Game ranch owners are spoilt by the high prices overseas hunters are prepared to pay, and tend to forget that in the long term it is the local market that may ensure the survival of the game industry. More effort should therefore be put into marketing hunting opportunities for the local hunter. This research focused on analysing the typical building blocks of marketing strategy applicable to service organizations. This was done to determine and evaluate the building blocks of marketing strategy applicable to game ranches in the Eastern Cape Province who are targeting local biltong hunters. A literature review was conducted to determine the ideal building blocks of marketing strategy for service organizations such as game ranches. Thereafter, a survey was conducted by means of a questionnaire to determine the ranchers' perceptions of marketing and evaluate their marketing strategies. Most of the respondents: had a fair idea of what marketing entails; were unaware of the thread that links customer expectations, satisfaction and loyalty; realized the importance of relationship marketing with external markets, but not with internal markets; perceived direct competition as their biggest threat, while other travel opportunities were seen as the most important substitute for hunting; mainly positioned themselves based on the features the ranch offered, and believed that the standard of service delivery and physical features of the ranch (the nature of the offering) were their important competitive advantages. The study proposes that the framework of building blocks of marketing strategy, designed by the researcher be used as a tool with which marketing strategies for game ranches in the Eastern Cape Province targeting local biltong hunters could be developed. Additional research on topics such as advertising and the various market opportunity strategies of diversification and product development, could lead to improvement and modification of this framework, making it an even more powerful tool in developing marketing strategies.

Thesis (MAgricAdmin)--Stellenbosch University, 2002. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Transaction cost economics has travelled a difficult and long path to general acceptance in current economic opinion. The general theory of transaction cost has however developed in various paradigms with little or no empirical backing. It is mostly the difficulty of measurement that caused economists to shy away from empirical testing and rather, to quote Coase (1992), "to write in prose". The last 10 years there has been a renewed thrust for the empirical measurement of transaction cost. This study is an attempt to measure transaction cost by using case study data gathered in the run of the NOLIDEP study in the meat markets of the Northern Communal areas of Namibia. Until recently the method of data analysis that has been used in most empirical studies was variations of the regression technique. Regression as a tool is most useful in economics, giving quick answers and general trends to the researcher. It is however a technique that is linear in nature and therefore some information in the data will always be sacrificed. In general- and multi industry surveys this do not pose a great problem as general trends can usefully be applied in making policy recommendations. In smaller and especially rural industries this is not the case. The dynamic interactions within the industry and its dynamic linkages with the rest of the economy will surely be underrated when using a linear method. Consequently, a non-linear technique was applied in this study - the Non-linear Dynamic Model. This model gave the interactions between all variables enabling one to describe the dynamics of the market. As mentioned elsewhere the first aim of this study was to measure transaction cost so that the second aim could be fulfilled. The second aim of this study was to prove that transaction cost has an important influence on marketing channel decision. The analysis of the data satisfied the above two aims: Firstly it showed that it was possible to measure transaction cost. Secondly that transaction cost has a large and sometimes overriding influence on marketing channel decisions. A third and last point that became apparent was that a non-linear method of data analysis allows for better description of a dynamic market. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Dit het 'n lang tyd gevat vir transaksie koste om as konsep in ekonomie aanvaar te word. Die algemene teorie van transaksie koste het egter ontwikkel binne verskeie paradigmas sonder werklike empiriese ondersteuning. Dit is meestal die meting van transaksie koste wat empiriese werk in die rigting belemmer het. Daar is egter in die laaste 10 jaar hernude pogings gewees om transaksie koste empiries te meet. Hierdie studie is 'n poging om transaksie koste te meet deur gebruik te maak van data wat verkry is gedurende die NOLIDEP studie in die noordelike kommunale gebiede van Namibia. Tot onlangs was die metode van data analise vir empiriese studies variasies op die regressie tegniek. As 'n hulpmiddel is regressie baie bruikbaar in ekonomie waar vinnige antwoorde en algemene tendense verwag word. Die tegniek is egter inhirent liniêr en daarom sal daar altyd interpretasies rondom data opgeoffer word. In algemene studies is dit egter nie 'n probleem nie en kan voldoende beleids aanbevelings gedoen word. Dit is egter nie die geval in kleiner en plantelandse industriëe nie. Die dinamiese interaksies binne die industrie en die dinamiese skakels met die res van die ekonomie word dan onderskat met die gebruik van 'n liniêre metode. Daarom is 'n nie-liniêre metode gebruik, die Non-linear Dynamic Model. Die model neem die interaksie tussen veranderlikes in ag wat die beskrywing van dinamika moontlik maak. Soos reeds genoem is die eerste doel van die studie om transaksie koste te meet sodat die tweede doelwit van die studie bereik kan word. Die tweede doel is om te bewys dat transaksie koste bemarkingskanaai besluite bëinvloed. Die data analise het beide bogenoemde doelwitte bevredig. Eerstens dat transaksie koste meetbaar is. Tweedens dat transaksie koste 'n groot en selfs oorweldigende effek het op bemarkingskanaai besluite. 'n Derde punt wat sterk na vore gekom het is dat nie-liniêre metodes 'n beter beskrywing van dinamika toelaat.

Effects of Acacia karroo supplementation on meat quality of Xhosa Lop-Eared goats The objective of the study was to determine the effects of A. karroo supplementation on the quality of meat from Xhosa lop-eared goats. Eighteen castrated 4-month-old Xhosa lop-eared male kids were kept at the University of Fort Hare Farm until slaughter. At the beginning of the experiment the goats had a mean body weight of 13.5 ± 0.31 kg (mean ± S.E.) and a mean body condition score (BCS) of 3.3 ± 0.16 (mean ± S.E.). From birth until weaning the kids were kept on natural pastures with their mothers. After weaning the goats were housed in an open sided barn for a period of 60 days, and were fed 500 g/head/day of Medicago sativa hay covering their maintenance and growth needs. For the purpose of the experiment, the goats were randomly divided into two balanced treatment groups of nine goats each, supplemented group (AK) and non-supplemented group (NS). The supplemented group received an additional 200g per head per day of fresh A. karroo leaves collected each day for two months. Supplementary feed was given to the goats individually in feeding troughs. The kids were slaughtered at 60 days old and samples for meat quality assessment were taken from the Longistimus dorsi muscle. The effect of A. karroo supplementation on meat quality measurements such as ultimate pH, colour and cooking losses of meat from indigenous Xhosa lop-eared goats were determined. The effect of A. karroo supplementation on the consumer sensory characteristic scores of the meat from the indigenous Xhosa lop-eared breed was also determined. There was a significant effect of the A. karroo supplementation on the meat quality measurements except for L* and a* colour coordinates. Meat from the A. karroo supplemented goats had lower pH and cooking loss scores than that of the non-supplemented goats. Acacia karroo supplementation improves meat tenderness and juiciness. There were no significant effects of A. karroo supplementation on the flavour and off- iv flavours of the meat from the supplemented goats. However, thermal preparation and consumer background had a significant effect on the meat sensory characteristics. The cooked meat had significantly higher sensory scores than the roasted meat. Female consumers reported higher sensory scores than male consumers. Consumers of different tribes and ages also reported significantly different sensory scores of meat from indigenous Xhosa lop-eared goats. Therefore, this study indicated that A. karroo supplementation can be fed to the Xhosa lop-eared goats to improve their meat quality.

Department of Food Science and Technology / MSCPNT