Student Number : 0006374W - MA research report - School of Sociology - Faculty of Humanities / The principal aims of the study were to evaluate the objectives, achievements and limits of the South African land redistribution programme as from 1994-2005. This study placed particular emphasis on evaluating the period commencing in 1999 until 2005 since this period is credited for formally aligning Land redistribution with broader objectives of Broad Based Black Economic Empowerment (BBBEE). As a result of the aforementioned this study also aimed to evaluate the extent to which the Land Redistribution for Agricultural Development (LRAD) reflects the broader objective, vision and aspirations of BBBEE and Agri-BEE. The latter analysis was based on an LRAD case study called Calcom PTY LTD in Barberton; Mpumalanga, South Africa. To extrapolate the data required for the attainment of the aims of the study, a qualitative research strategy which was based on a case study approach was utilised. This culminated in the choice of Calcom which is an LRAD project in order to further the analysis of the study. This enabled the study to develop a conceptual account of policy developments in the post-1999 period which saw BBBEE becoming a permanent feature of the South African land redistribution programme. Consequently a number of theories were used to account for changes that were made in the post-1999 period, namely the Neo-Classical, radical political economy, conceptual approaches to policy making and theories of development. This study argues that these changes are important for facilitating land redistribution to black people. However, without ensuring the availability of basic prerequisites for the emergence of black commercial farmers, such as skills developments, infrastructural support services, postsettlement support and access to finance and credit; the achievements and bias of LRAD towards black commercial farmers in theory will not have any impact on the broader vision of deracialising the Agri-economy in practice. Instead it will exclude the majority of poor black South Africans it ought to help, while empowering a few well resourced South Africans.

Philosophiae Doctor - PhD / The general image of large-scale commercial farming in South Africa is one of technological dynamism and international competitiveness. However, such a generalisation obscures considerable differentiation in terms of size, scale, capital reproduction strategies and future directions of change between and within farming regions. My study on reproduction, accumulation and differentiation in the large-scale commercial farming sector makes a small contribution towards explaining this substantive diversity, as well as the underlying processes at work, in three different agro-ecological regions of the country. A framework to analyse the strategies of large-scale commercial farmers was derived from volume 1 of Marx’s Capital and interpretations thereof by Marxist scholars, e.g. Ernest Mandel, Henry Bernstein, David Harvey, Ben Fine and Alfredo Saad-Filho. The four strategies or processes are broadly identified as a) expanding the scale or scope of production, in other words, to increase the capital intensity of production and/or geographic size, and/or the number of products, b) expanding the scale or scope of the business by expanding into new enterprises either up or down the value chain, c) increasing economic efficiency, which can be achieved by means of lowering the cost of commodity production, increasing productivity in terms of yield per hectare or per animal through technical and biological efficiency, or by organising workers and tasks to make workers as productive as possible, and d) taking part in political action in order to reduce uncertainties and/or establish preferential access to and control over key resources, markets or policy processes. Data from a questionnaire survey conducted with 141 large-scale commercial farmers in Limpopo, the Western Cape and Northern Cape provinces, as well as semi-structured interviews with 32 farmers in these regions were analysed to determine the most prevalent strategies and assess their outcomes. The outcomes of these strategies varied between and within regions and resulted in the differentiation of capitalist farmers into “accumulators”, “successful reproducers”, “struggling reproducers” and “simple commodity producers”. This approach helps to uncover processes and patterns of agrarian change, and provides a richer, more detailed, understanding of the dynamics of change in the large-scale farming sector of South Africa which can help inform debates on policy optionsfor the sector and for land reform.

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

Magister Artium (Development Studies) - MA (DVS) / Although many researchers have shown ICT can enable development it remains a great challenge to understand the link between JCT4D projects and the development of emerging commercial agriculture. There is a need to realise the potential of information and communication technologies (ICT) for emerging commercial farmer development in order to achieve agriculture expansion and transformation in South Africa. This is important in order for them to partake in the knowledge economy visualised in the 2030 National development plan of South Africa and achieving the Sustainable Development Goals in 2030. However in South Africa, it is not yel established which spec(flc ICT are used, how they are used and the extent of deployment ((used in the emerging commercial agricultural sector. Few studies have focused on the faclors that influence the use of !CT in South Ajhcan emerging agriculture. This study investigates and attempts to understand the usage of ICT by emerging commercial farmers and the issues 1hat influence ICT use on the West Coast of the Western Cape Province in South Africa. The study investigates 1he different forms of JCT used, how they are being used, what they are used for, how important these technologies are as enablers of production, and the factors that affect their use. The study involved a survey response of 42 emerging commercial farmers and 46 of their farm employees in the Matzikama and Cederberg municipalities. A literature review draws from studies globally, regionally and in South Africa on how !CTs have penetrated and contributed to delivering development in emerging commercial agriculture. Although most emerging commercial farmers cannot afford to adopt !CT tools that are essential in their farming activities almost all who were interviewed acknowledged the importance of ICT to their businesses. However, among other ICT, mobile phones and television were found to be primarily used for social and entertainment reasons rather than for agricultural pwposes. The general findings showed that occupation on farm and JCT literacy influence the use of ICT by farm employees. On the other hand the gender, capacity of the farmer, off farm income and farm size influences the use of ICT by emerging commercial farmers. Our literature review established some examples ji'om the studies of other researchers and the efforts of multi-lateral institutions such as the FA 0 and ITU to illustrate how we can improve policy. 1 recommend that the South African government develop an e-agriculture strategy to monitor development and validation of good practices on the use of ICTs in agriculture and rural development. This strategy will examine emerging trends on the role of JCTs and the challenges faced in reaching scaled, sustainable informCIIion service models. This can increase the sustainability of emerging commercial agriculture to contribute to the improvement of the lives of the poor in rural areas. Finally I present research questions for future research.

Thesis (MBA. (Business Administration)) -- University of Limpopo, 2010 / Refer to document

An exploration of the creation and use of farmers' commonly used "rules of thumb" is required to conceptualize farmers' decision making processes. While farmers face complex situations, particularly when subsistence is an issue, they do appear to use simple rules in their decision making. To date inadequate attention has been given to understanding their reasoning processes in creating the rules, so this study traces the origins of farmers' beliefs, and extracts the decisive and dynamic elements in their decision making systems to provide this understanding. The analysis was structured by using a model based on the Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB). Modifications included recognizing a bargaining process (BP) and other decision stimuli to represent socio-cultural influences and sources of perception, respectively. Two analyses based on the Personal Construct Theory (PCT) and the Ethnographic Decision Tree Modelling (EDTM) were also applied to help elaborate the farmers' cognitive process and actual decision criteria. The method involved interviews in two villages in Lamongan Regency in East Java Province of Indonesia, where the farmers adopted an improved paddy-prawn system ("pandu"). The results highlighted that farmers use rational strategies, and that socio-cultural factors influence decision making. This was represented by interactions between the farmers' perceptions, their bargaining effort, and various background factors. The TPB model revealed that the farmers' perceptions about the potential of "pandu", and the interaction with their "significant others", influenced their intention to adopt "pandu". The farmers appeared to prefer a steady income and familiar practices at the same time as obtaining new information, mainly from their peers. When "pandu" failed to show sufficiently profitable results, most farmers decided to ignore or discontinue "pandu". This became the biggest disincentive to a wide and sustainable adoption. However, the PCT analysis showed that part of this problem also stemmed from the farmers' lack of resources and knowledge. The farmers' restrictive conditions also led them to seek socio-cultural and practical support for their actions. This was highlighted by a bargaining process (BP) that integrated what the farmers had learned, and believed, into their adoption behaviour. The BP also captured the farmers' communication strategies when dealing with "pandu" as its adoption affected resource allocation within the family and required cooperation with neighbours. The PCT and EDTM analyses also confirmed how the BP accommodated different sets of decision criteria to form different adoption behaviours. Such a process indicated the importance of considering the adoption decision and the relevant changes resulting from the farmers' cognition. This provided a more dynamic and realistic description of the farmers' decision-making process than has previously been attempted. Overall, the results suggested that semi-commercial farmers need to know, and confirm, that a new technology is significantly superior to the existing system, and can provide a secure income. The introduction of a new technology should use a participatory approach allowing negotiation, conflict mitigation and the creation of consensus among the relevant parties. This can be supported through better access to knowledge, information and financing. A specific and well-targeted policy intervention may also be needed to accommodate the diversity in the farmers' ways of learning and making decisions. Ways to improve the current analytical approaches are also suggested.

The land reform process in Zimbabwe has raised critical questions about land with regard to ownership and access, productivity of land and the most suitable size of land (small scale or large scale). Over a decade after the most recent phase of land reform in Zimbabwe, critical questions about land are continually debated in an ever-growing literature on land. These questions span a wide margin, from ownership, access, and productivity to who exactly should benefit from land reform processes. One important debate has centred on the question of whether the primary consideration of land reform processes should be aimed at addressing the more ideational aspects of land (return to ancestral land, land as central to personal identities and the subsequent political and social processes of determining who belongs and who is a stranger) or material concerns (relating to questions of food security, livelihood making and the concerns with environmental change). Subsequently, literature dealing with land is often organised around a particular theme such as identity, tenure, politics, political economy, livelihoods and questions relating to environmental change. Using the case of small scale commercial farming families of Mushawasha in Masvingo Zimbabwe who came to own the land as purchase area farmers as a result of the 1930 Land Apportionment Act, this thesis constitutes an attempt to integrate multiple approaches to the question of land, using a critical realist framework. I argue that the link between people and land, which is explored generationally and in the context of broader economic, political, historical and social change in Zimbabwe, is ever changing and is influenced by a number of factors. For that reason, viewing the question of land in a reductionist fashion from either an ideational or a material paradigm is unsatisfactory. What this research reveals is that the links between people and land are tempered numerous factors including generation, gender and residential status. / Dissertation (MSocSci)--University of Pretoria, 2014. / tm2015 / Sociology / MSocSci / Unrestricted

An exploration of the creation and use of farmers' commonly used "rules of thumb" is required to conceptualize farmers' decision making processes. While farmers face complex situations, particularly when subsistence is an issue, they do appear to use simple rules in their decision making. To date inadequate attention has been given to understanding their reasoning processes in creating the rules, so this study traces the origins of farmers' beliefs, and extracts the decisive and dynamic elements in their decision making systems to provide this understanding. The analysis was structured by using a model based on the Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB). Modifications included recognizing a bargaining process (BP) and other decision stimuli to represent socio-cultural influences and sources of perception, respectively. Two analyses based on the Personal Construct Theory (PCT) and the Ethnographic Decision Tree Modelling (EDTM) were also applied to help elaborate the farmers' cognitive process and actual decision criteria. The method involved interviews in two villages in Lamongan Regency in East Java Province of Indonesia, where the farmers adopted an improved paddy-prawn system ("pandu"). The results highlighted that farmers use rational strategies, and that socio-cultural factors influence decision making. This was represented by interactions between the farmers' perceptions, their bargaining effort, and various background factors. The TPB model revealed that the farmers' perceptions about the potential of "pandu", and the interaction with their "significant others", influenced their intention to adopt "pandu". The farmers appeared to prefer a steady income and familiar practices at the same time as obtaining new information, mainly from their peers. When "pandu" failed to show sufficiently profitable results, most farmers decided to ignore or discontinue "pandu". This became the biggest disincentive to a wide and sustainable adoption. However, the PCT analysis showed that part of this problem also stemmed from the farmers' lack of resources and knowledge. The farmers' restrictive conditions also led them to seek socio-cultural and practical support for their actions. This was highlighted by a bargaining process (BP) that integrated what the farmers had learned, and believed, into their adoption behaviour. The BP also captured the farmers' communication strategies when dealing with "pandu" as its adoption affected resource allocation within the family and required cooperation with neighbours. The PCT and EDTM analyses also confirmed how the BP accommodated different sets of decision criteria to form different adoption behaviours. Such a process indicated the importance of considering the adoption decision and the relevant changes resulting from the farmers' cognition. This provided a more dynamic and realistic description of the farmers' decision-making process than has previously been attempted. Overall, the results suggested that semi-commercial farmers need to know, and confirm, that a new technology is significantly superior to the existing system, and can provide a secure income. The introduction of a new technology should use a participatory approach allowing negotiation, conflict mitigation and the creation of consensus among the relevant parties. This can be supported through better access to knowledge, information and financing. A specific and well-targeted policy intervention may also be needed to accommodate the diversity in the farmers' ways of learning and making decisions. Ways to improve the current analytical approaches are also suggested.