Thesis (MDF)--Stellenbosch University, 2015. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The research examines agriculture value chain finance as it has been applied in the Komati Downstream Development Project. It seeks to assess whether the Komati Downstream Development Project has addressed the challenges of access to finance, markets and support services and enabled smallholder farmers in the project area to operate commercially. The Swaziland National Development Strategy of 1999 committed to increase investment in agriculture. The Komati Downstream Development Project was in line with this strategy. However, for smallholder farmers to commercialise they needed to first overcome the constraints they faced, which included access to finance, access to markets and access to both business and technical support. This research will contribute to future developments and decisions involving the increase of financial flows and investment to the agriculture sector in Swaziland and in other developing countries. This is an empirical research study primarily using a qualitative method to answer the research question. The research design included a review of documentary evidence from a desktop study to collect secondary data and a field study through face-to-face interviews to collect primary data. The primary data was gathered through semi-structured interviews. The organisations interviewed included ten farmers’ associations, the outgrower development department, Swaziland Industrial Development Company and Swaziland Water and Agriculture Development Enterprise. Content analysis was used to analyse the results identifying similar themes and patterns from the interview transcripts. Secondary data on the performance of the KDDP farmers with respect to production volumes and quality of produce was collected and analysed to answer the question whether the smallholder farmers had moved from operating at a subsistence level to a commercial one. The research findings show that the agriculture value chain finance approach as applied in KDDP has improved access to markets, access to finance and access to support and services, and, in the process, the smallholder farmers are now operating commercially. The farmers are able to engage with bigger markets for both inputs and outputs in large-scale sugarcane farming. However, notable findings were made with respect to access to finance and support. Most of the farmers reported the need for continued support by Swaziland Water and Agriculture Development Enterprise and training despite the need to wean them off. Regarding access to finance, farmers reported improved access with more financial institutions selling financial products to the farmers and wanting to finance them. However, none of the farmers’ associations interviewed had accessed additional funding from any of the financial institutions following the initial funding they had acquired. The farmers’ associations have instead turned to internal sources of funds. Though these challenges do not change the conclusion, they are of concern and need to be addressed.

published_or_final_version / Economics and Finance / Master / Master of Economics

Most scholars of female farmers of sub-Saharan Africa have come to agree that the transition from subsistence to market agriculture has hurt women's independent agricultural enterprises and incomes. Research conducted among a group of farmers known as the Kofyar of central Nigeria provides a case study which runs counter to this general consensus. Kofyar women have not suffered a loss of economic or social independence with the introduction of cash-cropping but have in fact embraced the new opportunities of the markets to produce crops for sale independently of their households. The Kofyar farming system as a whole is outlined, and the system of independent production is described within this context. The recent history of the Kofyar is sketched including, most importantly, their migration into an agricultural frontier, the adoption of yams as the primary cash crop, and the evolution of a complex set of mechanisms for mobilizing labor. The role of women in the cooperative labor network and in household labor is described and women's important contributions to all types of labor are linked to their access to labor for their own independent production. One of the basic arguments is that Kofyar women are prospering relative to other African women because their labor has been so crucial to the agriculture of the Kofyar both before and since the introduction of cash-cropping. The other basic argument for Kofyar women's relative success is that they are successfully exploiting the flexibility inherent in their farming system to maximize their own production. The use of intensive techniques such as intercropping and taking advantage of the flexibility in the timing of certain agricultural tasks on their major crops of groundnuts and yams are examples of this strategy. Women have, in other words, evolved a system of independent production which fits around rather than competes directly with male/household farming. The dissertation goes on to place women's independent farming within the broader social system by analyzing differences between women in marriage and childbearing statuses and histories. Regular differences in magnitude of independent production are found between women with contrasting social characteristics (e.g. age, marital status, divorce history, numbers of children). The portrait of the most prosperous woman is sketched. Kofyar women's activities are seen as an essential part of Kofyar development. The system in general has become more prosperous and women as important contributors to that prosperity are also benefiting as individuals from these changes.

The investigation reported in this dissertation is a portion of a larger effort to determine how allocation of water resources affects economic and social development in an arid environment. The study focuses on irrigated crop agriculture in Western Yuma County, Arizona, where irrigation water supplies are obtained from diversions from the Colorado River. Irrigated agriculture accounts for nearly 95 percent of total water use in this area. Linear programming techniques are used to determine optimum farm output and resource use patterns for five different farm models representing different farm size groups. The farm models were synthesized from data collected in a survey of 102 farms within the study area in 1964. This sample represented about one-fourth of the total universe. The linear programming analysis proceeds in four phases. In the first phase solutions are obtained for each model under the assumption that the size structure of agricultural firms and the resource base is fixed at current levels. In the second phase additional activities are added to permit land acquisition or disposal by each model farm. In the third phase the original formulation is modified to permit reclamation of new lands under the assumption that existing water rights will be perfected. The fourth phase combines the individual models analyzed in phase two into an integrated general model in which resource disposals by one farm size model must be balanced by acquisition in another. The final stage of the analysis includes estimates of crop output, and resource use under conditions specified in each phase. The marginal value product of selected resources is discussed and demand schedule for additional water is estimated. Land transfer price ranges are also discussed.

The groundwater level in Pinal County has been dropping steadily since large scale expansion of irrigated agriculture began in the early 1940s. The current average rate of decline of the water table of about nine feet per year means steadily increasing pumping costs. Since over 95 percent of the water in Pinal County is used by farmers, the initial impact of increasing pumping costs fall almost entirely on farmers, resulting in continuous adjustments in resource use, cropping patterns, output and income. The principal objective of this dissertation is to estimate the extent and significance of the adjustments Pinal County farmers will make over time as their water costs increase due to increasing pumping lifts. Farmer adjustments to increasing pumping costs are analyzed in two major steps. First, an economic model of typical Pinal County farms is developed for four size groups and three pumping lifts within each size class. This model provides estimates of net return over variable costs for the various field crops in Pinal County for each farm size and pumping lift. Second, data provided by the analysis of typical Pinal County farms is incorporated in a linear programming model which estimates enterprise combinations, output, and income from typical farms subject to restrictions regarding factor supplies, and assuming profitmaximization as a goal. Changes in cropping patterns, output and income over time are estimated by comparing the result from a linear programming model based on 1965 water costs to the results from a model based on projected water costs in the years 1966, 1976, 1986, 1996, and 2006. The results from this model suggest that Pinal County farmers do not face an immediate "water crisis", as often suggested. While the declining water supply will require large adjustments over time in acreage of low-valued hay and feed grain crops, this will not substantially affect net farm income because these crops provide a relatively small portion of the net income to Pinal County farmers. Cotton provides Pinal County farmers with most of their net income and the return to cotton is more dependent on lint price and Government programs and payments than on water costs. Certain assumptions regarding prices, technology and institutions are implicit in this model. Changes in these assumptions can generally be reflected by general or relative price changes. A sensitivity analysis of the effect of price changes shows that net income is very sensitive to changes which affect cotton, but not very sensitive to price changes in other crops in the model. Cotton acreage is determined by Government acreage allotments. However, price decreases in cotton do not result in decreases in cotton acreages with current Government payments, while price decreases in other crops generally result in substantial decreases in output. Pinal County farmers, like the users of any stock resource, will continue to face declining net returns as the cost of tapping the stock of water increases. Adjustments in land values, net income, and number of farms will continue. The continued overdraft of water by Pinal County farmers apparently presents no particular threat to nonagricultural water users in the foreseeable future because nonfarm consumption is small relative to the total supply. Costs of supplying the nonagricultural sector with water would increase, but would be small relative to the productivity of water in these uses.

This item was digitized as part of the Million Books Project led by Carnegie Mellon University and supported by grants from the National Science Foundation (NSF). Cornell University coordinated the participation of land-grant and agricultural libraries in providing historical agricultural information for the digitization project; the University of Arizona Libraries, the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, and the Office of Arid Lands Studies collaborated in the selection and provision of material for the digitization project.

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Thesis (MBA)--Stellenbosch University, 2010. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The Marketing of Agricultural Products Act 47 (No 47 if 1996) led to the dilution of single-channel marketing in the agricultural sector. Hence, marketing boards such as the Maize Board were dismantled. New legislation forced agricultural businesses to adapt to the changing environment and turn co-operatives into companies. The new developments also implied that these companies had to reposition themselves to be more competitive in a deregulated market. MGK Group Operating Company Pty (Ltd) is a prominent role player in the agricultural sector in the North West, Limpopo, Mpumalanga and Gauteng provinces in South Africa. Unexpected growth in the company as well as the deregulation of the industry necessitated a bona fide marketing communication department to manage and coordinate all advertising, promotional and communication efforts. After establishing this department all marketing communication efforts were still fragmented. Consequently, the cost-effectiveness of this department was questioned by the company’s board of directors. The MGK Group’s the board of directors received a mandate to follow a holistic approach and formulate a strategy to enhance the impact of its marketing communication efforts while cutting costs. This study sets out to establish whether the implementation of an integrated marketing communication programme can ultimately satisfy the board of directors’ requirements for marketing communication that is more accountable, effective and efficient. This study starts with a literature review of the practices and theories underpinning integrated marketing communication. This is followed by testing the applicability of the various approaches and methodologies in the MGK Group environment. The study is concluded with the formulation of a marketing communication strategy and recommendations based on the needs of the MGK Group. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die Wet op die Bemarking van Landbouprodukte (Nr 47 van 1996) het eenkanaal-bemarking in die sektor verwater. Dit het daartoe gelei dat bemarkingsrade soos die Mielieraad afgeskaf is. Nuwe wetgewing het landbou-ondernemings genoop om in 'n veranderende sake-omgewing aan te pas en koöperasies in maatskappye te omskep. Die aanpassing het ook beteken dat maatskappye hulself in 'n meer mededingende en gedereguleerde mark moes herposisioneer. Die MGK Groep Bedryfsmaatskappy Edms Bpk is 'n vooraanstaande rolspeler in die landbousektor in die volgende provinsies in Suid-Afrika: Noordwes, Limpopo, Mpumalanga en Gauteng. Onverwagse groei asook die deregulering van die bedryf het meegebring dat dié maatskappy 'n bona fide bemarkingskommunikasie-afdeling nodig gehad het om alle reklame-, promosie- en kommunikasie-aktiwiteite te bestuur en te koördineer. Nadat die afdeling op die been gebring is, het bemarkingskommunikasie-aktiwiteite steeds los van mekaar gestaan. Dit het daartoe gelei dat die kostedoeltreffendheid van die funksie op divisievlak bevraagteken is. Die direksie van die MGK Groep het 'n mandaat gehad om 'n holistiese benadering te volg en 'n strategie te formuleer om die impak sowel as die kostedoeltreffendheid van die maatskappy se bemarkingskommunikasie te verbeter. Hierdie studie poog om vas te stel of die implementering van 'n geïntegreerde bemarkingskommunikasieplan uiteindelik in die direksie van die MGK Groep se behoefte aan verantwoordbare, doeltreffende en doelmatige bemarkingskommunikasie kan voorsien. Die studie begin met 'n literatuuroorsig van die praktyk en teorie van geïntegreerde bemarkingskommunikasie. Daarna word die toepaslikheid van die onderskeie benaderings en metodologieë ten opsigte van die MGK Groep getoets. Die studie word afgesluit met 'n bemarkingskommunikasiestrategie en aanbevelings wat op die behoeftes van die MGK Groep gegrond is.

Orientador: Maura Seiko Tsutsui Esperancini / Banca: Osmar de Carvalho Bueno / Banca: Jaqueline Zani dos Santos / Banca: Ricardo Ghantous Cervi / Banca: Paulo André de Oliveira / Resumo: Os desafios de alimentar a população mundial em crescimento serão ainda maiores no futuro. Estima-se que a atual população mundial de 7,3 bilhões de pessoas chegará a aproximadamente 10 bilhões no ano de 2050. O aumento da população mundial somado as mudanças no padrão de consumo alimentar têm ocasionado uma pressão sobre os sistemas de produções agrícolas por todo o mundo. Embora a disponibilidade global de alimentos tenha aumentado, a demanda alimentar não cresceu linearmente com o crescimento da população, pois a demanda per capita aumentou. Assim, nota-se que a mudança dos hábitos de consumo de alimentos tem sido em direção a dietas que demandam o uso mais intensivo dos recursos de produção como é o caso das carnes e dos produtos de origem animal como os laticínios. O aumento da demanda por produtos de origem animal tem aumentado ainda mais a pressão humana sobre os recursos produtivos como terras agricultáveis e a água. Uma vez em que esses recursos estão distribuídos diferentemente entre os países do mundo e limitam a produção de alimentos, esse contexto oferece desafios e oportunidades sobretudo para algumas regiões do mundo que ainda apresentam recursos produtivos como é o caso da América Latina e do Caribe (ALC). Dada a importância da ALC na produção de alimentos e seu potencial de impactar o consumo de alimentos de forma local e global, o trabalho analisou o equilíbrio entre a produção e o consumo de grupos alimentares na ALC, por meio da análise de mudanças do níve... (Resumo completo, clicar acesso eletrônico abaixo) / Abstract: Challenges of feeding the growing world population will be even greater in the future. It is estimated that the current world population of 7,3 billion people will reach almost 10 billion in 2050. The increase in the world's population added to the changes in food consumption behavior has been causing pressure on agricultural systems throughout the world. Although the global food availability has increased, food demand did not follow the population linear growth, once the per capita demand increased. Thus, it is noticed that changes in food consumption habits has been related to diets that demand an intensive use of production resources, as in meat and animal products, such as dairy. The increased demand for animal products has been raised human pressure on productive resources such as arable land and water. Since these resources are distributed differently among the world's countries and limit food production, this context provides challenges and opportunities especially for some regions that still hold productive resources, such as Latin America and Caribbean (LAC). Given the importance of LAC in food production and its potential to impact food consumption locally and globally, the study analyzed the balance between production and consumption of food groups in the LAC, by analyzing changes in the levels of food selfsufficiency (SSR), from 1964 to 2013. Furthermore, the external dependency of the countries that belong to the LAC was analyzed, to provide a wider vision of the... (Complete abstract click electronic access below) / Doutor

Orientador: Augusto Caccia-Bava Junior / Banca: Silvia Beatriz Adoue / Banca: Adilson Marques Gennari / Banca: Rosemeire Aparecida Scopinho / Banca: Marcos Cassin / Resumo: Desde o final da década de 1980, o Brasil passou por um intenso processo de reestruturação política e produtiva, ingressando na nova divisão internacional do trabalho que resultou da crise estrutural do capital deflagrada a partir da década de 1970. Mais recentemente, com o crescimento exponencial da demanda internacional por commodities agropecuárias e produtos de baixa densidade tecnológica, o País encontrou na especialização produtiva uma "nova" via para seu "desenvolvimento", convertendo-se, simultaneamente, em importante "plataforma de valorização financeira". No plano político interno, a captulação e (conseqüente) ascensão do principal (e único) partido político de massas surgido no pós-ditadura civil-militar ao mais alto posto de comando do Estado - o Partido dos Trabalhadores - levou o país a experimentar um extraordinário surto de expansão capitalista - que, a partir de meados dos anos 2000, foi denominado por intelectuais progressistas de toda sorte de neodesenvolvimentismo. Neste contexto, os agronegócios, que vinham se expandindo desde as décadas anteriores, tornaramse elementos estratégicos da nova economia política brasileira do novo século. Com o PT, o setor experimentou sua belle époque, modificando, de modo decisivo, a questão agrária nacional e, ao mesmo tempo, conferindo um novo significado histórico para a (luta pela) reforma agrária. Com isto, o padrão historicamente "truncado" de acumulação capitalista brasileira evoluiu para um padrão destrutivo de desenvolvimento das forças produtivas do capital, especialmente no campo, intensificando a degradação social do trabalho e dos recursos naturais e ecológicos. Neste trabalho, analiso o padrão econômico e social de desenvolvimento dos agronegócios no Brasil nas últimas décadas e o projeto político que lhe dá forma, sobretudo a partir do impulso recebido pelo Estado, por meio do programa neodesenvolvimentista ... / Abstract: Since the end of 80's decade, Brazil has been through an intensive process of political and productive restructure, beginning with a new international division of work which had the capital structure crises deflagrated as a result, starting from 70's decade. Recently, with exponential growing of international demand by agricultural commodities and low density technology's products, the country found itself in a productive specialization a "new" way for its development, converting simultaneously into an important "financial value platform". On the political intern plan the capitulation and (consequently) rising of the principal (and the only) political party of mass arisen from civil and military post-dictatorship to the most highest level command of the State - The Worker's Party (PT) - took the country to experience an extraordinary capitalism burst of expansion - from mid 20ᵀᴴ century was named by progressive intellectuals for all lucky new-developmentalism. In these types of agricultures which started to expand in the last decades, turned into strategic elements of the new Brazilian economical politics for new century. With Worker's Party (PT), the sector experienced its belle époque, changing in a decisive way the agrarian national question and at the same time giving a new historical meaning to (struggle for land and for) agrarian reform. Therefore, the historical obstacles in the development structures pattern of Brazilian capitalist accumulation evolved to a destructive way of capital's productive forces's development, specially in the field, intensifying the social work and the natural and ecological resources's degradation. This essay analyzes the economic and social pattern of agricultural development in Brazil in the last decades and the political project which gives its shape, mainly from the boost got by State, by the new-developmentalism program from PT's government. At the same time I discuss the Historical present of ... / Doutor