<p>This study identifies the determinants of sheep prices for small-scale sheep farming households in two districts of the Eastern Cape, namely Amathole and Ukhahlamba (Joe Xabe). Output prices that small farm households receive for their sheep affect their incomes from agriculture (knowing that revenue is a product of quantity and price), which, in turn, influence their living standards. The study isolates three sets of determinants of price formation in local agricultural markets - structural drivers, institutional factors and livelihood shocks - to account for the variations in prices that smallholder farmers receive. Data were collected from 134 households that were selected using purpose sampling and preceded by key informant and focus groups interviews with actors along the sheep value chain. A questionnaire consisting of both open-ended and quantitative questions was used. The relationship between output price formation and clusters of determinants is a typical hedonic pricing framework, which is fitted using a backward stepwise econometric technique that is a widely used experimental tool to identify significant determinants.</p>

<p>Market information and established communication between seller and buyer play an important role in business activities. This thesis investigates the Transkei area in the Eastern Cape&nbsp / Province, South Africa to find out how to empower rural farmers by providing them with less-expensive mobile technology enabling them to post and advertise their produce, access market&nbsp / information on a common database, and find and communicate with potential customers. The farmers&rsquo / requirements were identified using quantitative and qualitative methods and a prototype&nbsp / consisting of USSD and web applications was developed. It allows the farmer to follow a sequence of menu commands to send a request to the database and access market information, such&nbsp / as commodity prices, and post information about their own produce so as to attract more customers. The low cost of USSD and the ubiquity of mobile phones enable the system to be usable, affordable and effective. During the final stage of development, the system was tested successfully and addressed a major problem faced by farmers, i.e. lack of access to market information.</p>

This study assesses agricultural planning and production perspective on smallholder farms of Boschplaats 91 JR using an integration of a geographic information system (GIS) and remote sensing (RS). The main objective was to evaluate the use of agro-ecological zoning (AEZ) in planning and its role in promoting sustainable agricultural production on a smallholder farm. This was achieved through processing, analysis and interpretation of satellite images together with in situ spatial data for land suitability evaluation. SPOT-5 images, which were acquired from 2006 through to 2011 were used to detect change that took place in the study area. Agro-ecological parameters such as soil, climate and terrain are limiting factors that would have a negative impact on agricultural production. Soil degradation is also a major problem to food security in Thaba Ya Batho smallholder farms and presents environmental constraints to agricultural expansion. Suitable land that could increase food production was identified and mapped. This contributes to delineation of the suitability of the land and demarcating areas of high agricultural potential. The results show that a GIS and RS make it possible to plan and monitor the use of the environment on Thaba Ya Batho smallholdings. The analysis of climate, soil and terrain has shown that more than 80% of the study area is suitable for both irrigated and dryland production. A number of key constraints faced by smallholder farmers are presented. Lack of experience and poor agricultural planning were found to be among limiting factors to production. Despite the scale at which agro-ecological zones are generated, they still play significant role in planning of agricultural production / Department of Environmental Sciences / M. Sc. (Environmental Management)

Magister Economicae - MEcon / This study identifies the determinants of sheep prices for small-scale sheep farming households in two districts of the Eastern Cape, namely Amathole and Ukhahlamba (Joe Xabe). Output prices that small farm households receive for their sheep affect their incomes from agriculture (knowing that revenue is a product of quantity and price), which, in turn, influence their living standards. The study isolates three sets of determinants of price formation in local agricultural markets - structural drivers, institutional factors and livelihood shocks - to account for the variations in prices that smallholder farmers receive. Data were collected from 134 households that were selected using purpose sampling and preceded by key informant and focus groups interviews with actors along the sheep value chain. A questionnaire consisting of both open-ended and quantitative questions was used. The relationship between output price formation and clusters of determinants is a typical hedonic pricing framework, which is fitted using a backward stepwise econometric technique that is a widely used experimental tool to identify significant determinants. / South Africa

Magister Scientiae - MSc / Market information and established communication between seller and buyer play an important role in business activities. This thesis investigates the Transkei area in the Eastern Cape Province, South Africa to find out how to empower rural farmers by providing them with less-expensive mobile technology enabling them to post and advertise their produce, access market information on a common database, and find and communicate with potential customers. The farmers’ requirements were identified using quantitative and qualitative methods and a prototype consisting of USSD and web applications was developed. It allows the farmer to follow a sequence of menu commands to send a request to the database and access market information, such as commodity prices, and post information about their own produce so as to attract more customers. The low cost of USSD and the ubiquity of mobile phones enable the system to be usable, affordable and effective. During the final stage of development, the system was tested successfully and addressed a major problem faced by farmers, i.e. lack of access to market information. / South Africa

L'effondrement du FONADER (Fonds national de développement rural) qui avait initié les premiers partenariats entre petits exploitants de palmiers à huile et agro-industries au Cameroun, les programmes d'ajustement structurels, la dévaluation du Franc CFA, les crises économiques, et la baisse du prix du cacao et du café sur le marché international, ont conduit à l'émergence d'une nouvelle catégorie de producteurs d'huile de palme indépendants. Ces planteurs de palmiers à huile se sont retrouvés sans soutien technique et ont confié le traitement de leurs régimes aux moulins artisanaux. Les nombreuses difficultés rencontrées par ces petits exploitants se sont traduites par de très faibles rendements enregistrés dans leurs plantations. À la lumière de l'intérêt récent manifesté par de nouvelles agro-industries à investir dans le secteur du palmier à huile au Cameroun, et la décision des entreprises déjà établies d'étendre leurs superficies, l'étude signale que pour atténuer les crises sociales et environnementales résultant des conflits fonciers et de la dégradation des forêts, l'approche la plus durable pour développer le secteur serait de réorganiser des partenariats gagnant-gagnant et équitables entre les planteurs de palmiers à huile et les agro-industries.Au Cameroun, quatre des sept bassins de production d'huile de palme développés pendant le régime de partenariat FONADER ont été sélectionnés comme sites d'étude. Il s'agit d'Eseka dans la région Centre, Dibombari dans la région du Littoral, Muyuka et Lobe dans la région Sud-Ouest. Les agro-industries respectives sont Socapalm, CDC et Pamol. En Malaisie et en Indonésie, les sites de l'étude comprennent le site FELDA de Besout dans le district de Batang Padang, les modèles PIR et KKPA de PT. SAL dans le district de Bungo, le modèle KKPA de PT. Megasawindo et PT. Musim Mas dans les districts de Bungo et Pelalawan respectivement. La collecte des données a été organisée par l'administration de questionnaires et des interviews répétés avec les différents intervenants dans le secteur, des discussions de groupes, des recherches sur Internet et dans les bibliothèques des instituts de recherche spécialisés, ainsi que par des visites d'observation sur le terrain.L'étude porte sur l'origine et l'évolution des régimes de partenariat entre les petits exploitants d'huile de palme et les agro-industries, les points positifs et négatifs des divers modèles testés, et les raisons à l'origine des succès et des échecs enregistrés. L'étude a examiné plus en profondeur les forces et les faiblesses des petits exploitants indépendants de palmiers à huile d'aujourd'hui et les raisons pour lesquelles ces petits exploitants préfèrent traiter leurs régimes dans les moulins artisanaux malgré la présence de moulins industriels plus performants à proximité de leurs plantations. L'étude a en outre cherché l'inspiration auprès des expériences positives et négatives de grands projets en Malaisie et en Indonésie, les deux géants de la production mondiale d'huile de palme à travers des études de cas. Enfin, une approche participative prospective sur l'avenir du secteur de l'huile de palme organisée dans trois ateliers au Cameroun, a permis de générer des recommandations de politique sur la voie à suivre pour développer des partenariats équitables et durables entre les petits exploitants de palmiers à huile et les agro-industries au Cameroun.Mots-clés: partenariat, FONADER, FELDA, PIR, KKPA, agro-industrie, petits exploitants, agriculture contractuelle. / The collapse of the FONADER sponsored partnership between oil palm smallholders and major agro-industries in Cameroon together with the structural adjustment program, the devaluation of the Franc CFA, the economic crises, as well as the fall in the international market price for cocoa and coffee, led to the emergence of independent oil palm producers in the country. These oil palm planters have been grappling with the management of their plantation and the processing of their FFB with the use of artisanal mills. But the numerous difficulties faced by these smallholders are translated into very low yields registered in their plantations. In the light of the recent interest expressed by new agro-industries to invest in the oil palm sector in Cameroon, and the decision by old companies to expand their surface areas, the study notes that in order to mitigate some of the social and environmental crises that result from land conflicts and forest degradation, the most sustainable approach to develop the sector will be to revamp win-win and equitable partnerships between oil palm planters and agro-industries.In Cameroon, four of the seven palm oil production basins carved out during the FONADER partnership scheme where selected for our study sites. They included Eseka in the Center region, Dibombari in the Littoral region, Muyuka and Lobe in the Southwest region. The respective agro-industries were Socapalm, Cameroon Development Corporation (CDC) and Pamol. In Malaysia and Indonesia, the study sites were the FELDA scheme of Besout in the district of Batang Padang, the PIR and KKPA scheme of PT SAL in the district of Bungo, the KKPA scheme of PT Megasawindo and PT Musim Mas in the district of Bungo and Pelalawan respectively. Data collection was organized through the administration of semi-guided questionnaires, secondary data sourcing, personal communication with different stakeholders in the sector, focus group discussions, internet and library search, as well as field observation visits.The study looked at the origine and evolution of partnership schemes between oil palm smallholders and agro-industries, what was right, what went wrong in the course of time, and why most partnerships collapsed. The study further looked at the strengths and weaknesses of today's independent oil palm smallholders and the reasons why these smallholders prefer to process their FFB in artisanal mills despite the presence of agro-industrial mills at the vicinity of their plantations. The study further drew inspiration on the positive and negative experiences of major schemes in Malaysia and Indonesia which have boosted production in their oil palm sector through case studies as well as through a participatory prospective analysis workshop in Cameroon on the future of the palm oil sector, as a way to generate policy recommendation on the way forward for future partnership schemes between oil palm smallholders and agro-industries in Cameroon.Keywords: Partnership, FONADER, FELDA, PIR, KKPA, agro-industry, smallholder, outgrower schemes.

No description available.

MSAEC / Department of Agricultural Economics and Agribusiness

MSCAGR / Department of Agricultural Economics and Agribusiness / Agricultural cooperatives have been generally promoted as a vehicle for smallholder agricultural development in South Africa. As a result, agricultural co-operative registrations in South Africa are increasing. However, research suggests that South African co-operatives have generally not been effective, successful and functional. The study determined factors affecting proper functioning of smallholder agricultural cooperatives in Lepelle Nkumpi Municipality. Simple random sampling method was used to select a sample of 140 active cooperative members from 13 registered agricultural cooperatives. A list of agricultural cooperatives was obtained from the Department of Agriculture, Limpopo Province to facilitate the process. Primary data was collected using designed questionnaires and secondary data was collected from journal articles, internet and other recorded data. All questionnaires were handed out during face to face interviews held with participants. Discriminant analysis was used to analyse the data. The model was used to identify different factors which might have positive or negative effects on the functioning of agricultural cooperatives. The discriminant analysis results revealed that functional smallholder agricultural cooperatives were characterized by high level of training of members; interaction with other stakeholder and satisfaction with the training and assistance received. On the other hand Dysfunctional smallholder agricultural cooperative were characterized by high age group, low level of meeting attendance, large cooperative size, dissatisfaction of assistance and training received and high number of females. The weighting coefficients of the standardized canonical discriminant coefficients of the independent variables showed that variables that discriminated between functional and dysfunctional cooperatives were: cooperative size (-0.852), interaction vi    with stakeholders to improve the level of skill (0.579), satisfaction with assistance provided (0.516), number of females in cooperative (-0.455), years in existence of cooperative (0.452), members participation in decision making (0.407) and age group (0.446). The finding obtained in this study could be quite useful to policy makers. This study recommended that government should intensify effort on cooperative training, extension service and assistance to support functioning of agricultural cooperatives in the study area. Cooperative members should also participate in decision making and attend cooperative meetings to acquire more agricultural information

PhDRDV / Institute for Rural Development / As has been the case in Eastern and Southern Africa, Zimbabwe continues to regard smallholder dairy farming as a viable strategy for reducing poverty and malnutrition, especially in rural areas. Although the country has since the early 1980s been promoting smallholder dairy development, available literature does not provide a clear picture of the extent to which the specific livelihoods of rural communities in terms of human, social, physical and financial capitals, have improved. Nor is there knowledge on its negative contribution to the farmers’ livelihoods. Thus, this study was undertaken to critically analyse the contribution of smallholder dairy farming towards the livelihoods of rural households using the Nharira dairy scheme as a focal area. The DfiD sustainable livelihood framework was used to build this understanding. Apart from characterizing the farmers, the contribution of smallholder dairy farming towards social, physical, human, natural and financial capitals was investigated. A sequentially integrated mixed methods approach was used. This was divided into two phases, which were quantitative and qualitative in nature. Results from the first phase were used to inform and design the second study. A census of the 21 active smallholder dairy farmers in Nharira, and management committee of the Nharira dairy processing plant was conducted. A household-focused questionnaire, key informant interviews, participatory mapping, record review, Global Positioning System (GPS) locating and focus group discussions were used to collect data. A tape recorder, GPS locator and camera were used as assistive devices during data collection. Thematic content analysis was used to analyse qualitative data and interpret participatory maps. Livelihood capital indices were derived per household and used to complement descriptive statistics as part of quantitative data analysis. A social capital index was computed for each household using collective action, empowerment, groups and networks, and trust and solidarity as its components. Resource stocks and access were the building blocks of the natural capital index. Income, savings and investments, and access to funding were used to derive the household financial capital index. Contribution of dairy farming to productive equipment (such as cattle herd size) and basic infrastructure (such as quality of housing) were used to calculate the physical capital index. The index for human capital was obtained taking into account education, workforce and employment, enabling environment, and health and wellness. Equal weights were applied to the components when deriving the household livelihood indices because each one of them was considered to be substantially important for sustainable livelihoods. The quantitative data were stored and analysed using the International Business Machines (IBM) Statistical iii Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 24. Pearson correlation coefficients, means and standard deviations were calculated. Most of the farmers (65 %) were female. Approximately, 95 % of the women farmers were literate. Only 1 % of the farmers were youth (< 35 years old), a situation that threatened the sustainability of smallholder dairy farming. A daily smallholder dairy farming routine was derived using the focus group and participatory mapping results. This showcased the various daily activities and linked them with the household members actively involved. Smallholder dairy farming was found to be labour intensive. This might deter the farmers from diversifying into other livelihood strategies. Smallholder dairy farming was observed to have strengthened financial, human, natural, physical and social capitals in the local households. However, the respective indices of 0.59 and 0.52 for social and natural capitals, suggested that smallholder dairy farming impacted on these more than any other. Even though social capital was strong, further reinforcement through improved smallholder dairy farming activities was still vital because of its power of enhancing access to other forms of livelihood capitals. Human and physical capitals had the least index scores of 0.48 and 0.47, respectively. On average, the overall household livelihood capital index as a result of smallholder dairy farming was 0.51. One of the study respondents supported the positive contribution in the following way, ‘’Zvakanakira dairy hatingazipedzi. Tinotoda zuva rese” (There are many positive things that we attribute to our involvement in smallholder dairy farming. Narrating these demands considerable time). It was concluded that smallholder dairy farming significantly strengthened livelihood capitals of households involved in it. The results of the current study suggest that smallholder dairy farming is a viable option for improving household livelihood capitals. Thus, establishment of dairy farming schemes in rural areas should be promoted. However, the participation of youth in smallholder dairy farming as enterprise owners deserves attention because it threatens sustainability of the sector. An integrated multiple angle view encompassing technical, social, institutional, economic and organizational ideas of the impact of dairy farming as a livelihood strategy on household capital portfolio was provided. Moreover, application of the sustainable development framework to understanding the smallholder dairy farming context at household level was a novel way of understanding the local realities. Lastly, a set of variables that can be utilised to measure livelihood capitals of households involved in smallholder dairy farming-related activities was distilled.