Thesis (doctoral)--Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, 2000. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 128-140).

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Iowa State University, 2007. / Adviser: Charles R. Hurburgh. Includes bibliographical references.

The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, previously ‘food stamps’), is the nation’s largest federal entitlement nutritional assistance program which assists individuals and households living below the federal poverty level in order to reduce the amount of money they spend on food. With the conversion of food stamps coupons to Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT), vendors at farmers markets are unable to accept SNAP benefits due to lack of necessary technology adoption. The number of farmers markets has increased 39 percent since 2010 yet only 21 percent of the nation’s farmers markets are equipped to accept EBT (USDA AMS, 2015a). The purpose of this cross-sectional study was to apply the theory of Diffusion of Innovations (DOI) to explain EBT technology adoption at mid-west farmers markets (Illinois, Michigan, and Wisconsin). This study intended to identify the socio-demographic characteristics and levels of communication of farmers market managers, market compatibilities, and perceived EBT attributes that might influence EBT adoption at farmers markets. A survey was administered electronically to market managers of three mid-west states to collect the necessary information to answer the research objectives. A total of 181 managers completed the survey. Logistic regression analyses were used to identify effects of several variables on EBT adoption. Analysis of Variance and Chi-square test were utilized to compare the states and adopter groups. Results of logistic regression showed significant effects of specific variables on EBT adoption. Market managers’ level of communication (Farmers Market Association membership and having partnerships with other organizations), market characteristics (availability of public transports to the market and number of SNAP recipients living in the area), and market managers’ perceptions of EBT attributes (perceived usefulness, ability to try-out, and acceptability) were statistically significant predictors of EBT adoption. For market managers and organizers who are seeking resources and considering EBT adoption assessment of compatibility and level of communication prior to adoption should be considered. In conclusion, the theory of DOI was able to explain effects of market characteristics, market managers’ level of communication, and perceived attributes of EBT on its adoption among the respondents of mid-west farmers markets. Findings of the study can be useful for policymakers in navigating through financial, human, organizational, and political constraints to develop a reachable goal in providing EBT to farmers markets across the nation. Improving the rate of EBT adoption will ultimately have a positive impact on the health of low-income population and sustainability of local agriculture.

In the last few years have farmers' markets in the Czech Republic still greater success. By farmers' markets we are trying to promote local and regional food to get into a deeper level of awareness, and to become more popular. The range is very varied but referring to the range of many legislative regulation, laws, norms and announcements. Farmers' markets are subject to the same legislation as any other food sales. In the dissertation were performed structured interviews with vendors at farmers markets and held a questionnaire survey among customers of farmers' markets and wider community from all over the Czech Republic. In the questionnaire surveys got involved 187 respondents and thanks to this survey were evaluated by the fixed hypothesis. Three out of four.

Submitted by Rachel Resende (rachelgresende15@gmail.com) on 2017-12-11T18:47:14Z No. of bitstreams: 2 Autorização e Carta.pdf: 122029 bytes, checksum: bb4adf0cf00369cd26bdf3b3232e0167 (MD5) Dissertação Rachel para repositório.pdf: 3409091 bytes, checksum: 703f01509e9895e5bb4eb34a4be9c594 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Alini Demarchi (alini@cca.ufscar.br) on 2017-12-12T16:16:59Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 2 Autorização e Carta.pdf: 122029 bytes, checksum: bb4adf0cf00369cd26bdf3b3232e0167 (MD5) Dissertação Rachel para repositório.pdf: 3409091 bytes, checksum: 703f01509e9895e5bb4eb34a4be9c594 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Alini Demarchi (alini@cca.ufscar.br) on 2017-12-12T16:18:38Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 2 Autorização e Carta.pdf: 122029 bytes, checksum: bb4adf0cf00369cd26bdf3b3232e0167 (MD5) Dissertação Rachel para repositório.pdf: 3409091 bytes, checksum: 703f01509e9895e5bb4eb34a4be9c594 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2017-12-12T17:15:12Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 2 Autorização e Carta.pdf: 122029 bytes, checksum: bb4adf0cf00369cd26bdf3b3232e0167 (MD5) Dissertação Rachel para repositório.pdf: 3409091 bytes, checksum: 703f01509e9895e5bb4eb34a4be9c594 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2017-10-16 / Não recebi financiamento / The present research had the objective of characterizing and analyzing the quality of rural environmental sanitation in the organic producing properties in the municipality of Ouro Fino, through a survey on environmental issues in the properties with emphasis on: water, soil, solid waste management and sanitation, in order to minimize the knowledge gap on rural environmental sanitation in areas of organic production. To collect data, a qualitative approach was used through semi-structured interviews with seven farmers, which made it possible to understand farmers' perceptions regarding various health, environmental and social aspects. The interviews were composed of thematic blocks: history of the property, profile of the owner, characteristics of the area surrounding the home, environmental sanitation, associativism and environmental perception. The data were analyzed and discussed in a descriptive way based on previous studies and quotations on the subject, as well as excerpts from the producers' statements. The data infer that the fact of being organic producers did not configure as a determinant aspect so that the conditions of the sanitation in their properties were presented ideal, unlike the environmental perceptions. Note the importance of the research that portrays the perception of individuals, whose results reproduce the real needs and desires of the population in question, in the search for more efficient and structured public policies in the rural area. / A presente pesquisa teve como objetivo central caracterizar e analisar a qualidade do saneamento ambiental rural nas propriedades produtoras de orgânicos no município de Ouro Fino, por meio de um levantamento sobre questões ambientais nas propriedades com ênfase em: água, solo, gestão de resíduos sólidos e esgotamento sanitário, com o intuito de minimizar a lacuna de conhecimento sobre o saneamento ambiental rural em áreas de produção de orgânicos. Para a coleta de dados utilizou-se de abordagem qualitativa através da realização de entrevistas semiestruturadas com sete agricultores, as quais possibilitaram compreender as percepções dos produtores em relação a vários aspectos sanitários, ambientais e sociais. As entrevistas foram compostas por blocos temáticos: história da propriedade, perfil do proprietário, características da área circundante ao domicílio, saneamento ambiental, associativismo e percepção ambiental. Os dados foram analisados e discutidos de maneira descritiva baseados em estudos anteriores e citações sobre o assunto, como também trechos das falas dos produtores. Os dados inferem que o fato de serem produtores orgânicos não configurou como aspecto determinante para que as condições do saneamento em suas propriedades se apresentassem ideais, diferentemente das percepções ambientais. Nota-se a importância da pesquisa que retrata a percepção dos indivíduos, cujos resultados reproduzem as verdadeiras necessidades e anseios da população em questão, na busca de políticas públicas mais eficientes e estruturadas na área rural.

This essay will discuss where the people who built the passage graves and the first farmers at the Falbygden area in Sweden came from. That the first farmers built the passage graves is today a given fact, but how did the Neolithic transition take form in Scandinavia? Two theories have been put forward over the past century, that they learned through cultural diffusion, or that the first farmers were immigrants. Recent DNA- and Strontiumanalyses have been made on skeletons from passage graves from Falbygden and on skeletons from different regions across Europe, both from Mesolithic and Neolithic people. These results show that the Mesolithic hunter-gatherers shares no or little continuity with the Neolithic farmers, even in cases where the two groups lived in close neighbouring for a long time.

In rural districts of Sub-Saharan Africa, livelihoods typically centre around peasant agriculture and herding. While historically effective, changing resource constraints associated with rapid population growth and resource degradation have put these livelihoods under strain. Dramatic shifts over recent years in agricultural policy and the prices of agricultural inputs and outputs have not helped. Together, such changes arguably amount to a set of destabilising influences and a relative paucity of advantageous opportunities. The question is whether local people successfully adapt their land-use strategies to these changing circumstances. 'Sustainable agriculture' technologies such as agroforestry practices represent an obvious means of adaptation to change in low-potential areas, which largely lack access to purchased agricultural inputs. Yet despite the promise these technologies have shown in farm trials, their adoption by farmers has generally been hesitant and limited. This has been widely interpreted as evidence that these technologies do not respond effectively to the needs of target beneficiaries. Based on a household survey from Shinyanga District, Tanzania, the study revisits the issues of adaptation to changing circumstances and technology adoption. It highlights the possibility that some households adapt to change more effectively than others, with some adopting advantageous available technologies while others do not. Its focus is on the differing knowledge and perceptions informing decisions vis-à-vis tree management, with a view to identifying distinct knowledge types within the wider body of local knowledge. The study posits then tests a theoretical model problematising local knowledge. It finds that integrating local knowledge variables into regressions of tree management practice greatly increases their explanatory power, suggesting that these variables do not simply reflect incentives, as suggested by contemporary theory. The implication is that problematic local knowledge may critically constrain rural livelihoods in areas facing unprecedented challenges and opportunities. Finally, diverse associations with observed knowledge patterns are considered, suggesting promising ways to build on this work.

Master of Arts / Department Not Listed / Colene Lind / The world relies on agriculture and its producers for food, fuel, and fiber. These agricultural producers make up approximately two percent of the United States population, and they attempt to feed the world even as a minority group (American Farm Bureau, 2017). A growing world population and depleted natural resources challenge the global food system, agricultural producers, and everyone who eats. However, the two percent, who are the most directly involved and knowledgeable, are not talking about the problems or processes of agriculture with others (Higgins, 1991). Feeding the world’s population increasingly will demand personal and collective decision-making that would be aided by a fully engaged and informed public. But only if those in agriculture talk about their livelihoods can we close the communication gap between producers and non-producers and thereby work together to solve the shared problems in and of agriculture. Through qualitative interviews with agricultural producers, this study used Social Identity Theory (SIT) and intergroup communication to explore how producers understood their social identity, as well as how their social identity impacted communication with non-producers. This study is unique in that it uses SIT as the guiding theory, focusing on how agricultural producers identify as compared with the relevant out-group, non-producers. This study finds two major themes in producer self-understandings. First, this study shows that agricultural producers view themselves as high in social status while they presume that others do not afford them the same respect. Second, agricultural producers orient themselves to non-producers in two different ways, including the Determined and the Resigned, with each holding a different sense of their ability to bridge the communication gap. This thesis makes several contributions to communication scholarship and practice. First, the findings suggest that social competition and social creativity—two strategies for gaining and maintaining group status—might have different communication and group-relation outcomes when enacted via direct contact with the out-group. Future research is therefore needed to potentially extend SIT theory in regard to these status strategies. Second, the findings suggest that group members who could speak to the tensions within their social identity engaged with out-group members, also prompting the need for more research to clarify this phenomenon relative to SIT. Third, a striking cleavage between those who seek to engage with the out-group as compared to those who do not merits further study, and this study offers several possible avenues for explaining this difference. Fourth, and more practically, the study suggests that producers ought to be introduced to the concepts of social identity and competition to reduce tensions and to encourage interaction between producers and non-producers.

This thesis uses belonging as an analytical tool to analyse the history of the Basotho community in the Dewure Purchase Areas in Zimbabwe. The thesis analyses how Basotho’s migration history and their experiences with colonial displacements shaped and continue to shape their construction of a sense of belonging. It also examines how Basotho’s purchase of farms in the Dewure Purchase Areas in the 1930s and their establishment of a communally owned farm have played a key role in their struggles for belonging. It also explores the centrality of land, graves, funerals, and religion in the belonging matrix. The study, however, avoids projecting the Basotho community as a monolithic and cohesive unit by analysing the various internal schisms and cleavages within the community and examining their impacts. Although, Basotho have seemingly managed to integrate into the local community, a more critical analysis reveals that they have also continued to maintain a level of particularism. The central dynamic in this thesis, therefore, is how the Basotho, in their different struggles and strategies to belong, over the last century, have fundamentally been caught between being seen and treated as the same as the other people around them and being seen (and seeing themselves) as different. It is arguably this ambivalence or delicate balancing between integrating and remaining ‘outsiders’ that has shaped Basotho’s sense of belonging and determined the strategies they have deployed in different historical contexts. The thesis concludes that, since it is relational and always in a state of becoming, strategies deployed in constructing and articulating belonging constantly change to suit particular historical contexts.

Magister Philosophiae (Land and Agrarian Studies) - MPhil(LAS) / This study explored the production and livelihoods of smallholder farmers in irrigation schemes in South Africa. The particular focus has been on the farming styles of smallholder farmers, the impact of irrigation scheme production on their income and livelihoods, and the issue of smallholder social differentiation. The New Forest irrigation scheme located in Bushbuckridge Local Municipality was used as a case study. The research methodology utilized a combination of extensive and intensive research designs. The farming style approach was compared with the livelihood strategies approach to determine the relationship between the farmers’ approach to farming and their livelihood development trajectory. The underlying assumption is that small-scale irrigation has the potential to make a positive contribution to the livelihoods of farmers. New Forest irrigation farmers face a number of challenges at the irrigation scheme such as neglect by government, inadequate irrigation water, and access to affordable crops inputs. The farmers were not organised to be able to purchase inputs, engage in co-operative marketing, and manage the irrigation scheme. The notion of investing in smallholder irrigation schemes in order to convert smallholders into commercial farmers is unrealistic. Those that were classified as ‘food farmers’, benefit from irrigation development and participation through meeting their household consumption needs. Those classified as ‘employers’, obtained negative gross margins per plot and hired most farm labour. Diversification by employers into other less risky livelihood activities on-farm and off-farm is an option. The ‘profit makers’, make high returns from crop production, and obtained the highest gross margins per plot. This thesis argues that support to farmers in smallholder irrigation schemes should be provided in the context of their farming objectives, and livelihood aspirations which are not only varied but evolve across time and individual circumstances.