Master of Science / Department of Agricultural Economics / Allen M. Featherstone / The number of farmer suicides has been high in Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Maharashtra, and Punjab since 2000. Farmers‟ suicide in India is reported to be due to the burden of debt. While it makes some sense to attribute farmer suicides in Kerala, Karnataka, Maharashtra, and Andhra Pradesh to indebtedness in view of the widespread poverty, it is more difficult to consider in the context of the Punjab which is known for its prosperity. Others have found that the prime cause for farmer suicides is indebtedness. The purpose of this research focuses on identifying and quantifying the reasons for farmers‟ indebtedness compared to non-indebted farmers in the same region. This was achieved by documenting the socio-economic profile of the farmers; studying the extent of indebtedness and pattern of capital use by farmers, and evaluating the farm business performance. Results obtained for the socio-economic profile of the farmer indicated that age, education, family size and landholding had a significant effect on the probability of a farmer being indebted. Family size had the largest effect on the probability of indebtness. A study on the extent of indebtedness and pattern of capital use showed that farmers depend on non-institutional loans for meeting their financial needs and some loans are used for non-agricultural purposes. Farm business performance of the sample respondents showed that they had a negative balance on farm business performance. Some of the methods to improve the situation would to improve and expand free and compulsory primary education, thereby reducing the debt incurred on education; diversifying towards high value/more remunerative crops, reviewing the system of subsidization of agricultural inputs, and expanding institutional sectors for providing loans at reasonable interest rates.

Published Article / The central regions of South Africa experienced an abnormally high precipitation during the first quarter of 2009, thus resulting in an unusually high probability of veld fires due to the excessive amounts of fuel / grass available. In South Africa the process of land redistribution was recently drastically accelerated. This implies that many newly settled black farmers are fanning but still need to be trained in various aspects of farm management. Unfortunately, in most cases this training did not include environmental management, which among others, implies managing and preparing for veld fires. The Department of Water Affairs and Forestry also does not have sufficient funding to cover all these aspects and a regional collaborative plan must therefore be developed. In addition to this, in an attempt to alleviate poverty, many other previously disadvantaged people in South Africa must be assisted in establishing small business enterprises. This paper will highlight a process to be followed to train and coordinate all farmers and simultaneously establish business opportunities that will remove some of the fuel (grasses and shrubs) in order to reduce the risk and intensity of winter and spring veld fires.

No description available.

Research into the psychological consequences of natural disasters in South Africa remains largely unexplored. This is surprising, given the devastating economical and psychological ramifications that result from major catastrophic events. No research has been done relating specifically to the experiences and coping strategies of fanners who have experienced a veld fire disaster in South Africa. Farmers constitute an important sub-group for study as they may be psychologically at risk to the effects of disasters. In the international research arena exploration of the long-term consequences of disasters is lacking. In considering the question of coping following a disaster, few studies have focused on the influence of temporal dynan1ics, which would seem to be crucial to the outcomes of coping strategies. This study aims to address these gaps in the literature by exploring the experiences and coping strategies of farmers who have experienced a veld fire disaster which occurred in the North West Province of South Africa on 23 August 2011. The total financial loss as a result of the fire amounted to R42 276 I 71. The fires were allegedly caused by damaged power lines, which produced sparks and ignited the nearby veld. This study used a qualitative design. This methodological approach was adopted for its ability to capture the complex and time-sensitive dynamics of coping strategies. This was combined with a case study approach, based on the experiences and coping strategies of eight farmers who had experienced a veld fire disaster within the boundaries of one geographical area. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with the farmers in their homes and were recorded, transcribed and thematically analysed. The results of the analysis showed that the farmers progressed through three time periods with distinct patterns of experience and corresponding coping strategies. The person environment relationship, as well as transitioning situational demands inherent in this relationship, were found to be crucial in determining the outcomes of the fanners• experiences and coping strategies. The results also suggest that successful coping is reliant on the individual’s ability to continually adapt their coping strategies in a context-appropriate manner. It is recommended that psychological debriefing should be avoided and that crisis intervention teams (CIT) should focus on the long-term consequences of the veld fire. Future coping research needs to take the temporal aspects of coping into account. / MA (Research Psychology), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2014

Climate change forecasts tell of significant challenges ahead for agrifood systems at all scales, from global to highly local. Farmers are often at the forefront of these challenges. How farmers perceive climate related risks, and the actions they take to protect or adapt their lives and livelihoods are therefore a critical area of inquiry. The purpose of this dissertation is to describe how farmers in Vermont, in the Northeastern U.S., think about climate change, and how their experiences and perceptions influence engagement with adaptation or mitigation activities. To this end, my research questions included: (1) what are farmers already doing to address climate impacts on their farms? (2) Do farmers perceive climate change to be a risk, and if so what are they doing to address it? (3) Are farmers and agricultural technical service providers in agreement about the current performance of climate change adaptation strategies? (4) Can a qualitative typology of farmers describe the degree to which they are resilient in the face of climate change? I conducted this research in the context of a larger, collaborative effort called the Vermont Agricultural Resilience in a Changing Climate Initiative (VAR), based at the University of Vermont. VAR served as an umbrella for transdisciplinary, participatory action research activities that capitalized on a diversity of perspectives and expertise, including the embedded knowledge of farmers and agricultural technical service providers. The VAR team as a whole and in sub-teams utilized a selection of research approaches including preliminary research activities that contributed to the development of research questions addressed in this dissertation, and primary research approaches used to answer those questions. This dissertation report consists of the following chapters: Chapters 1-2 present and introduction and background information related to climate change and agriculture, including a review of national, regional and site conditions as well as an overview of research purpose, approaches, methods, and theoretical frameworks applicable to the exploration of the questions and interpretation of findings. Chapters 3-6 address the following topics: (1) a case study in transdisciplinary participatory action research applied to climate change and agriculture in Vermont, (2) an analysis of farmer perceptions of climate related risk and associated on-farm adaptation strategies, (3) a report of farmer perceptions of climate change and comparison of farmer and technical service provider evaluations of potential climate change best management practices, and (4) a qualitative typology of farmer resilience. This research is some of the first to address these topics from the perspective of farmers in the Northeastern U.S. Through these chapters, an important story is told about role that climate change plays in farm management today. The broader application of these findings is in the design of thoughtful programming and policies that support agrifood system resilience. I argue that social programs and policies that address agriculture and climate change should be informed by the experiences of farmers. When we weave together the knowledge of agricultural practitioners and our best scientific knowledge, we can better prepare for the changes in agrifood systems that a changing climate will require of us.

The main goal of this study was to investigate whether residents of rural areas especially in deprived communities in BC have reasonable geographic access to healthy and affordable food providers (e.g., supermarkets, grocery stores, and farmers’ markets), and if lack of access impacts their weight status. As well, I investigated the extent to which farmers’ markets improve food accessibility in BC’s rural food deserts. In order to identify food deserts, the methodology which has been developed by USDA was modified and adapted to BC’s rural situations. In the first step, using Principal Component Analysis, deprived rural regions were identified based on selected socioeconomic and demographic variables. Then, using ArcGIS Network Analyst extension, the distance based on driving time from the Population Weighted Centroid of each rural region to the closest supermarket or grocery store was calculated on BC road networks. A 15 minute driving time cut-off was set to identify low access areas. Deprived rural regions which were also classified as low access were identified as food deserts. The impact of food accessibility on the weight status of rural British Columbians was investigated using the 2013-14 Canadian Community Health Survey (CCHS). A hierarchical regression model was constructed with weight status of residents as the dependent variable and distance to the closest supermarket or grocery store as the independent target variable. I found that food deserts are more concentrated in the Central Coast, Cariboo, and Peace River regions of the province. In addition, farmers’ markets play no role in providing healthy foods to the residents of food deserts. Lastly, distance from food stores is not significantly associated with the weight status of rural respondents in CCHS data. The findings of this study can be highly beneficial to government officials within different jurisdictions and health practitioners to develop or refine food policies toward providing healthy and affordable food to deprived residents and Aboriginal peoples in rural and remote communities. / Graduate

This dissertation develops and utilizes a methodology for combining data drawn from the manuscript census returns and the county tax rolls to study landless farmers during the period from 1850 until 1880 in three Texas Brazos River Valley counties: Fort Bend, Milam, and Palo Pinto. It focuses in particular on those landless farmers who appear to have had no option other than tenant farming. It concludes that there were such landless farmers throughout the period, although they were a relatively insignificant factor in the agricultural economy before the Civil War. During the Antebellum decade, poor tenant farmers were a higher proportion of the population on the frontier than in the interior, but throughout the period, they were found in higher numbers in the central portion of the river valley. White tenants generally avoided the coastal plantation areas, although by 1880, that pattern seemed to be changing. Emancipation had tremendous impact on both black and white landless farmers. Although both groups were now theoretically competing for the same resource, productive crop land, their reactions during the first fifteen years were so different that it suggests two systems of tenant farming divided by caste. As population expansion put increasing pressure on the land, the two systems began to merge on terms resembling those under which black tenants had always labored.

L’Inde est le deuxième producteur mondial de coton ; après la Chine, avec environ 12,1 millions d’hectares en 2011, soit le quart de la superficie cotonnière mondiale. Après l’avènement des biotechnologies agricoles, le gouvernement indien, sous l’égide du premier ministre Atal Bihari Vajpayee, a encouragé l’utilisation de coton génétiquement modifié, dénommé coton Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt). Les variétés de coton Bt permettent de lutter contre les pertes de rendement causées par les parasites lépidoptères. Toutefois, leur implantation n’a pas été sans difficulté (la résistance des insectes, la pollution des sols, l’utilisation massive d’eau et d’engrais, le déséquilibre de l’écosystème et l’appauvrissement des fermiers). Aujourd’hui, l’Inde connaît un débat majeur autour de son expérience en matière d’adoption de coton transgénique, débat où plusieurs arguments d’impacts sur le bien-être des petits agriculteurs sont avancés. Depuis sa commercialisation en 2002, le coton Bt a provoqué les mécontentements et les suicides des fermiers appauvris. En moyenne un paysan se donne la mort toutes les 30 minutes. Les victimes sont principalement les petits fermiers qui cultivaient les semences génétiquement modifiés dans les Etats indiens : Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh et Maharashtra. Ces agriculteurs étaient pour la plupart endettés auprès de la compagnie semencière Mahyco-Monsanto Biotech (MMB), qui leur fournissait à crédit les semences Bt ainsi que les pesticides. Faut-il y déceler une corrélation entre le coton génétiquement modifié et ces suicides atypiques ? Ainsi, l’objectif de cette thèse est d’explorer, tant sur le plan théorique qu’empirique, la relation entre l’utilisation du coton Bt et le suicide des agriculteurs en Inde... / India is the world’s second largest producer of cotton, after China. The total cotton area in India was 12.1 million hectares in 2011, accounting for approximately one fourth of the world’s total cotton area. After the advent of agricultural biotechnology, the Indian government, under the former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, has encouraged the use of genetically modified cotton, called Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) cotton. The Bt cotton varieties can provide control against crop loss caused by lepidopteran pests. However, the process of introduction of Bt cotton has not been without difficulty (insect resistance to Bt crop, soil pollution, the excessive use of water and fertilizer, an imbalance of the ecosystem and impoverishment of farmers). Since its first commercialization in India, Bt cotton has caused a considerable discontent and suicides of impoverished cotton farmers. On average, one farmer commits suicide every 30 minutes in India. The victims are mainly small farmer who grow genetically modified cotton seeds in certain states in India (Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra). Most of these farmers are deeply indebted to the Mahyco Monsanto Biotech (MMB) Company, which provided them access to credits for buying Bt cotton seeds and pesticides. Is there a correlation between the genetically modified cotton and these suicides? Thus, the purpose of this thesis is to theoretically and empirically explore the causal relationship between Bt cotton and farmer suicides in India...

M.Inf. / For centuries man has relied on agriculture to sustain human life. Farmers, as usual, were concerned with growing crops, vegetables and breeding domestic animals for transport, meat and milk supply. Success in farming, especially stock farming was a sign of wealth. Land area for cultivation of crops and pasture for livestock was ample. So, if land gets depleted and cannot meet the needs of all adequately, farmers moved to other parts of the land where soils were still fertile. So, agriculture and stock farming relied heavily on nomadic farmers to find fresh fertile soils. Specialized agricultural information which is prevalent today was not necessary. However, as the world population increased, land areas diminished and man’s migration stopped. Soils depletion of minerals had to be re-used and technology was developed to aid in improving the quality of the soils. Fertilizers, manure and irrigation were introduced as did pesticides and herbicides which assisted in improving the quality and quantity of agricultural output. Information is a powerful tool in addressing these agricultural needs and if it is used appropriately it could change a nation’s economy. The purpose of the research was to investigate agricultural information needs of agriculturists and farmers in Lesotho and resources that are available to satisfy these needs. Therefore, it will be argued that relevant and timely information has to be organized according to language and format understood by different categories of agriculturists and farmers. Agricultural information that might be useful to improve productivity should be appropriately disseminated to users who may benefit from the information. Specifically, the research project investigated different categories of agriculturists and farmers and their type of agricultural information needs. Resources that are available in Lesotho and in organizations were also investigated in order to identify those that could be utilized to meet agriculturists’ and farmers’ needs. In order to arrive at this, the researcher did a literature study on the status of agricultural information in the developed countries (DC), the less developed countries (LDC) and Southern African Development Community (SADC). The project also looked at both the positive and negative factors that affect agricultural development in order to select which methods and resources could be adapted to address the needs of local agriculturists and farmers. The researcher used the interview method to collect data on agricultural information needs of agriculturists and farmers, as well as resources that are available to them in Lesotho. The purpose of the structured interview was to gather information related to the use of information sources, sources of agricultural information, document and information delivery and IT connectivity. The findings showed that farmers interviewed were spread evenly in agricultural farming of maize, sorghum, beans and vegetables; and stock farming of cattle, cows, piggery and poultry. iii Agriculturists indicated that the purpose for which agricultural information was needed included marketing of agricultural produce, research information and information for selfimprovement. Farmers on the other hand indicated that they needed agricultural information for advancement of primary production, community education, self-improvement and sustainable agriculture. Other major findings included concern for which pest control and sustainable agriculture. Current awareness services were also rated highly and publications were the method of dissemination that was preferred. Agricultural information that is cost-effective and appropriate was considered for purchase. In terms of acquisition and accession of information, results showed that most users preferred surface mail, as it is reliable and cheap, even though it is sometimes slow. Through it, bulky packages like books and journals could be sent.

The aim of this study is to investigate the outcomes of the Land Consolidation Programme (LCP) in household food productivity. The implementation of the 2004 Rwandan National Land Policy (which incorporates LCP) has been one of the Rwandan government strategic attempts to improve the livelihood of the Rwandans. In this study we look at some of the social-economic factorsbenefited by household farmers through the LCP since its implementation in 2007. In Sub-Saharan Africa many people depend on land for their livelihood and consequently, one of the obvious negative impacts has been the fragmentation of land. Historically the customary land management, in which inheritance is the major mode of land acquisition, has been the main way of allocating land in African societies. This communal tenure is viewed as unstable and leads to detrimental implications, in the form of mismanagement and overexploitation of the available land. The demographic pressure has also aggravated the issue of land scarcity and land fragmentation. The latter has consequences on agricultural productivity since it makes harder the efficient use of land. In this study the researcher explores the outcomes of the LCP in Rwanda as a type of land reform that aims at preventing fragmentation of land and enhancing the livelihood of household farmers. For achieving this objective, the study used a case study of household farmers from Gisenyi village of Bugesera district (in Rwanda) who are involved in the LCP since its implementation. Empirical data was obtained through in-depth interviews with 20 household farmers and 8 key informants. The emphasis in the study was put on investigating the state of household food productivity in Gisenyi. The study was guided by the property right theory and its basic conceptual assumption of enhancing the income through credit access. The findings of the study demonstrate that household farmers in Gisenyi village have benefited from the LCP. Household farmers confirmed that agricultural productivity has increased due to the new farming techniques brought by the programme. The study concludes that once the programme is properly and fully implemented, the LCP will highly enhance food self-sufficiency situation in Rwanda, improving also the livelihood of rural areas through other benefits such as infrastructure development.