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Thesis (MScEng (Industrial Engineering))--University of Stellenbosch, 2011. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Small-scale farmers have the opportunity to gain access to markets through a contract farming arrangement. The key question is whether it is financially feasible for a small-scale farmer to enter into a contract. The objectives of this study were to develop a model that could be used to determine the financial feasibility of small-scale contract broiler farming in an intensive production system, compare three different genotypes namely: Cobb500 males X Hybro G females, Ross 308 males X Potchefstroom Koekoek females (crossbred) and the purebred Potchefstroom Koekoek, and evaluate current smallscale farmers’ broiler production by means of a case study. Financial performance indicators such as the net present value, cash flow and profit and loss statements were used to analyze the feasibility of all the scenarios. The model was built in Microsoft Excel. Five hundred, 1500 and 2500 birds/cycle scale of production were analyzed. Results revealed that based on the capital costs used, a 500 birds/cycle scale of production was uneconomical and that a farmer would have to receive R25.01/kg broiler meat in order to break even. The 1500 scale of production showed much better results. A farmer could break even at R17.51/kg meat. The capital investment cost of the 2500 scale of production was so high that the farmer would have had to sell his broiler meat for R18.54/kg. Performance traits of genotypes were collected through an experiment and data was statistically analyzed using ‘Statistica 9’. Results showed that there were significant differences between the cumulative feed intake, feed conversion ratios and the European production efficiency ratio of the different genotypes. No significant difference was found in the liveability of the genotypes. Data on performance traits was used as input into the model so that the economic feasibility of the genotypes could be compared. Results showed that a purebred Potchefstroom Koekoek genotype was not suitable for an intensive production system and that the crossbreed did not perform as well as the broiler breed, but that it would be worthwhile investigating the performance traits of the cross breed under less optimal conditions or in a free-range system. The lower capital costs necessary for a freerange system, together with the high premium paid for free-range broiler meat, may give admirable results in the economic feasibility of a small-scale broiler farm. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Kleinboere het die geleentheid om deur kontrak boerdery toegang tot markte te verkry. Die vraag is egter of dit finansieël haalbaar is vir 'n kleinboer om kontraktueel verbind te word? Die doelwitte van die studie was om: ‘n model te ontwikkel wat gebruik kan word om die finansiële lewensvatbaarheid van' n klein-skaalse braaikuikenboer te bepaal onder 'n intensiewe produksiestelsel; verskillende genotipes naamlik: Cobb500 hane X Hybro G henne, Ross 308 hane X Potchefstroom Koekoek henne (kruising) en die suiwer Potchefstroom Koekoek te evalueer en die die huidige klein-skaal boer se braaikuikenproduksie deur middel van 'n gevallestudie te evalueer. Finansiële prestasie aanwysers soos die netto huidige waarde, kontantvloei, asook wins en verlies state was gebruik om die haalbaarheid van die verskeie gevalle te analiseer. Die model is op Microsoft Excel gebou. ‘n Produksie skaal van 500, 1500 en 2500 kuikens/siklus is ontleed. Resultate het getoon dat, gebaseer op die kapitale koste wat gebruik is, 'n produksie skaal van 500 kuikens/siklus onekonomies is en dat ʼn boer R25.01/kg sal moet ontvang om gelyk te breek. Die produksie skaal van 1500 kuikens/siklus het beter resultate getoon. 'n Boer kan gelyk breek teen R17.51/kg vleis. Die kapitale beleggingskoste van die produksie skaal van 2500 kuikens/siklus was so hoog dat die boer R18.54/kg sou moes ontvang het om gelyk te breek. Prestasie van genotipes is ingesamel deur middel van 'n eksperiment en data is statisties ontleed met behulp van Statistica 9. Resultate het getoon dat daar hoogs beduidende verskille tussen die kumulatiewe voerinname, voeromsetsverhoudings en Europese produksie effektiwiteits verhouding van die verskillende genotipes is. Geen beduidende verskil is gevind in die leefbaarheid van die genotipes nie. Inligting oor die prestasie eienskappe is gebruik as insette tot die model sodat die ekonomiese haalbaarheid van die genotipes vergelyk kon word. Resultate het getoon dat 'n suiwer Potchefstroom Koekoek genotipe nie geskik is vir 'n intensiewe produksie stelsel nie en dat die kruising nie so goed soos die braaikuiken gevaar het nie, maar dat dit die moeite werd sal wees om ondersoek in te stel na die produksie potensiaal van die kruis kuiken in minder optimale toestande, soos ‘n vryloop stelsel. Die laer kapitale koste en die hoë premie wat betaal word vir vryloop braaikuikenvleis mag geloofwaardige resultate op die ekonomiese haalbaarheid van 'n kleinskaalse braaikuikenboer toon.

Magister Philosophiae (Land and Agrarian Studies) - MPhil(LAS) / This study explores institutional dynamics within an organic farming organisation, the Ezemvelo Farmers' Organisation (EFO), based in uMbumbulu in KwaZulu-Natal (KZN). The main objective of the study was to identify the institutional and governance factors that impact on the sustainability of the organic production programme of the EFO. A variety of research methods were employed, including a small sample survey of 50 households, in-depth interviews with key respondents, and a critical assessment of the existing literature on the EFO. The study established that many rural households in uMbumbulu maintain their livelihoods through a diverse array of activities that include social grants. Agriculture remains an important livelihood strategy for many households. It presents opportunities for income generation, access to food, job creation and increased asset accumulation. Communal land tenure systems do not constrain agricultural development, and kinship ties and social relations determine affordable and flexible land access for farming and residential use. The EFO initiave regenerated agricultural production in uMbumbulu. Many households have rights to cropping fields and these fields were revitalised and put under productive use as the organic farming initiative gained momentum. The EFO marketed its produce to Farmwise, a packhouse that distributes produce to various retailers. The agro-food industry is dominated by large business interests and maintained exploitative relations with the EFO. Organic production and marketing to such businesses imposed high transaction costs on members of the EFO as onerous quality standards were enforced throughout the value chain. Rural development interventions that are driven by external stakeholders such as academic institutions, government departments and other agencies tend not to provide sustainable solutions to help support the development of smallholder farmers. In the case of the EFO, such support saw abuses of power, elite capture, free-rider problems, conflict and weak management systems. The thesis argues that the agrarian transformation imperative means that policy frameworks must be re-examined, and adapted to the needs and local practices of smallholder farmers such as members of the EFO. Proper extension support that provides accurate market information, effective coordination of production and transport services, and relevant infrastructure, is also required. / National Research Foundation (NRF)

Magister Philosophiae - MPhil / Dynamics of Social Reproduction and Differentiation among Small-Scale Sugarcane Farmers in Two Rural Wards of KwaZulu-Natal A. Dubb M.Phil thesis, Institute for Poverty, Land and Agrarian Studies, University of the Western Cape. Outgrower or contract-farming schemes have long been considered an important „pro-poor‟ method of incorporating small-scale farmers into agro-commodity chains, oft defined by their capital intensity and consequent high barriers of entry. Nonetheless, critics have observed that such schemes often operate under highly imbalanced relations of power between farmers and processors, generate substantial inequality, and negatively impact on household food security. In the province of KwaZulu-Natal, home to much of South Africa‟s sugar industry, the number of small-scale sugarcane outgrowers increased rapidly from near nothing in the late 1960s to around 50,000 in the early 2000s; an increase born out of industry-subsidized miller initiatives, disguised as micro-credit, to bring commercially inalienable Bantustan land under cane production. However, in the past decade small-scale sugarcane growers have faced a precipitous decline following the restructuring of the sugar industry in the 1990s and the onset of drought in the 2000s. This study seeks to trace the origins and shifting structural foundations of small-scale sugarcane production and investigate its impacts on dynamics of social reproduction and accumulation in two rural wards of the Umfolozi region, in the wake of the sale of the central mill by the multinational corporation Illovo to a consortium of largescale white sugarcane growers. Utilizing survey data from 74 small-scale grower homesteads and life-history interviews, it is argued that regulatory restructuring resulted in deteriorating terms of exchange and the retraction of miller oversight in production, cane-haulage and ploughing operations, hence devolved to commercially unstable local contractors. Growers have subsequently struggled to compensate for consequent capital inefficiencies through intensified exploitation, largely due to the successful impact of social grants in mitigating the desperation of family and hired labour, and further face considerable barriers to expansion in land. While proceeds from sugarcane continue to represent an additional source of coveted cash-income, sparse off-farm income opportunities have gained prominence as a basis for stabilizing consumption and some re-investment in cane. The centrality of incomediversification for simple reproduction and limited accumulation has rendered the dynamics of social differentiation to be both unstable and reversible, and has closely tied sustained cane production to the labour content of non-cane income sources. Meanwhile, with less direct oversight in production, millers face the challenge of retaining their implicit „grab‟ on customary land, throwing into relief the contradictions inherent in attempts „from above‟ to foster a nominal „peasant‟ class „from below‟.

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Bénéficiaires de la réforme agraire des années 1960, les communautés indigènes situées au pied du volcan Cayambe, connaissent depuis deux décennies des transformations territoriales radicales. Ces transformations se sont intensifiées principalement à cause de l’intégration verticale des petits producteurs ruraux dans les chaines de production laitières par plusieurs industries agroalimentaires du pays. Ce modèle dominant dans la zone nord Andine favorise la diminution des couts de production et des risques pour les entreprises capitalistes venues opérer sur le territoire. Mais il confronte les agricultures familiales à un processus de déterritorialisation qui s’accélère avec la consolidation du pouvoir agroindustriel.En mobilisant une approche sociologique combinée à une analyse territoriale, cette recherche propose d’étudier les transformations économico-productives et socio organisationnelles qu’a subit le territoire depuis le début du XXème siècle pour ensuite déterminer et mesurer à quelle étape du processus de déterritorialisation sont confrontées aujourd'hui les agricultures familiales de Cayambe. La mise en évidence d'un processus de différenciation sociale associé à une recomposition des rapports de forces présents sur le territoire va nous permettre de discuter de la capacité des acteurs locaux à résister à cette dynamique de déterritorialisation et, par voie de conséquence, leurs possibilités de développer des stratégies qui leur permettent de récupérer le contrôle de leur territoire. / Beneficiaries of land reform, indigenous communities located at the foot of Cayambe volcano are witness for almost two decades of territorial changes caused by theexpansion of the agro-industrial activity. Indeed, contract farming which considers smalls rural producers within the dairy production lines of several food industries, is the dominant model in the region. This kind of farming also promotes the reduction of production costs and the risks for the capitalist enterprises operating on the territory. Nevertheless, family farms would face a growing process of desterritorialisation that is increasing with the consolidation of agribusiness power and threatening to Andean community traditions, which are however vital in the process of the territorial construction and reconstruction. Are there still differentiated responses levels of family farmers to face to territorial changes and production-driven strategies led by agribusiness in the Ecuadorian Andes?

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Thesis (MDF)--University of Stellenbosch, 2010. / The constraints that impede the growth of smallholder farmers have been attributed to lack of access to markets and technical expertise. This has led to mainstream banks classifying smallholder farmers as high risk and therefore unwilling to finance smallholder farmers. Contract farming has developed as a model that may be able to link smallholder farmers with agribusinesses who have the expertise and have built marketing channels that can be utilised by the smallholder farmers. Despite its potential to bring smallholder farmers into the mainstream agriculture industry, literature on contract farming has indicated that contract farming can be skewed in favour of the agribusiness due to their superior bargaining power and information asymmetry in favour of the agribusiness. This study examines the Industrial Development Corporation (IDC)’s Kat River Development Scheme to finance nine farmers through a contract farming arrangement with Riverside (Pty) Ltd. More particularly, the study examines how this financing model contributes to improved access to finance, markets and technical expertise for the farmers. It also examines how the arrangement contributes to reducing the risk of financing smallholder farmers for IDC. The empirical analysis indicates that, despite the fact that the farmers are able to obtain access to finance, market and technical expertise, the ability for the scheme to meet its objectives in the long term is dependent on improving transparency between the agribusiness and the farmers, providing appropriate incentives for the farmers to apply the required effort and the farmers buying into the long term strategic aim (or “big picture”) of the scheme.

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