Given the livelihoods challenges which face many rural communities, understanding a community’s livelihoods dynamics and opportunities is one major step to developing workable options to address the challenges. This study has focused on one rural community and used the five determinants of the Sustainable Livelihoods Approach to describe the livelihoods situation in Embui sub-location in Machakos County, Kenya. Residents of Embui have had to deal with the fact that traditional production systems are not sufficient to provide for their livelihoods needs. The community and continues to be challenged by limited capital for diversifying income sources, low skills and limited social and economic services. This study recommends support to marketing of locally produced artifacts, improved access to capital and provision of water for irrigation along with extension services as the key areas of support to improve the living standards of the residents of Embui / Development Studies / M.A. (Development Studies)

The study focused primarily on the socio-economic benefit(s) of land reform beneficiaries with regard to food security. The study further investigated the socio-economic impact of selected land reform projects in the Limpopo Province which is also very critical for many parts of South Africa. Apart from the traditional output based evaluation of land reform projects, the study managed to identify key significant variables that could be the focus in reforming land reform projects in the future. The study also highlights variables that could contribute positively or negatively to the attainment of socio-economic deliverables of the objectives of land reform. The conclusive data for the study was obtained from 170 beneficiaries of the land reform programme. Beneficiaries have benefited from Land Redistribution and Agricultural Development (LRAD) and Settlement Land Acquisition Grant (SLAG) sub-programmes of land reform in the area of Elias Motsoaledi Local Municipality within the Greater Sekhukhune District Local Municipality. The Multinomial Logic Model (MLM) was regarded as the best model for data analysis and was used to analyse the degree of contribution of socio-economic factors to food security among beneficiaries of LRAD and SLAG. Three categories were selected to determine the level of beneficiaries satisfaction with food security, namely; 1) None; 2) Moderate and 3) High. Dependent variables selected were 1) Number of beneficiaries, 2) Gender, 3) Farm size/ha, 4) Enterprise, 5) Land reform sub programme, 6) Proximity to the project, 7) Decision, 8) Knowledge, 9) Skills, 10) Training, 11) participation in Development organisation, 12) Sustaining production, and 13) Sustaining financial obligation. The study indicated that the participation of beneficiaries in decision making could contribute positively to the attainment of food security. A positive relationship with food security was determined and confirmed the study hypothesis. Knowledge was also found to have a significant relationship with the attainment of household food security. Knowledge was again found linked to training of beneficiaries which in general was inadequate. The study further revealed that almost all beneficiaries were failing to maintain production and financial obligations. Contrary to the hypothesis, enterprise was not found to be significant to the attainment of beneficiaries’ household food security. v The study concluded that land reform is still relevant to food security in the area. It was also concluded that there is a need to develop a comprehensive agricultural development plan to advance the objective of the land reform programme. / Agriculture, Animal Health and Human Ecology / M.Sc. (Agriculture)

The study was prompted by the escalating levels of poverty in Amathole District Municipality of the Eastern Cape Province despite the poverty alleviation programmes that have been established since 1994. The main objective of this study was to identify the underlying factors and challenges that affected agricultural extension organisations in the Amathole District Municipality and explore the role and the prospects of extension organisations as a strategy for development and growth in the district municipality. Data was collected through interviews and with the use of structured questionnaires. The questionnaires were administered to 300 farmers and 20 extension practitioners that had been selected by the systematic random sampling technique in the Amathole District Municipality. After data collection, questionnaires were coded, captured and analysed using MS Excel (2010) and SPSS version 22 (2014). Descriptive statistics were used to summarise the data. Results indicated that although extension officers indicated that they had a positive relationship with the communities they services, farmers indicated that extension policies did not favour them. Conclusions were therefore drawn that agricultural extension organisation was not effective in accelerating development in the Amathole District Municipality. The study, therefore, recommended that further research focusing on the impact of extension services on the economy of South Africa be conducted / Agriculture, Animal Health and Human Ecology / M. Sc. (Agriculture)

Orientador: Maristela Simões do Carmo / Tese (doutorado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Faculdade de Engenharia Agricola / Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-08T16:21:44Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Oliveira_RosangelaAparecidaPereirade_D.pdf: 13011665 bytes, checksum: 790aa77a8771f5ebda726f779c4d24aa (MD5) Previous issue date: 2005 / Resumo: O principal problema levantado nesta tese é que a ocupação do espaço rural para a produção agropecuária se efetiva sem a devida preocupação com os recursos naturais disponíveis, em especial o solo, e sem o conhecimento das características sócio-econômicas dos produtores. Uma das evidências para essa constatação é que ainda não há estudos suficientes sobre as dinâmicas ambientais e sociais do uso do solo, ocorrendo uma supervalorização da dimensão econômica na exploração dos mesmos. Objetivou-se realizar um estudo do meio físico, através de suas potencialidades e limitações, em sobreposição aos indicadores sócio-econômicos, com vistas a avaliar uma proposta metodológica de planejamento rural para o desenvolvimento sustentável. A partir daí procurou-se quantificar a adequabilidade do uso do solo dos municípios de Aguaí, Mogi Guaçú e Estiva Gerbi, Estado de São Paulo, para os anos de 1981, 1990 e 1997, compondo um banco de dados espaciais multitemporais. A avaliação sócio-econômica foi feita por meio da análise da dinâmica de ocupação e uso dos recursos naturais pelos agricultores, agrupados em setores censitários do IBGE, cujas variáveis e tipologia, georeferrenciadas, compuseram o banco de dados de atributos. A metodologia foi desenvolvida a partir da elaboração do Mapa de Adequabilidade do Uso do Solo dos municípios, empregando-se os Mapas de Aptidão Agrícola e de Uso e Cobertura do Solo, segundo o Método de Avaliação de Aptidão Agrícola, utilizando-se imagens dos satélites Landsat 2 (MSS) e Landsat 5 (TM). Foram também analisadas as transformações no uso dos solos pela tabulação cruzada e índices de exatidão global e Kappa, que indicam o grau de evolução nas mudanças ocorridas no espaço analisado. A caracterização sócio-econômica e tecnológica dos setores censitários foi efetivada por meio da Análise Fatorial de Correspondências Múltiplas (ACM) e da Classificação Hierárquica Ascendente, com os dados do Censo Agropecuário 1995/96. Os resultados da análise física multitemporal permitiram delimitar o histórico agroambiental do uso dos solos, representando a evolução e expansão agropecuária, em relação ao uso e adequabilidade dos mesmos. A análise espaço-temporal do uso intensivo do solo e da adequabilidade indicou uma forte evolução no sentido do aumento da ocupação dos solos, tanto para um uso adequado, quanto para uma sobreutilização. Nos três municípios, percebe-se que, com a intensificação da modernização da agricultura, as terras subutilizadas vão diminuindo, gradativamente de 1981 a 1997, apontando seu decréscimo na direção do desmatamento e/ou substituições das pastagens, para a introdução de culturas anuais e/ou permanentes, de maior valor comercial. Por outro lado, áreas que deveriam estar como reservas para preservação permanente acabam também sendo apropriadas por cultivos mais intensivos, ocorrendo, novamente, uma sobreutilização do solo. Foram definidos quatro tipos de agricultores nos municípios: modernos e diversificados citrícolas capitalizados, criadores descapitalizados de animais e familiares com produção vegetal diversificada. Como resultado final, obteve-se um conjunto de mapas, que traduzem o conhecimento integral dos espaços rurais e a ocupação do território. A metodologia proposta mostrou-se apropriada para o subsídio ao planejamento sócio-ambiental, propiciando elementos para um diagnóstico atualizado e eficaz, no estabelecimento de políticas públicas voltadas ao desenvolvimento rural sustentado / Abstract: The main problem raised in this thesis is that the occupation of the agricultural space for the farming, effectives production without the proper concern with the available natural resources, in special the ground, and without the knowledge of the social and economical characteristics of the producers. One of the causes for this confirmation is that it does not have enough studies yet on the environmental and social dynamic of the use of the land, occurring a supervaluation of the economic dimension in the exploration of agricultural ground. It was aimed to carry through a study of its potentialities and limitations, in overlapping to the social and economical index, with sights to evaluate a methodological proposal of agricultural planning for the sustainable development. Since then, it was tried to quantify the adequateness of the use of lands of the cities of Aguaí, Mogi Guaçú and Estiva Gerbi, State of São Paulo, for the years of 1981, 1990 and 1997, composing a multisecular space data base. The social and economical evaluation was made by the analysis of the dynamics of occupation and use of the natural resources for the agriculturists, grouped in tax sectors of the IBGE, whose georeferenced variable and typology had composed the bank of attributes. The methodology had as base the elaboration of the Map of Adequateness of the Use of Lands of the cities, using the Maps of Agricultural Aptitude and the Use and Covering of the Ground, according to Method of Classification of Agricultural Aptitude, using images of the satellites Landsat 2 (MSS), Landsat (5 TM) and Landsat 7 (ETM+). Also the transformations in the use of lands for the cross tabulation and index of global exactness and Kappa had been analyzed, that indicate the degree of evolution in the occured changes in the analyzed space. The social, economical and technological characterization of the tax sectors was accomplished by means of the Factorial Analysis of Correspondence (ACM) and the Ascending Hierarchic Classification, with the data of 1995/96 Farming Census. The results of the multisecular physical analysis had allowed to delimit the agro-environmental description of the use of the land, being represented the evolution and farming expansion in relation to the use and adequateness of lands. The analysis space-weather of the intensive use of the ground and the adequateness, indicated one strong evolution in the direction of the increase of the occupation of lands, as much for an adjusted use as for an over-use. In the three cities, it was perceived gradually that, with the intensification of the modernization of agriculture, the underutilized lands diminished, from 1981 to 1997, pointing its decrease in the direction of the deforestation and/or substitutions of the pastures with respect to the introduction of annual and/or permanent cultures of higher commercial value. On the other hand, lands that would have to remain as reserves for permanent preservation also finishing being appropriate for more intense cultivation, occurring, again, an over-use of the lands. Four types of agriculturists in the cities had been defined: modern and diversified, capitalized citrus producers, undercapitalized animal breeders, diversified familial vegetal production. As final result, a set of maps was gotten, aiming at the integral knowledge of the agricultural spaces and the occupation of the territory. The methodology proposal revealed appropriate for the subsidy to the spcial and environmental planning, propitiating elements for a fast, brought up to date and efficient diagnosis, in the establishment of directed public politics to the supported agricultural development / Doutorado / Planejamento e Desenvolvimento Rural Sustentável / Doutor em Engenharia Agrícola

« Nulle part n'existe un aussi grand nombre d'agronomes qui consacrent leurs talens et leurs veilles à découvrir et à répandre les vérités utiles, ni un aussi grand nombre d'excellens ouvrages sur l'agriculture, et nulle part il n'y a un aussi grand nombre de fermiers ignorans et incapables de comprendre ce qu'il leur importeroit le plus d'apprécier ». Tel est le panorama de l’agriculture française dressé en 1821 par Désiré Ordinaire, membre de la Société d’agriculture du Doubs. Cette image d’une France agricole peu capable d’innovation – à l’exception des grands propriétaires agronomes – est longtemps restée ancrée dans la pensée des chercheurs, qui trop souvent ont considéré que l’agriculture a commencé à se développer avec le productivisme des années 1960. Selon nous, le « développement agricole » est pourtant un processus plus ancien, qui trouve ses fondements dans des initiatives individuelles ou collectives parfois précoces. Après avoir précisé le concept de « développement agricole », nous nous sommes donc appliqués à démontrer qu’au XIXème siècle déjà, l’agriculture française est dynamique. L’exemple du département du Doubs permet alors d’étudier les modalités du passage à la spécialisation pastorale. L’analyse des acteurs du développement agricole au cours des XIXème et XXème siècles, adossée aux méthodes prosopographique et micro-historique, autorise à proposer des éclaircissements sur les changements du monde agricole et sur leur chronologie.Au final, le suivi de plus de 800 individus – membres de la Société d’agriculture, des comices et des chambres consultatives, des syndicats et des mutuelles, ou encore des lauréats de certains concours – permet de préciser et de périodiser l’émergence des élites agricoles, acteurs du développement. Ces élites n’ont pas forcément fait le choix de la spécialisation pastorale, révélant ainsi un processus complexe entre agricolisation et pastoralisation. / « There is nowhere such a large number of agronomists who devote their talents and their days to discover and spread useful truths, nor such a large number of excellent works on agriculture, and there is nowhere such a large number of ignorant farmers, incapable of understanding what it would be important for them to appreciate ». Such is the panorama of French agriculture drawn up in 1821 by Désiré Ordinaire, member of the Agricultural Society of the Doubs. This picture of agricultural France with little ability to innovate – except for the great landowner agronomists – has long been fixed in the minds of researchers, who have often considered that agriculture started to develop with the high productivity of the 1960s. We believe that « agricultural development »is, however, an older process, rooted in individual or collective initiatives which were sometimes very early. After clarifying the concept of « agricultural development », we therefore seek to prove that French agriculture had already been dynamic during the nineteenth century. The example of the Doubs department enables us to study how it moved on to pastoral specialization. The analysis of the actors of the agricultural development during the 19th and 20th centuries, backed by prosopographical and micro-historical methods, allows us to throw light on the changes in agriculture, on their chronology.Finally, the monitoring of over 800 people – members of the Agricultural Society, of the country fair and consultative chambers, of the trade unions and mutual insurance companies, or else prizewinners – enables us to specify and date the periods when the agrarian elite, the actors in this development, emerged. This elite did not necessarily choose pastoral specialization, thus showing a complex relationship between agriculturalisation and pastoralization.

This comparative study, undertaken in the anthropological tradition of long-term field research, highlights the impact of agricultural "betterment" schemes in two rural communities - Chatha in Keiskammahoek district, Ciskei and Shixini in Willowvale district, Transkei. The authors provide a wealth of historical, sociological and ecological detail to describe and assess the implications of the continuation of the present official "betterment" strategy. This is done by comparing conditions in Chatha, where the strategy was implemented in the 1960s, with those in Shixini, where it was being implemented during fieldwork. / Digitised by Rhodes University Library on behalf of the Institute of Social and Economic Research (ISER)

Les coopératives agricoles sont tantôt présentées comme une alternative au capitalisme financier, tantôt dénoncées pour leurs « résistances » à prendre en charge les problèmes d’environnement. Mais comment, concrètement, intègrent-elles ces enjeux dans leurs stratégies et leurs organisations ? Comment leurs agents sont-ils affectés dans leur travail par la montée des injonctions environnementales et comment font-ils avec ? J’aborde ces questions par l’analyse des dispositifs que ces entreprises déploient pour conseiller les agriculteurs, en m’appuyant sur une enquête socio-historique en Champagne-Ardenne. Je montre que la question de qui prend en charge les questions environnementales, et comment, structure les dynamiques du conseil coopératif. Les dirigeants des coopératives ajustent leur modèle économique et leurs dispositifs de conseil pour faire face à la concurrence et répondre aux critiques environnementales. D’un côté, ils internalisent la compétence de la durabilité dans leurs stratégies de création de richesses, en amont du conseil, afin de défendre des modalités d’écologisation de l’agriculture alignées avec leurs intérêts, tout en permettant aux agriculteurs individuels de déléguer la prise en charge de l’environnement. D’un autre côté, ils développent des démarches de conseil innovantes pour les agriculteurs refusant de déléguer cette compétence. Par ailleurs, les technico-commerciaux ne considèrent pas la prise en charge de l’environnement comme un moyen efficace de captation des clients. Ils font avec cette contrainte via leur expertise réglementaire, et développent de nouvelles compétences techniques pour répondre aux attentes diverses des agriculteurs. / Agricultural cooperatives are sometimes presented as an alternative to the excesses of financial capitalism, and sometimes criticized because of their reluctance to cope with environmental concerns. But how, actually, do they integrate these environmental stakes into their strategies and organization? How are their agents affected in their work by the increase of environmental normalization, and how do they deal with them? I address these issues through the analysis of the schemes these organizations build to bring technical advice to the producers, with a socio-historical focus based on an investigation in the French Region Champagne-Ardenne. I show that the question “who handles the environmental concerns, and how” shapes the dynamic of these schemes. Executives of cooperatives adjust their economic model and advisement frame to cope with concurrence and to respond to environmental criticism. On the one hand, they integrate the competence of sustainability into their strategies of wealth creation, upstream of the advice activity, to defend ways of environmental reform of agriculture in line with their interest, and in the same time they let individual producers delegate a part of their environmental responsibility. On the other hand, they develop new advice methods for producers who don’t want to delegate this competence. Otherwise, technical sales advisors don’t think that dealing with environmental concerns is an effective means to strengthen their links with their customers. They do with this constraint through their regulatory expertise, and develop new competences to meet the producers’ request for services.

Sustainable agriculture is explained by Reddy (1995: 22) as the ability for agricultural projects to produce crops and at the same time be able to maintain production without failing. With growing populations in urban areas, the importance of urban agriculture has become increasingly important. This research aims to study the factors that contribute to the success and failure of selected urban agricultural projects within the Nelson Mandela Bay by looking at how the community benefits from two selected community projects. It is however important to note that there are various factors contributing to the success and failure of any project. This research looks into the viability of the environment that the projects are in, the level of community membership, ownership structures, how messages are communicated between stakeholders, and the purpose of the project as well as the resources available to see the project through. Urban agriculture becomes a very important practice to the urban poor, as it subsidizes household income when the produce is sold and reduces expenditure when it is consumed (Kirkland, 2008: 23). Zooming into the Nelson Mandela Bay, it is evident that this practice is also beneficial for the communities in which the projects operate, however, challenges such as theft make such projects dependent on funders and donors.

This study critically analyzed land redistribution and economic empowerment of farm workers in the Stellenbosch agricultural area. Past socio-economic and political policies have resulted in a racially skewed and inequitable distribution of land as well as overcrowding, overstocking and poverty in the countryside. It has become imperative that fundamental change is brought about in order to improve economical opportunities of all South Africans to access land for beneficial and productive use. Land reform, as the central thrust of land policy, is not only part of the effort towards the creation of equitable land distribution, but also of national reconciliation and stability. This study analyzed the notion of economic empowerment of farm workers. It looked at historical overview of the evolution of politics in South Africa and contemporary legislative framework pertaining to land redistribution and farm workers in the Western Cape. A case study of Bouwland farm in the Stellenbosch agricultural area was used as an example of how land redistribution can contribute to economically empower farm workers.

The study sought to investigate socio-cultural factors that contribute to the invisibility of women in agricultural activities at Khwezana village, Alice district. The present study was underpinned by a people’s –centered developmental approach paired with the feminist perspective based of ethnographic research methods, participant observation and basic individual interviews. The study mainly focused on female residents of the village, those who are active in agriculture and also those who are not practicing crop production. Rural women of South Africa have historically played a significant role by contributing in the sustainable livelihoods of the country as well as their communities. However, it has been revealed that there are factors that impede the participation of women in agricultural development. The study revealed that socio-cultural factors such as limited access to land, access to credit (due to tradition and culture circumstances), limited education and culture change in general are the major factors that significantly influence the low agricultural activity in the study village.