Growing per capita income and changing consumption patterns have led commercial retailers to restructure their marketing techniques with the aim of obtaining a greater market share of the consumerâs pocket. Retailers have focussed more on bulk procurement and consistent supply of quality produce from a few large food producers. Consequently, small-scale farmers are either excluded from the commercial markets or the few that participate in commercial markets are struggling to meet the stringent requirements from retailers. However, some scholars advise that support is needed for small-scale farmers to participate in commercial markets. FairTrade (FT) is one of the organisations that have provided an opportunity to small-scale farmers in developing countries to participate in commercial markets. Eksteenskuil raisin producers are among the farmers that have been given the opportunity to participate in commercial markets. Despite the support, Eksteenskuil raisin producers are unable to meet market requirements such as stipulated raisin volumes of adequate quality. Hence, this study estimated the level of technical efficiencies and assessed factors affecting efficiencies of Eksteenskuil raisin producers. The farming operation of Eksteenskuil raisin farmers is divided into two production levels, production and quality. Consequently, a Two-stage Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) Model was used to understand the level of technical efficiencies in each production level. Due to a small sample size and a large number of independent variables used, degrees of freedom were identified as a problem. A Tobit Principal Component Regression (PCR) was used to reduce the dimensionality of the variables without losing important variables that explain inefficiencies. Primary data was used to obtain technical efficiency estimates and factors hypothesised to influence efficiency. Primary data was obtained through a structured questionnaire and personal interviews. A sample of 28 raisin producers in Eksteenskuil was used. A similar sample of 28 large-scale farmers was also conducted to be used for benchmarking with small-scale farmers. The empirical results revealed that production efficiencies of small-scale farmers are relatively high although farmers are struggling to increase raisin volumes. When small-scale farmers are benchmarked against each other the mean production efficiency of 81% was estimated. This means that on average small-scale farmers have the potential to operate on the efficient frontier if the mean production efficiency increases by 19 percentage points. On the other hand, the results of a benchmark of both small-scale and large-scale farmers revealed a mean production efficient of 69% and 85% respectively. This implies that small-scale farmers are less efficient relative to large-scale farmers in producing maximum possible raisin volumes with available inputs. Variables that were identified to increase the level of production efficiency are: farmerâs age, formal education, farming experience, land tenure, formal credit, record keeping, timely pruning, entrepreneur index, and Middle Island (soil fertility). Thus farmers who are located on the efficient frontier display a number of the variables mentioned above in their characteristics. On the other hand family labour, social capital and area harvested were also hypothesised to either increase or decrease the level of production efficiency. Hence, a positive or negative sign was expected. Results on the second stage of the two-stage DEA model revealed a mean quality efficiency of 97% for small-scale farmers when benchmarked against each other. The results indicate that small-scale farmers have the potential to increase their mean efficiency by three percentage points to operate on the quality efficient frontier when benchmarked against each other. A benchmark of both small-scale and large-scale raisin producers revealed a mean quality efficiency of 79% and 88% respectively. The scope of variations between the quality efficiency scores of small-scale farmers was recognised to be limited. Due to limited variations, none of the hypothesised variables were found to be significant. Policy implication highlighted from this study is that education and training should be prioritised by policy makers in the study area. Existing support from various stakeholders involved with small-scale farmers in Eksteenskuil should be intensified in order to prevent poverty from becoming an epidemic in the community

One of the factors hindering development in Lesotho is the limited access to credit. The development of the rural economy in developing countries depends on growth and development in the agricultural sector and other small and medium enterprises. These enterprises constitute the engine of growth, employment and income for the rural community. In an effort to make the landscape of rural finance more attractive and to fulfil the national objectives of increased production, policy makers and donors adopted the conventional approach of advancing credit, where all practices and operational procedures were geared towards the interests of the borrower. The initiatives to advance credit include amongst others, an emphasis on project appraisals, relaxing collateral requirements and the charging of close to market interest rates. Despite the changes, the problem of limited access to financial services still exists. In fact, these approaches (policies) invariably resulted in distortions in the financial markets, and reduced the number of financial products and services to which farmers have access. The purpose of this study therefore, was to examine factors that influence small-scale farmersâ access to credit, thereby affecting their productivity and to make suggestions for government interventions and for the reduction of market failures in the rural financial markets of Lesotho. The study was conducted in two agro-ecological zones in Lesotho, namely; the Lowlands and the Highlands regions. A random sample of districts in the regions was done to select representative districts in each region. Leribe, Mafeteng, and Berea districts represented the Lowlands while Mohaleâs Hoek and Thaba-Tseka districts represented the Highlands region. Stratified random sampling was employed to select borrowers and non-borrowers for the study. The study employed the logistic regression model (logit) within the principal component regression (PCR) framework to assess factors affecting small-scale farmersâ access to credit. PCR was used to take care of the multicollinearity between the variables. Firstly, the variables included in the logit model were subjected to principal component analysis (PCA) in order to reduce the variables into a few uncorrelated principal components (PCs). After principal components (PCs) were calculated, PCs with the smallest eigenvalues were eliminated and then PCR was fitted using standardised variables to improve the estimation power of the logit model. The empirical evidence of the study indicates that non-farm income, savings and remittances and pensions confirmed that increasing the householdâs total income reduces the probability of a household being credit constrained. This shows that a better household situation affects the decision of the lender to ration the loan or that the household has less demand for loans because of its own equity capital accumulated through past income earnings. Farm income on the other hand, is positive, confirming that a higher farm income may improve the farmerâs creditworthiness and in some cases create a demand to expand production, thus increasing the demand for credit. The study revealed that farm income values of borrowers are higher than those of nonborrowers but lack of baseline data makes it difficult to associate the differences to the loans obtained by borrowers. However, the changes in income among borrowers are linked to the use of credit, confirming the hypothesis that credit has a positive effect on income and improvement of living conditions of credit users. Research into the behaviour of credit institutions in Lesotho will help to explain some of the actions taken by credit institutions, and at the same time assist policy-makers in formulating appropriate interventions.

The main objective of this study was to explore the relationship between economic literacy and allocative efficiency of small-scale producers in South Africa. The study was conducted in Eksteenskuil, where small-scale producers export raisins via the fairtrade initiative. Data regarding production inputs and their relative prices was gathered by means of a structured questionnaire survey. The allocative efficiency of farmers was calculated by means of cost efficiency, using a mathematical linear programming technique called Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA). The inputs that were used to calculate the respondentsâ cost efficiency were fertiliser in the form of nitrogen, phosphate and potassium, labour, and fuel. It was hypothesised that economic literacy of individuals will have an effect on the ability of the producers to allocate their resources efficiently. The economic literacy of respondents was measured by means of proxy variables presented in the questionnaire. The economic literacy variables were regressed on cost efficiency by making use of the Tobit Regression Model since the dependent variable is bounded from above. The results from the DEA showed substantial inefficiencies among the small-scale raisin producers of Eksteenskuil, indicating that a significant capacity for cost efficiency improvement exists. By improving cost efficiency of producers, profit of producers will also increase. Economic literacy of raisin producers was measured to be below average. The total economic literacy score of respondents was found not to have a significant effect on their cost efficiency. However, some of the individual proxies for economic literacy were found to influence cost efficiency. Economic literacy questions were divided into two groups. The applied economic concept group: where respondents needed to think about the question, exhibit knowledge and make a rational decision. And the comprehension economic concept group: where respondentsâ knowledge on economics surrounding their farms, was tested. Interestingly, only questions from the applied economic concept group were found to have a statistically significant effect on the cost efficiency of respondents. Socio-economic factors of respondents were further measured in order to understand the characteristics associated with higher economic literacy levels of respondents. The hypothesised socio-economic factors were regressed on the statistically significant economic literacy questions found in the Tobit Regression Model. A Probit Regression Model and an Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) Regression Model were used to determine the effect of socio-economic factors on specific economic literacy questions. Most of the factors that were statistically significant in influencing economic literacy, relate to activities undertaken by the farmers to increase human capital. Other factors that were found to contribute to economic literacy, relate to farm specific factors like farm size and specialisation. The results show that economic literacy does affect the decision-making ability of individuals when it comes to the allocation of production inputs. Cost inefficiencies can be improved by improving the economic literacy of respondents. One of the important ways to improve economic literacy of smallscale producers is by simplified, goal-oriented, practical training related to the individualsâ specific farming practices.

South Africaâs land reform programme is faced with many challenges associated with its sustainability. It is widely believed that one of the major causes of the collapse/failure of farming SMMEs is lack of capacity in many aspects of running farming as a business. Critical success factors for these SMMEs are capacity, market accessibility, business management skills, effective extension services, adequate support programmes as well as adequate financial injection. Therefore, any entrepreneur in this business must have skills in both marketing and management, coupled with adequate support systems. To address the above-mentioned problems, a comprehensive study of farming small, micro, medium enterprises (SMMEs), pre- and post-settlement support, the involvement of youth and women, accessibility of markets, linkages, small, micro, medium enterprises (SMMEsâ) institutional structures and other support services, was carried out. An intensive desktop study which included amongst others reports from government, consulting agencies, development and training institutions was used. Workshops with experts, farming stakeholders, agricultural economics departments from universities, government officials and farming small, micro, medium enterprises (SMMEs) were conducted. Participatory action research methodologies were employed during workshop sessions. Empirical evidences were drawn from eighteen case studies and surveys conducted by both Land Bank and National Department of Agriculture. Various tools of analysis were used to analyse different data sets used in this study. For instance, case studies used narrative coupled with strength, success, weakness, failure, opportunities and threats (SSWFOT) and ridge regression (RR). The data set from the Land Bank survey was analysed using GENMOD, MEAN, frequency (FREQ) and multiple logistic regression models. The data set from National Department of agriculture was analysed using frequency (FREQ) and multiple regression analysis. Case studies revealed that micro and small scale farming enterprise severely lack important key success indicators such as sustainable markets, input supply; increased income, sustainable production, skills development and professional business operation. On the contrary, it was found that medium sized enterprises have adequate levels of important key success factors that are lacking in micro and small scale farming enterprise, but also shows a need to improve on sustainable markets and input supply. These cases also revealed that financial capacity depends on marketing capacity. Consequently unit increases in marketing capacity have a corresponding increase in financial returns. The Land Bank survey revealed that perceptions of emerging farmers portray a lack of capacity and exposure. It also showed that skills, financial support, and infrastructure are important requisites for sustainable farming small, micro, medium enterprises (SMMEs). Extension support and sustainable production were found to be crucial for farming success in the emerging farming sector. It was also found that lack of understanding of the importance of formal markets; benefit of training and extension support may be the main contributors to the unsustainable nature of the emerging farming sector in South Africa. Therefore, this sector requires access to formal markets, extension support services and training in order to be profitable. The National Department of Agriculture data set revealed that there are many more micro enterprises compared to their small and medium counterparts. In addition, women are most beneficiaries for agrarian development; their involvement surpasses that of men, youths and disabled people. The results also indicate the training received to be insufficient, with much of the training being inappropriate for farming. There is a need to devise strategies to convert micro enterprises into small and medium enterprises with since a high conversion rate to small and medium levels can help to reduce poverty, unemployment and above all increase womenâs empowerment and thereby improving the socio-economic impact of these farming enterprises. The results have good implications for the present and future owners of small, micro, medium farming enterprises. The study has formulated comprehensive and sustainable strategies as a guideline for agribusiness entrepreneurs, with the overall objective of eradicating poverty in rural areas and commonages through increased agricultural production.

Low productivity in agriculture has been observed to be a problem against increased food security. Enhancement of agricultural productivity is a key to improved food security and it can be achieved by improving technical efficiency of maize farm households. There is little empirical work on technical efficiency of small-scale farmers in Lesotho, hence the need for this study. Maize is a staple food in the country however, its production is not keeping pace with the increasing population, thus, it is not considered suitable for food security. The study therefore investigated the potential to raise maize productivity in Leribe and Mafeteng districts of Lesotho. The primary objective of this study was to identify factors affecting the productivity of small-scale maize farmers in Lesotho, using stochastic frontier production analysis (SFA). Due to high levels of multicolinearity principal component regression was used to relate technical efficiency scores to hypothesised factors that affect technical efficiency. Primary data were used in order to provide estimates of technical efficiency and its determinants. The primary data were obtained by way of personal interviews through the use of well-structured questionnaires administered in Leribe and Mafeteng districts of Lesotho. A simple random sampling technique was used to select a sample of 150 maize farmers drawn from the two districts. The empirical results revealed that nitrogen (N) and potassium (K) have a significant positive impact on maize production, suggesting that these variables are important intermediate inputs in enhancing agricultural productivity in the study area. Phosphorus was negative and significant implying that it led to a decrease in production. The importance of labour and seed quantity on maize output was not statistically explained, even though their estimated coefficient quantities were positive as expected. It was found from the estimated gamma (g ) of 0.196 that technical inefficiency is a significant component of the composed error term of the stochastic specification. The gamma value indicates that about 19.6% of total variation in maize output was due to technical inefficiency. The gamma value results in this study indicate that the low maize productivity levels in Lesotho are largely due to random shocks, rather than being technical inefficient. The results of the analysis further showed that the estimated level of efficiency ranged from 11% to 100% with a mean of 87%. The mean technical efficiency of 87% implies that maize farmers were not fully technically efficient, there was 13% allowance for improving efficiency using technology from best-practiced maize farmers. However, about 91.5% had the technical efficiency exceeding 60%. There was a significant difference in the levels of technical efficiency across maize farmers in the two regions. Leribe region attaining high levels of TE should be utilised as a source of knowledge that could be transferred more easily to Mafeteng region which is less efficient. Some of the variables of interest in this study contributing to efficiency increase were age, seed quality, tractor power, farm-experience, market access, credit access and off-farm income. Gender and extension visits were not statistically significant in increasing the level of technical efficiency. The estimated coefficients of household size, primary education, animal power and farm training were positive, thus increasing technical inefficiency of farmers in the study area. The policy implication arising from this study is that stress tolerant maize varieties should be planted to address the climate change effect on maize production in the study area. Improvement of maize market infrastructure throughout the country could also be an incentive for farmers to increase maize outputs.

For many years chemists have endeavored to evaluate soils for agricultural purposes and to determine fertilizer needs for maximum crop returns by chemical analysis of soil samples. More recently, attempts have been made to establish "critical levels" of the mineral elements necessary for normal crop growth in various organs of the plants themselves. Both of these procedures have met with some degree of success, but much work remains to be done in standardizing the methods, particularly those of the latter group, against field performance. [...]

The problem indicated in the preceding quotation bas accompanied the process of economic development throughout the Western world. The specialization of labour and the large-scale use of capital have not only led to a manifold increase in labour productivity, but they have also raised the problem of maintaining price stability and avoiding severe depressions and inflations. In contrast, the economics of underdeveloped countries are characterized by stability. We may say, therefore, that economic equilibrium and stability are not synonymous with prosperity. On the contrary, economic expansion is a pre-requisite for a high and increasing level of living.

Soil micro-organisms that decompose cellulose have a very important place in the transformation of carbon in nature, since under natural conditions plant residues, which contain relatively large amounts of cellulose, are continually being added to the soil. It is estimated that in forest soils bacterial activities alone account for the liberation of about nine kilograms of carbon dioxide in one hour. Since cellulose constitutes from one-third to one-half of the weight of all plant residues, a considerable quantity of this polysaccharide is being constantly disintegrated by micro-organisms with the eventual liberation of carbon dioxide.

The physico-chemical changes that take place during the coagulation of milk by the enzyme rennin are not fully understood. Aside from such factors as calcium ion concentration, temperature, and pH, the peculiar constitution of casein is also believed to play a major role in the coagulation process.

This research studied Quebec producers’ environmental attitudes and perceptions on environmentally friendly practices on farm, such as an environmental management system (EMS), using a survey. The contingency valuation method (CVM) was applied to elicit producers’ mean willingness to accept compensation (WTA) of adopting an EMS on farm, in terms of the percentage of direct costs of implementation. Factors affecting the mean WTA were studied to examine their influences. The results show that Quebec producers adopt environmental practices extensively and face many challenges in agro-environmental management. The results also show that producers have mixed perceptions in the benefits and difficulties of environmentally friendly practices and a negative attitude towards environmental regulations. The mean WTA of Quebec producers is estimated at 79.73%. French speaking and English speaking farmers have the mean WTA of 79.91% and 71.75%, respectively. The regression analysis identifies that producers’ knowledge level on EMS, their attitudes towards the benefits and difficulties, internet access and the use of a computer in farm management are significant variables with respect to the mean WTA. / Cette recherche a pour but l’étude de la perception et l’attitude des producteurs agricoles du Québec sur les pratiques culturales respectueuses de l’environnement tel que le système de la gestion environnementale (SGE) à partir d’un sondage. La méthode l’evaluation contingente est utilisée afin de mesurer la volonté d’accepté la compensation (VAC) d’adopter le systeme de gestion environnementale au sein de l’entreprise en terme de pourcentage de coûts directs d’adoption comme compensation. Dans cette recherche, les facteurs influençant la moyenne de la VAC seront étudiés. Les résultats de l’analyse montrent que bon nombre de producteurs québécois adoptent déjà les pratiques respectueuses de l’environnement et font face à de nombreux défis en gestion agro-environnementale. Ces résultats montrent également que les producteurs confondent leur perception concernant les avantages et les difficultés des pratiques culturales respectueuses de l’environnement et une attitude peu négative envers les lois environnementales. La moyenne de la VAC des agriculteurs québécois est estimé à 79,73%. Les agriculteurs francophones démontre une VAC de 79,91% alors que celui des agriculteurs anglophones est de 71,75%, respectivement. D’après cette étude, le niveau de connaissance des agriculteurs sur le SGE, leurs attitudes envers les avantages et difficultés, l’accès à l’internet et l’usage d’un ordinateur dans la gestion de l’entreprise sont des facteurs significatifs qui influencent la moyenne de la VAC. fr