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Thesis (M.Soc.Sc.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2008. / Full text also available online. Scroll down for electronic link.

Thesis (M.Sc.Agric.) - University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2007. / Full text also available online. Scroll down for electronic link.

Food aid and domestic food production capacities in Zimbabwe have been compromised by the poor performance in the country’s agricultural sector, which has necessitated an increase in and a continual need for humanitarian assistance over the past decade. The country’s commercial cereal food import capacity has not been an exception as it has also been greatly affected by the poor performance of the agricultural sector and the shortage of foreign currency that hit the country in the past few years. Secondary data on food aid, commercial cereal imports and cereal food production was obtained from World Food Programme (WFP), Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), the Grain Marketing Board (GMB) of Zimbabwe and from Zimbabwe Statistics (ZimSTATS) databases. This time series data was then analysed in the Vector Autoregression (VAR) analysis. Trends observed in the time series data reveal that commercial cereal food imports and cereal food aid inflows to Zimbabwe had been increasing between 1988 and 2008. Domestic cereal food production levels however were observed to have been declining within the same period. The restricted VAR model which was specified to investigate the short and long term effects of food aid on food production and on commercial food imports in the country revealed a low statistically significant positive relationship between domestic food production and food aid volumes. Results from the model also indicated a negative relationship between commercial food imports and food aid volumes. This means that as food aid volumes to Zimbabwe increase, the volume of commercial cereal food imported into Zimbabwe falls. This result therefore suggests that food aid in the country had a displacement effect on commercial cereal food imports in the short term. The results of the Granger causality test and the estimation of the Impulse Response Functions also helped to confirm and reinforce these findings from the vector error correction model. The conclusions drawn from the study were that the responsiveness of domestic food supply, that is, cereal production, to food aid inflows in the short term has been elastic. That is to say, an increase in food aid inflows would influence an increase in the level of domestic food production in the short term. However, in the long term, findings confirm that food aid does indeed discourage domestic food production in the country. Also, for the relationship between food aid and commercial food imports, it can be concluded from the study findings that food aid in the short term has caused a reduction in commercial food imports whereas in the long term, food aid inflows have actually stimulated the commercial food import capacity. In recommendation, the Government of Zimbabwe, the private and public institutions as well as the Non-Governmental Organisations should partner and work together in defining the criteria for vulnerability assessment, food aid targeting and distribution, and in the implementation of strategies for ensuring national food availability. Such partnerships would help in ensuring the sustainability of food aid and food security in Zimbabwe, which is the main goal.

Until now little attention has been paid to the development of military capabilities designed to target food crops with biological warfare agents. This book represents the first substantive study of state-run activities in this field. It shows that all biological warfare programmes have included a component concerned with the development of anti-crop biological warfare agents and munitions. Current concern over the proliferation of biological weapons is placed in the context of the initiative to strengthen the Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention. The book concludes by arguing that the risks posed by this form of warfare can be minimised, but that this would depend largely on the effective and efficient implementation of regimes concerning the peaceful use and control of plant pathogens that pose a risk to human health and the environment.

A presente pesquisa analisa a formação socioespacial agropecuária da região de Araçatuba. Norteada pela periodização das ocupações hegemônicas no espaço agrícola regional, ponderou-se a trama apresentada a partir da análise das anexações dos sistemas de objetos superiores que alicerçaram no tempo diferentes divisões territoriais da produção e do trabalho. Café, algodão, pecuária bovina de corte e cana-de-açúcar configuraram ciclos de ocupações que se caracterizaram enquanto circuitos espaciais dominantes da agropecuária na região de Araçatuba. Usuárias da maioria das áreas agricultáveis do oeste paulista, a pecuária bovina de corte e a lavoura canavieira conformaram nas últimas décadas uma apropriação fundiária definida como sistema cana-boi. Em coexistência com essas ocupações hegemônicas, outras culturas alimentares atuaram produtivamente para o abastecimento prioritário do mercado interno local, regional e nacional. Dispostas em níveis diferenciados de tecnificação, capitalização e organizacional, essas atividades agropecuárias se fazem presentes na horizontalidade do território usado em circuitos espaciais de hegemonia complementar e subalternos. Característica do abastecimento de alimentos in natura nas regiões é a maioria do consumido ter origem distante. Resultado da divisão territorial da produção das diferentes culturas alimentares no espaço geográfico e do acúmulo de conhecimento técnico-organizacional dos produtores nas regiões agropecuárias, cada alimento possui predominantemente circuitos originários concentrados em pontos e manchas do território dados às especializações produtivas no mercado capitalista. Contudo, na manutenção de técnicas rudimentares sobrevive e se reproduz (nos interstícios das novas modernidades) racionalidades autóctones que persistem no oferecimento de produtos tradicionais da cultura regional. Para o período atual, apresenta-se nessa pesquisa a manifestação dessa multiterritorialidade vigente no espaço geográfico da região de Araçatuba. / This research analyzes the formation of the socio-spatial agriculture of Araçatuba / Sao Paolo / Brazil. Guided by the timeline of the hegemonic occupations in the regional agriculture space, weighed up the plot presented from the analysis annexations of upper objects that underpinned systems in different time territorial divisions of production and labor. Coffee, cotton, beef cattle and sugarcane configured cycles of occupations that were characterized as dominant spatial circuits of agriculture in Araçatuba. Users of most agricultural areas of Western Sao Paolo State, the beef cattle and sugarcane farming conformed in recent decades a land ownership defined as cane-ox system. In coexistence with these hegemonic occupations, other food crops worked productively for the priority supply of local, regional and national domestic market. Arranged in different levels of technological improvement, and organizational capitalizing, these agricultural activities are present in the horizontality of the used territory in spatial circuits complementary hegemony and subaltern. Characteristic of food supply in nature in the regions is the most distant source be consumed. Result of the territorial division of production of different food cultures in geographic space and the accumulation of technical-organizational knowledge producers in agricultural regions, each food has predominantly concentrated circuits originating in spots and stains the territory given to productive specializations in the capitalist market. However, in maintenance survives and reproduces rudimentary techniques (in the interstices of new modernities) autochthonous rationalities that persist in offering traditional products of regional culture. For the current period, is presented in this research the current manifestation of this multiterritoriality geographic space of Araçatuba.

This case study investigated the impact of irrigation on household food security at Ibu and Kalizinje villages in Chingale, Malawi. The aim of the study was to investigate whether irrigation improved household food security. The study was qualitative in nature. Fifty-eight farmers and three World Vision field staff participated in the study. Group discussions with participatory techniques and in-depth interviews were used to collect data. Data were analysed qualitatively using matrix/logical analysis. Irrigation improved irrigating farmers’ household food security through an increase in production and income levels. Irrigating farmers were better off in terms of crop production and income levels than non-irrigating farmers. Irrigating farmers planted irrigated maize two to three times a year, while non-irrigating farmers planted rain-fed maize only once a year. In terms of income levels, irrigating farmers produced more food than households required, and sold surpluses. Most irrigating farmers began cash cropping after the introduction of irrigation and also earned higher incomes, as irrigation enabled production of crops during lean periods and enabled them to sell surpluses at higher prices. Irrigation did not improve crop diversification. Non-irrigating farmers diversified crops more than irrigating farmers by planting groundnuts and sweet potatoes. Income from irrigating farmers did not increase dietary diversity and the acquisition of assets for irrigating farmers. Few farmers consumed a variety of foods and few acquired assets with the income derived from irrigation. Nevertheless, irrigation has the potential to smooth production cycles and provide food and income during seasons when food and income would be low. In addition, the study revealed the following as problems faced by farmers: constraining size of small diesel pumps, pump breakdown at Kalizinje, floods, pests and diseases, storage problems, lack of market places and poor roads, small land sizes, and expensive farm inputs. / Thesis (M.Sc..)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2008.

A presente pesquisa analisa a formação socioespacial agropecuária da região de Araçatuba. Norteada pela periodização das ocupações hegemônicas no espaço agrícola regional, ponderou-se a trama apresentada a partir da análise das anexações dos sistemas de objetos superiores que alicerçaram no tempo diferentes divisões territoriais da produção e do trabalho. Café, algodão, pecuária bovina de corte e cana-de-açúcar configuraram ciclos de ocupações que se caracterizaram enquanto circuitos espaciais dominantes da agropecuária na região de Araçatuba. Usuárias da maioria das áreas agricultáveis do oeste paulista, a pecuária bovina de corte e a lavoura canavieira conformaram nas últimas décadas uma apropriação fundiária definida como sistema cana-boi. Em coexistência com essas ocupações hegemônicas, outras culturas alimentares atuaram produtivamente para o abastecimento prioritário do mercado interno local, regional e nacional. Dispostas em níveis diferenciados de tecnificação, capitalização e organizacional, essas atividades agropecuárias se fazem presentes na horizontalidade do território usado em circuitos espaciais de hegemonia complementar e subalternos. Característica do abastecimento de alimentos in natura nas regiões é a maioria do consumido ter origem distante. Resultado da divisão territorial da produção das diferentes culturas alimentares no espaço geográfico e do acúmulo de conhecimento técnico-organizacional dos produtores nas regiões agropecuárias, cada alimento possui predominantemente circuitos originários concentrados em pontos e manchas do território dados às especializações produtivas no mercado capitalista. Contudo, na manutenção de técnicas rudimentares sobrevive e se reproduz (nos interstícios das novas modernidades) racionalidades autóctones que persistem no oferecimento de produtos tradicionais da cultura regional. Para o período atual, apresenta-se nessa pesquisa a manifestação dessa multiterritorialidade vigente no espaço geográfico da região de Araçatuba. / This research analyzes the formation of the socio-spatial agriculture of Araçatuba / Sao Paolo / Brazil. Guided by the timeline of the hegemonic occupations in the regional agriculture space, weighed up the plot presented from the analysis annexations of upper objects that underpinned systems in different time territorial divisions of production and labor. Coffee, cotton, beef cattle and sugarcane configured cycles of occupations that were characterized as dominant spatial circuits of agriculture in Araçatuba. Users of most agricultural areas of Western Sao Paolo State, the beef cattle and sugarcane farming conformed in recent decades a land ownership defined as cane-ox system. In coexistence with these hegemonic occupations, other food crops worked productively for the priority supply of local, regional and national domestic market. Arranged in different levels of technological improvement, and organizational capitalizing, these agricultural activities are present in the horizontality of the used territory in spatial circuits complementary hegemony and subaltern. Characteristic of food supply in nature in the regions is the most distant source be consumed. Result of the territorial division of production of different food cultures in geographic space and the accumulation of technical-organizational knowledge producers in agricultural regions, each food has predominantly concentrated circuits originating in spots and stains the territory given to productive specializations in the capitalist market. However, in maintenance survives and reproduces rudimentary techniques (in the interstices of new modernities) autochthonous rationalities that persist in offering traditional products of regional culture. For the current period, is presented in this research the current manifestation of this multiterritoriality geographic space of Araçatuba.

Community food gardens are regarded as a means through which rural households can improve their livelihoods. This study explores the contribution of community food gardens (CFG) to livelihoods in the Lepelle-Nkumpi local municipality in the Limpopo province. The objectives of this study are, firstly to explore the reason behind CFG participation and the reasons behind the participating possibility. Secondly, the study seeks to identify the socio-economic factors influencing the participation of households in CFG and lastly to determine the influence of CFG and other socio-economic variables on household food security status (HFSS). Descriptive statistical analysis was used to describe the socio-economic characteristics and the reasons behind CFG participation and the reasons behind the participating possibility. The binary logistic regression model was used to analyse the determinants of household participation in community food gardens as well as the contribution of CFG to HFSS on Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) software version 21. Through a structured questionnaire, data was collected from a sample of 180 households which was obtained using multistage sampling. Descriptive results on the characteristics of sampled households revealed that there are high levels of food security in the area with 70% being food secure of which around 42.2% are CFG participants and 30% are food insecure. Furthermore the descriptive statistical analysis indicated that participation of households in CFG is mainly to obtain a source of food among the CFG participants and to generate income amongst the non-participants. On the basis of descriptive analysis, this study concludes that source of food and income generation respectively are the main reasons behind CFG participation and the possibilities of becoming a participant. Therefore the study accepts the research hypothesis stating that “There are social and economic reasons behind household participation and the possibilities of participating in CFG”. Binary results for the determinants of CFG participation revealed that socio-economic variables such as household size, farm income, household monthly income, land size, household perception, marital status, agricultural training and homestead gardening significantly influence household decisions to participate in CFG. This is an implication that socio-economic variables tested in this study are significantly influential to the household decision to participate in CFG, leading to the acceptance of the first hypothesis which states that “Socioeconomic factors determine the community food garden ownership or participation”. The results of the contribution made by CFG to HFSS showed that socioeconomic variables such as gender, age, household size, farm income, educational level, household monthly income, marital status, information access, formal employment status and CFG involvement significantly affect household food security status in the study area. The result indicates a positive contribution to HFSS and implies that socio-economic variables tested in this study have a significant influence on HFSS, leading to the acceptance of the second hypothesis which states that “Community food gardens have a positive effect on food security status of household in Lepelle-Nkumpi Local Municipality Limpopo province.” Therefore it is relevant to concluded that in the area of Lepelle-Nkumpi local municipality, social economic factors plays a vital role in the participation of households in CFG as well as improving the state household food security status.

Traditional peoples are often described as "stewards of agricultural diversity", yet little research has been conducted on the determinants of agrodiversity. This thesis focuses on agrodiversity and how peasant farmers build and maintain cultivated plant diversity in home gardens found in three distinct traditional communities along the Maranon river in the Peruvian Amazon---an upland mixed agricultural village, a lowland agricultural village, and a lowland fishing village. Data were gathered through household surveys (n = 192) and in-depth interviews (n = 112). Substantial variation in cultivated plant diversity was found among and within villages. Residents with the highest home garden agrodiversity tend to be among the wealthier households, and are more likely to have both established their own garden, and tended it for longer periods. Complex planting material exchange networks underlie the establishment and maintenance of home garden agrodiversity. The results underscore the importance of studying local variations in agricultural diversity, and exchange networks that bring agricultural planting stock to peasant farmers.