In many parts of South Africa, a growing trend to convert traditional commercial agricultural farms to wildlife-based forms of land use is having significant but largely unexplored impacts on farm dwellers and neighbouring rural communities. This trend is very evident in the province of KwaZulu-Natal where there has been a significant shift in rural landscapes as land is being “rehabilitated”, from commercial cattle farming in particular, and developed into Private Game Reserves (PGRs). This research forms part of a larger project funded by Southern African Programme for Alternatives in Development (SANPAD). One of the research partners was the Association For Rural Advancement (AFRA), an independent Non-Governmental Organisation working on land rights and agrarian reform in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. AFRA‟s work focuses on black rural people whose rights to land have been undermined, whose tenure is insecure, and who do not have access to sufficient land to fulfil their development aspirations or their basic needs. Very little research has, however, been conducted on the large shift in land use in northern KwaZulu-Natal and how rural communities are being impacted in these areas; a situation this study intends to begin to remedy. This study focuses on the north-eastern area of the province, and in particular the Mkuze region, where the move to create PGRs has significantly changed the social and physical geography of the area. In order to gain a clearer understanding of this phenomenon, research was conducted on the relationship between the tribal/ traditional community of Ingwenya and five surrounding game reserves (namely, Thanda/ Intibane, Mkuze, Phinda, and Kube-Yini). While Mkuze is a state game reserve, created in the early twentieth century, the others are PGRs. The study was both quantitative and qualitative in nature which involved collecting household questionnaire surveys in the community of Ingwenya, in-depth interviews with ex-farm dwellers, questionnaire surveys with the managers of the five PGRs chosen in this study, oral and documentary evidence and participant observation. / Thesis (M.Soc.Sc.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2011.

The present context of community based natural resource management is characterized by multiple stakeholder involvement, a situation that presents challenges in aligning vision for common action. A 'systemic intervention' involved the staff and stakeholders of the Farmer Support Group, a non-profit rural development organization based in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. The 'creative design of methods' guided inquiry in aligning vision of a Landcare ethos amongst the organization and their stakeholders, and in directing action toward the vision. Critical Systems Thinking is outlined as the framework in which the intervention methodology is encompassed. The importance of applying a broad range of environmental education methods to Landcare is established through drawing from present debates and contexts in environmental education and community based natural resource management. The 'organization as community' approach to organizational learning and development is highlighted as a means of creating synergy of purpose across staff and stakeholder boundaries. The intervention's methodology consisted of three phases: drawing out perspectives, forming a common vision in a mission statement, and developing action plans based on the mission statement. Outcomes included: identification of three schools of thought that drove perspectives on the role of environmental education in natural resource management strategies, formation of the FSG Landcare Ethos Mission Statement, which was inclusive of all stakeholder perspectives, and integration of the mission statement into FSG projects through action plans. The intervention found that aligning staff members and stakeholders in common vision and action towards developing a Landcare ethos could be accomplished through a blend of environmental education approaches that facilitate sustainable decision making by building capacity in individuals and communities in a participatory and locally relevant manner that is attentive to predominant perspectives and adaptive to change. / Thesis (M.Agric.)-University of Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2004.

Previous studies by Thomson (1996) and Crookes (2002) in land rental markets of rural KwaZulu-Natal were based on the premise that rental markets brought about efficiency and equity gains. Indeed these gains were proven by econometric analyses in both studies. Poor households that lacked the labour, time and other resources to farm land prior to the introduction of the rental market, tended to leave their arable land idle. In participating in rental transactions, land transferred from these poor households to households with the resources and the willingness to farm; and rental income was earned by the poor households. The current 2003/4 survey sought to evaluate the gains in two new areas, Mhlungwini in the Estcourt District and Duduza in the Bergville District, not covered in previous studies. Institutional interventions, related to the land rental market, in Mhlungwini and Duduza, had started in 2000 and 1993 respectively. Equity and efficiency gains were again proven as Lyne (2004) reports. While Chapter 2 provides an in-depth review of literature related to the theory of economic institutions, Chapter 3 applies this knowledge to Thomson's (1996) pilot project on institutional reform. This project, in terms of its action research that bore the ex ante transaction costs of willing participants, set in motion a process of institutional change leading to the development of the land rental market. The introduction of a formal contract, approved by the tribal authorities, served to give credence to rental transactions. In addition, institutional changes were made to reduce the likelihood of crop damage by stray cattle on arable land, in order to encourage willingness of households to lease in land. Recommendations were made by Thomson (1996) to further increase the exclusivity of arable land property rights. Options were evaluated by the author for institutional reform of communal grazing resources. This is to prevent degradation of grazing land caused by overstocking. Recommendations were made to promote sustainable use of the land. Chapter 4, apart from briefly analyzing the current survey results, provides two comparative studies of institutional reform, the first related to Australian water resources and the second related to land registration experiences in Africa. The last section of the Chapter evaluates a proposal for introduction of formal financial services to rural farmers. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2005.

Since South Africa’s democratic transition poverty, especially in terms of income, has persisted. Poverty reduction strategies must focus on closing the gaps of current policies which miss the poorest. Specifically, attention must be paid to those living in rural areas. While the use of agriculture as a poverty reduction strategy was envisioned by government as one of the key components of land reform and rural advancement, its potential has been limited as South Africa agriculture in the post-apartheid era is challenged with providing opportunities and support for small-scale farming systems. It was thus the aim of this dissertation to address part of this crisis by engaging with smallscale farmers in an attempt to understand the barriers and opportunities that they confront when accessing inputs needed for agricultural production that contributes towards their livelihoods. This was explored through a case study in which two focus groups and ten qualitative interviews were conducted. Through this it was found that land is being used productively by resource poor farmers as a pathway from poverty. The inability to purchase fencing and the lack of easy access to water proved to be the two most significant barriers to crop production while accessibility to seeds was found not to be an issue when controlling for financial limitations. Opportunities arose as respondents relied on interdependent relationships between the different assets in their possession. Overall, it was concluded that with a more appropriate support system which focused on overcoming the lack of information and resources, as well as the lack of services and infrastructure productivity could improve giving small farmers the potential to make a larger contribution to reducing poverty. / Thesis (M.Dev.Studies)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2010.

The aim of this study was to detect spatio-temporal changes in sugarcane land use using satellite imagery for 1991–2006 in Umbumbulu, South Africa. This change detection study will enable quantification of change and the changes between different land use and land cover that has occurred over the study period 1991–2006. This work embarked on a change detection analysis using image-processing software namely ERDAS, IDRISI and ArcGIS to complete the study. Three Landsat TM images from 1991, 2001, and 2006 were used. The images were geometrically corrected to a common map projection, followed by image processing operations namely: radiometric correction, supervised image classification, accuracy assessment and post classification comparison change detection. Each image was separately classified into land cover categories of water, grassland, mix bush/shrub, forestry, sugarcane and built-up land using the supervised classification maximum likelihood algorithm in ERDAS. Final classification accuracy was determined to be ‘satisfactory’ or ‘good’ by means of employing standardized accuracy assessment measures, the error matrix. The post-classification comparison technique was applied to compare the classified images to assess for changes in sugarcane land use over time using IDRISI software. The classified images produced were exported into ArcMap GIS software for additional change analysis. The results are displayed as change maps. Change analysis has been executed based on digital interpretation of classification results. / Thesis (M.Env.Dev.) - University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2009.