A dissertation submitted to the Faculty of Arts in fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Master of Development Studies in the Department of Anthropology and Development Studies at the University of Zululand, 2017 / Primary agriculture is an essential activity that ensures a supply of raw food material. This research study examined small-scale agricultural projects and their role in poverty reduction with particular reference to Cezwana area in Jozini, South Africa. Small-scale agriculture plays an important role in development in this area, not only in terms of income generation, but overall regional economic growth. The agricultural sector has significant potential to transform the Jozini economy. The study examined the possibilities for small-scale agricultural development in Cezwana area and drew on the relevant literature as a framework to understand the agricultural sector in relation to the strategies employed by the government to develop smallholder farms. While it is acknowledged that policies have been adopted to promote food security by ensuring a steady supply of raw food materials to the manufacturing sector, and to create jobs and income, the sector’s potential has yet to be realized. In order to assess the status-quo of small-scale agriculture in Cezwana area and its effect on poverty reduction, data were obtained from Cezwana Youth Cooperative Limited, Zamani Gardening, Isiqalosethu Gardening, and the Department of Agriculture (DoA) in Jozini Local Municipality. The study identified the major factors that constrain the development of small-scale farming and indeed the overall agricultural sector in Jozini such as the neglect of agriculture arising from dispersed zones, inadequate infrastructural facilities and extension services, a shortage of labour, a decline in the quality of land due to climate change, a lack of project management, and policy inconsistency, etc. It recommends the provision of supportive facilities to farmers, as well as transparent extension services, price stabilization and prioritizing and building small-scale agriculture to ensure that this sector takes its rightful place in South Africa’s economy and contributes to poverty reduction.

In the past 20 years, Cuba has emerged as a world leader in urban agriculture and sustainable development, having shifted its policies and practices toward local, organic food production and self-sufficiency. This collective case study explored small-scale, unwaged urban agriculture and household livelihoods in Havana, Cuba. Data were collected from three case households through participant observation, in-depth interviews, and photos. Two of the families produce fruits, vegetables and animal products, and the third produces organic fertilizers. For these families, agricultural production requires time and labour, but produces multiple material and non-material benefits at the individual, household, and community level. The findings demand a more nuanced view of household livelihoods and agency in the Cuban context, and the notion of agriculture as work vs. leisure. As global concerns about resource depletion and social justice in food systems increase, much can be learned from families and countries that have successfully implemented alternatives.

In the promotion of Integrated Pest Management (IPM) as an alternative to pesticides, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the Office of International Research and Development (OIRD) at Virginia Tech, and the Caribbean Agricultural Research and Development Institute (CARDI) supported my research to uncover the socio-economic constraints to IPM adoption and to determine the amount of gendered participation in three rural Jamaica farming communities. The thesis examines the gendered participation in crop production, marketing, and decision making as well as the ability of farmers to identify key pests of three nontraditional agricultural exports: callaloo, "Scotch Bonnet" hot pepper, and sweet potato. While men generally participated to a greater extent in crop production and decision making, women also made a significant contribution. Less female participation is due in part to women owning, renting, or leasing a smaller amount of land. However, decision making about income derived from farming was found to be almost equally split between males and females. Another important finding is that women were able to identify key crop pests. To facilitate the introduction of IPM in the three communities, the small-scale farmers' limited access to irrigation and markets must be addressed. Moreover, the thesis advocates that instead of the singular focus on pest control, the holistic spirit of IPM should be seen as the catalyst for an overall integrated approach to rural farm development. / Master of Science

The paper studies 7 new entrant smallholders on the Italian agricultural sector to begin to understand how such a grassroots movement may challenge the status-quo vis-à-vis the Italian Food-system. Additionally, the study conducts a public questionnaire survey in an attempt to gauge attitudes toward a changing food-system in Italy. Using Critical Theory to highlight the trend of critical-consumer to critical-producer, and transition movement theory to assess the real regime-change ability of such movements, this paper finds that new entrant smallholders in Italy are playing a potentially significant role in moving the sector into more sustainable territory. Current certified organic agriculture is increasingly dominated by larger farms, and excludes new entrant smallholders, this is to the detriment of sustainable agriculture goals, by identifying the barriers to such stakeholders, in addition to recognising their strengthens - namely the commitment to triple bottom line sustainability - new entrant smallholders have a significant role to play in making organic agriculture truly a mechanism by which true sustainable agriculture can be achieved.

This report analyzes the challenges faced by small-scale farmers and explores potential solutions to help them adapt to new technologies while maintaining their traditional farming practices. The research delves into the daily life journey of small-scale farmers, including their agricultural practices and the rural community. The author conducted 20 days of field research in a rural area of China and discovered that many of these small farms operate on a tight budget, and farmers rarely use machines to cultivate their land. The thesis project offers a complete solution with a weather station, soil sensor, and app. The weather station is shared by the entire village and provides real-time weather data to farmers. Soil sensors, owned by farmers and placed near crops, provide real-time data on soil moisture, temperature, and nutrient levels. The app provides a user friendly interface for farmers to access the data collected by both the soil sensor and weather station. This project provides a vision to help farmers manage their crops better and accurately forecast their crop yield.

The inaccessibility and cost of soil testing reduce effectiveness of fertilizer use on small-scale subsistence farms, and inadequate funding promotes adoption of soil tests in developing countries with minimal validation. For example, Mehlich-I extraction of phosphorus (P) currently used extensively in Guatemala may not be suitable for its broad range of soils. At least four alternatives are available but are relatively untested [Bray 1, Mehlich III, Olsen and pressurized hot water (PHW)]. Pressurized hot water is relatively simple and inexpensive, but is not yet tested against other extraction methods under variable P or potassium (K) fertilization levels. To determine whether PHW-extracted nutrients could be used to predict maize yield, as nutrient content and uptake, soil, plant tissue and grain samples were obtained from a multiple-site field study and calibration studies were conducted using five rates of P and three rates of K on soils incubated without plants or cropped with maize in greenhouse and field conditions. In the multiple-site field study, maize yield related significantly to PHW-extractable P (r2=0.36) and to leaf P concentration (r2=0.23), but Mehlich I did not. In the two soils used in the greenhouse study, maize yield, vegetative P concentration and total P uptake by maize were predicted by PHW extractable P (R2=0.72, 0.75 and 0.90, respectively). In the field experiment, grain yield was not improved by P or K application, but P content of maize leaf tissue did relate significantly with PHW-extracted P (R2=0.40), but Mehlich I did not. There were no yield responses to K application in any experiment, but relationships defined between extractable K for all five K-extraction procedures and soil applied K were similarly significant. In comparing P extraction methods, PHW was as good as or better than Olsen, Bray 1 and Mehlich III for relating soil P extraction to the parameters measured in these experiments, and these four alternative extraction methods were consistently better than Mehlich I. Mehlich I extraction should be replaced by one of the four alternatives tested, and PHW is the least expensive and, thus, most viable for use in Guatemala soils.

Abstract Title: Organic Coffee for a sustainable development in Peru -­‐ A qualitative study on how Peruvian coffee farmers’ development is affected by choosing organic cultivation and certification Seminar date: 2013-­‐05-­‐31 University: Mälardalen University Västerås Institution: School of Business, Society and Engineering Level: Bachelor Thesis in Business Administration Course name: Bachelor Thesis in Business Administration, FÖA 300, 15 ECTS Author: Marcus Brink 1987-­‐05-­‐10 Tutors: Birgitta Schwartz Examiner: Peter Dobers Pages: 145 Attachments: List of interviews, Interview questions to coffee farmers Key words: Sustainable development, organic, coffee, certifications, coffee farmers, small scale farmers, Peru, bachelor, conventional coffee, organic certification, profitability, environment, social entrepreneurship, context, coffee producers Research question: In what way are small-­‐scale coffee farmers in the region of Junín, Peru, able to benefit from “Organic” certifications or conventional coffee cultivation to develop sustainable? Purpose: The purpose of this field study was to get an understanding of how and if organic farming is an adequate solution for sustainable development of small-­‐scale coffee farmers in developing countries or not. Method: This bachelor thesis was done as a field study financed by the Swedish International Development Agency (Sida) under the program of Minor Field Studies provided by the International Programme Office for Education and Training. For the field study a qualitative method has been used to better submit how the people involved understand and interpret their surrounding reality and to get a deep insight in their lives. The nature of the research question and the test subjects provided for a qualitative method rather than a quantitative. Qualitative measuring methods used for primary data gathering were, in-­‐depth interviews, observations, participations, spontaneous conversations, videos and photographs. Secondary sources used include literature, news magazines, public documents, and statistical data provided by organizations, institutions, webpages, and libraries through both Internet and physical form. The theoretical framework that lays a ground for the study has been based upon scholarly journals, scientific studies, scientific articles and other relevant existing research. The data that was gathered were later analyzed by qualitative methods. Conclusion: Small-­‐scale coffee farmers in developing countries are able to benefit from organic certification but it cannot be considered a sustainable development. There’s too little emphasis on the social and economical aspects and too much focus on the environmental factors by the organic certification to make it interesting to many farmers. For a small-­‐scale coffee farmer to benefit from the organic certifications he need to have a very low intense cultivation from the beginning, before becoming certified. The organic certification incurs increased costs for the farmer and is more labor intense while it at the same time provides limited productivity ability and only gives a slightly better price to the farmer for his product. Farmers that grows conventional coffee and have a somewhat managed plantation will not benefit from certifying organic as it would give them the same income or less. The organic growing procedure also prohibits the use of important pesticides as insecticides and herbicides that makes organic farmers further susceptible and sensible for diseases and plagues on their crop. The numerous facts that make organic growing low productive labor intense makes it more motivating for many farmers to chose conventional coffee cultivation instead of organic and working with certification. / Resumen  Titulo: Café Orgánico para un desarrollo sostenible en el Perú – Un estudio cualitativo sobre como el desarrollo de los agricultores peruanos de café es afectado por elegir trabajar con café orgánico y certificaciones Fecha de examen: 2013-05-31 Universidad: Universidad de Mälardalen Facultad: Facultad de Negocios, Sociedad e Ingeniería Nivel: Tesis de licenciatura en Administración de Empresas Nombre de curso: Tesis de licenciatura en Administración de Empresas, FÖA 300, 15 ECTS Autor: Marcus Brink 1987-05-10 Tutor: Birgitta Schwartz Examinador: Peter Dobers Paginas: 145 Adjuntos: Lista de las entrevistas, Preguntas de entrevista para agricultores de café Palabras clave: Desarrollo sostenible, orgánico, café, certificaciones, agricultores de café, agricultores de pequeña escala, Perú, bachiller, café convencional, certificación orgánica, rentabilidad, medio ambiente, empresariado social, contexto, productores de café. Pregunta de investigación: ¿De que manera se pueden beneficiar los productores de café en la región Junín, Perú, con las certificaciones orgánicos o con los cultivo de café convencional para desarrollarse de una manera sostenible? Propósito: El propósito de este estudio fue obtener conocimientos sobre si es y como la agricultura orgánica es una solución adecuada para desarrollo sostenible de pequeños agricultores de café en países de desarrollo o no. Método: Esta tesis de licenciatura se realizó como un estudio de campo financiado por la Agencia Sueca de Desarrollo Internacional (ASDI) bajo el programa de “estudio de campo de menor envergadura” proveído por la Oficina del Programa Internacional de Educación y Formación. Para el estudio de campo un método cualitativo ha sido usado para de una mejor manera presentar como la gente involucrada entiende y interpreta su realidad circundante y para obtener una visión profunda de sus vidas. La naturaleza de la pregunta de investigación y los sujetos dio razones e hizo relevante usar un método cualitativo en vez que un cuantitativo. Métodos cualitativos usados para coleccionar datos primarios eran entrevistas en profundidad, observaciones, participaciones, conversaciones espontáneas, vídeos y fotografías. Las fuentes secundarias utilizadas incluyen literatura, revistas de actualidad, documentos públicos y datos estadísticos de empresas, instituciones, paginas web y bibliotecas a través de internet y de la forma física. El marco teórico que establece una base para el estudio se ha basado en revistas especializadas, estudios científicos, artículos científicos y otras investigaciones de interés al respecto. Después los datos coleccionados han ido analizados con métodos cualitativos. Conclusión: Los agricultores pequeños de café en países en desarrollo pueden beneficiar de la certificación orgánica, pero no se le puede considerar un desarrollo sostenible. Hay poco énfasis en los aspectos sociales y económicos en comparación con los factores ambientales en la certificación orgánica que desmotiva a los agricultores a adaptarlo. Para que un pequeño agricultor se beneficie de la certificación tiene que ser un agricultor con muy baja productividad y falta de manejo adecuado antes de volverse certificado. La certificación orgánica aumenta los gastos o costos para el agricultor, parte de esto por el incrementado de la mano de obra y la capacidad de productividad limitada mientras el café orgánico solo recibe un precio que es un poco mejor que la del café convencional. Agricultores convencionales que tienen una chacra un poco o bien manejado no van a beneficiarse al volverse certificados orgánicos porque les daría el mismo ingreso o menos. El manejo orgánico de café también prohíbe diferentes pesticidas como herbicidas y insecticidas que hacen a los agricultores orgánicos mas susceptibles y vulnerables de enfermedades y plagas en sus cultivos. Los numerosos hechos que hacen que el cultivo orgánico tenga baja productividad y necesita mano de obra intensa y pesada motiva a muchos agricultores a escoger cultivar café convencional en lugar de trabajar con la certificación orgánica.