context, Tocantins State has implemented projects to mitigate the water scarcity effects in that region. Nevertheless, due to the criteria of application, these projects have not presented satisfactory results. In this regard, this research aims to provide subsides to the planning and to the management of the Rio Palma hydrographic basin, from a methodological approach that considers, in a systemic way, the physical-natural processes and the climatic dynamic, as well social aspects that may be related to the phenomenon. The methodological approach of this research had been carried out in three steps: first, it was made an adaptation of the Empirical Analysis of Environmental Fragility, that consists in the synthesis of the environmental fragility studies based on relief, soil, vegetal cover and pluviosity characteristics. Some of the main characteristics of the hydrographical basin had been verified through the morphometric analysis, as well by dates related to the morphology, pedology, geology and vegetation. In the second step, had been researched aspects related to the regional and local climatic Genesis and Dynamic. In order to do this, had been executed the analysis of two types of weather and the role of the participation of atmospheric systems, that consists in the identification of air masses that generate rain, and the usual and exceptional succession of atmospheric states in a given area. To proceed to this, had been considered meteorological dates from the National Institute of Meteorology, and hydrological dates obtained by the Water National Agency. The third step was composed by the identification of the Social Vulnerability of the population of the Rio Palma hydrographical basin through the application of Social Vulnerability Index (SVI). Finally, it was conducted an analysis between the environmental fragility and the social vulnerability. The realization of studies like this one in the Tocantins State is quite relevant, mainly due to his contribution to the targeting of new approaches, chiefly considering the current context of agrarian boundary experienced by the State, for environmental as well economic and social reasons.

Submitted in fulfillment of the requirements of the Master of Information and Communications Technology degree in Information Technology, Durban University of Technology, Durban, South Africa, 2017. / This dissertation reports on the original study that undertakes the development of a frugal information system to support subsistence farmers through the use of the Agricultural Production Systems Simulator (APSIM) as a support tool to assist them in optimal strategic decisions making. The field of agriculture is vast and in-depth and a number of critical factors like soil type, rainfall and temperature are involved that farmers have to take into account. Farmers persistently face the challenges of increasing and sustaining yields to meet with the populaces demand with often limited resources, which makes strategic decisions on what to plant, when to plant, where to plant and how to plant in a particular season imperative. The way in which this study attempts to solve this agricultural decision making problem is with the use of the APSIM. This technology platform provides an advanced simulation of agricultural systems that can enable subsistence farmers to simulate a number of variables ranging from plant types, soil, climate and even management interactions. This research presents a frugal web-based crop planning decision support system that subsistence farmers can take advantage with the use of the APSIM. The APSIM platform was used to run simulations for various regions with the results containing the expected level of success along with other useful information for a specified crop in the vicinity, using state of the art software platforms and tools ranging from Google Maps application programming interfaces, Microsoft’s model view controller framework, JavaScript and others. The validity of this system was tested through a number of design science methods including structural testing and illustrative scenarios, show capability of the information system. The results obtained from this evaluation show a small but powerful tool that has the capability of servicing a multitude of farmers with crop management decisions. / M

This thesis uses the substainable rural livelihoods framework to investigate the agricultural livelihoods of the Cata community of the Eastern Cape. The Cata community is a deeply rural community located on the southern slopes of the Amatole Mountains. Traditional crop production used to be the major source of income for the households in this community. Of late there has been a lesser reliance on production of food by many households. Many are no longer ploughing their fields or their homestead gardens. People from this community are now spending most of their income on purchasing basic food items that they use to produce themselves, such as vegetables. The researcher then decided to study the contemporary livelihood of this rural community so as to identify the reasons why people in Cata are no longer ploughing their fields and gardens. This study found that, rural people in the community are faced with severe obstacles to agricultural production and this has led them to abandon agriculture as a major means of household support. These obstacles include high cost of production inputs, lack of fencing and lack of mechanization tractors and implements. In order to revitalize crop production the people want to be assisted with production inputs, tractor subsides, consistent water supply and fencing of the fields. Finally, the study makes recommendations for the revitalization of crop production in the Cata.

Thesis (M.Sc. (Agricultural Economics)) -- University of Limpopo, 2021 / The agricultural sector in the Limpopo Province, comprises both commercial and subsistence farming. The smallholder farmers in the province are mainly producing for subsistence purposes and play an important role in poverty alleviation and livelihood creation. These smallholder farmers produce lower quantities of products that are also of low quality. Consequently, their products are rejected in the markets and by processors, and this affects the extent to which they participate in the market. This presents a challenge since the smallholder farming is highly labour intensive and represent the main source of income-generating occupations and a source of economic relief for the majority of people residing in the former homeland areas of the Limpopo Province. This study examined the factors influencing production and market participation among smallholder tomato farmers in Madibong and Manganeng Villages, at Makhuduthamaga Municipality in Greater Sekhukhune District, using the Multiple Linear and the Logistic Regression Models. The Multiple Linear Regression Model was used to analyse the socio-economic factors influencing tomato production among smallholder farmers in the study area. The results of the model indicated that extension access, fertiliser application, marital status, use of agricultural equipment and income from production output significantly influence tomato production among smallholder farmers. The Logistic Regression Model was used to analyse the socio-economic factors influencing market participation among smallholder tomato farmers in the study area. The Logistic Regression results indicated that factors such as educational level, gender of the farmer, farming experience, marital status, and farm size positively and significantly influence market participation while market distance negatively influences market participation among smallholder tomato farmers in the study area. Based on the findings of the study, it is recommended that the local municipality invest more in rural adult education in order for the farmers to adopt new farming skills and utilise the market information provided. In addition, the investment in adult education has the potential to contribute to rural development and job creation in the study area. The study recommends that there should be a comprehensive producer support such as input subsidies, that focuses primarily on subsidising smallholder farmers when purchasing production input such as fertilisers and pesticides. / NRF (National Research Foundation)

Thesis (MPA.) -- University of Limpopo, 2017 / Despite the attempt by the South African government to transfer farms to black ownership, black farmers still remain poor and have to compete without technical skills. The majority of the previously disadvantaged farmers part of mostly practice subsistence agriculture characterised by low production and lack of market. The question that still remains to be answered is whether these subsistence farmers will ever grow to be commercial farmers, and white farmers continue dominating commercial farming. This prompted the researcher to engage in this study that will identify the challenges that make emerging farmers not to succeed as they should. The aim of this study is to investigate the challenges faced by black emerging farmers in the transition from subsistence to commercial farming in Ba-Phalaborwa Municipality and the role played by the Limpopo Department of Agriculture and Rural Development in ensuring that such transits take place. Data used in this study collected from 50 emerging farmers from the five villages in Ba-Phalaborwa and eight (8) extension officers from different sections in the department of Agriculture and Rural development in Ba-Phalaborwa Municipality. The researcher used mixed research design, questionnaires and semi-structured interviews to achieve the intended objectives. The finding shows that the majority of emerging farmers receive support to run their farm activities from the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development mostly in the form of extension services. The study further indicated that emerging farmers are aware of the role being played by the Department of Agriculture, and Rural Development although they are not satisfied with the support the Department is giving them and they believe that if the departments can further support them, they can improve their productions. The study established that emerging farmers have been facing several challenges, including lack of property right or title deed, insufficient farm size, shortage of money, inadequate extension services, inadequate or damaged infrastructure, and climate change, risk on production, lack of market, and lack of information, stock theft, erratic rainfall is a major challenge, lack of access to electricity, lack of access to telephone, not receiving advices on farming activities, not receiving advices on marketing of products, bookkeeping and technology. The emerging farmers’ challenges are worsened by the fact that farmers who are facing droughts are not able to get immediate funding to engage in farming activities. Despite these challenges emerging farmers want to continue with farming and in the next five years they want to see themselves in commercial farming. The concerned government departments should be encouraged to provide farm inputs and equipment like tractors, fertilisers, improved seeds, irrigation system and other types of farm inputs to emerging farmers to empower them to move from subsistence to commercial. The government departments and extension officers should be encouraged to provide skills to emerging farmers like, soil cultivation, irrigation, controlling of weed, packaging, livestock health care, hygiene, breeding and nutrition, recording skills and maintenance of farm equipment to empower emerging farmers to move from subsistence to commercial. Furthermore, policy makers should be encouraged to develop alternative strategies that will motivate emerging farmers to overcome challenges they are facing like lack of property rights of title deeds, insufficient farm sizes, climate change and shortage of money

This paper reports on efforts to improve socioeconomic conditions and natural resource use in the El Pina lito community, department of Chiquimula, Guatemala. Students participating in supervised practical training at Centro Universitario de Oriente/Universidad de San Carlos de Guatemala (CUNORI) developed projects to address these issues. A general diagnostic instrument was created for this community to assist in the development of specific work projects. Students prepared community first-aid kits, agricultural activities with school children, and instructional sessions with farmers on how to prepare a family garden and efficiently manage domestic animals. Other activities included ornamental tree preparation for female participants and a yucca demonstration plot for the Maraxco village.