test

test

The agri-tourism sector is an important sector, especially in South Africa, since there are rural areas that can still be developed for these purposes. Agri-tourism can be achieved when both the agricultural and tourism sector work together in achieving an entrepreneurial advantage. Some of the benefits of agri-tourism include job creation, new ideas and innovation, it serves as additional income and it has an educational aspect attached to it. Agri-tourism is a form of rural tourism and agri-festivals such as the NAMPO Harvest Day is part of the numerous categories of agri-tourism. The NAMPO Harvest Day is the largest agri-festival in the Southern Hemisphere which attracted over 72 000 visitors in 2013. The NAMPO Harvest Day started in the Bloemfontein district in 1967 and continued its success in Bothaville, Free State. To ensure that a decrease in ticket sales and attendance of the agri-festival does not take place or a decrease in the product life cycle of the agri-festival, it is important for the management team to focus on the factors that may have an influence on loyalty such as image and customer satisfaction, visitor attributes, behavioural intentions, festival attributes and travel motives. Competition is increasing in South Africa, which means that the management must have a distinct advantage over the other agri-festivals hosted in South Africa. Loyalty occurs when a customer repeatedly invests in a product or service where the result will be positive word of mouth and positive recommendations to others. Seeing that the NAMPO Harvest Day is the largest of its kind in the Southern Hemisphere that also attracts international visitors, it is important for management to focus on the loyalty factors to ensure continuous success. The goal of this study was to thus assess the factors that influence visitor loyalty to this agri-festival in South Africa. In order to achieve this goal, a survey was conducted at the NAMPO Harvest Day in 2014. A total of 422 questionnaires were administered over a period of 4 days. Various statistical analyses were performed: descriptive statistics were used to profile the respondents where after factor analyses were used to firstly identify the factor Loyalty and secondly to identify the factors that may influence loyalty to the festival. Nine factors were identified (in order of importance): Agricultural exposure and edification, General management, escape and socialisation, Price and quality of implements, machinery and livestock, Price and quality of food and beverages, Amenities, Signage and marketing, Networking and trade, and Value. T-tests, ANOVAs and Spearman’s Rank Order Correlations were used to determine whether statistically significant differences existed between the respondents’ socio-demographic and behavioural characteristics and the factor Loyalty as well as between the contributing factors, so as to establish where differences occur between two groups and more groups. There were statistically significant differences based on demographic and behavioural intentions and loyalty factors. Spearman’s Rank Order Correlations were used to determine which demographic and behavioural aspects correlate with one another. In addition, Structural Equation Modelling was used to determine the relation between the factors and Loyalty. In preparation for the Structural Equation Modelling, Spearman’s Rank Order Correlations were also used to determine the relation between the factor Loyalty and the contributing factors as well as between the different contributing factors. The model provided evidence of a good fit since the CFI was between 0.0 and 1.0 (0.819) and the relative/normed chi-square was 3.987 and acceptable chi-square ranges between 2.0 and 5.0. The factors that had a direct relationship and are supported at 5% significance level with Loyalty were Agricultural exposure and edification as well as Lifestyle, escape and socialisation. The contribution of this research is twofold: firstly, to the authors’ knowledge, agri-tourists to a specific agri-festival in South Africa were analysed in terms of their demographic profile and behavioural characteristics. Therefore this research greatly contributes towards the literature base regarding these types of tourists. Secondly, this research identified the factors that contribute towards loyalty at an agri-festival and how organisers and marketers can effectively use these factors to sustain loyalty among not only repeat visitors, but first-timers as well. The results from this research can aid this agri-festival to remain competitive and remain in a growth phase of its product lifecycle. This is imperative for the future success of agri-festivals such as the NAMPO Harvest Day. / MA (Tourism Management), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2015

The agri-tourism sector is an important sector, especially in South Africa, since there are rural areas that can still be developed for these purposes. Agri-tourism can be achieved when both the agricultural and tourism sector work together in achieving an entrepreneurial advantage. Some of the benefits of agri-tourism include job creation, new ideas and innovation, it serves as additional income and it has an educational aspect attached to it. Agri-tourism is a form of rural tourism and agri-festivals such as the NAMPO Harvest Day is part of the numerous categories of agri-tourism. The NAMPO Harvest Day is the largest agri-festival in the Southern Hemisphere which attracted over 72 000 visitors in 2013. The NAMPO Harvest Day started in the Bloemfontein district in 1967 and continued its success in Bothaville, Free State. To ensure that a decrease in ticket sales and attendance of the agri-festival does not take place or a decrease in the product life cycle of the agri-festival, it is important for the management team to focus on the factors that may have an influence on loyalty such as image and customer satisfaction, visitor attributes, behavioural intentions, festival attributes and travel motives. Competition is increasing in South Africa, which means that the management must have a distinct advantage over the other agri-festivals hosted in South Africa. Loyalty occurs when a customer repeatedly invests in a product or service where the result will be positive word of mouth and positive recommendations to others. Seeing that the NAMPO Harvest Day is the largest of its kind in the Southern Hemisphere that also attracts international visitors, it is important for management to focus on the loyalty factors to ensure continuous success. The goal of this study was to thus assess the factors that influence visitor loyalty to this agri-festival in South Africa. In order to achieve this goal, a survey was conducted at the NAMPO Harvest Day in 2014. A total of 422 questionnaires were administered over a period of 4 days. Various statistical analyses were performed: descriptive statistics were used to profile the respondents where after factor analyses were used to firstly identify the factor Loyalty and secondly to identify the factors that may influence loyalty to the festival. Nine factors were identified (in order of importance): Agricultural exposure and edification, General management, escape and socialisation, Price and quality of implements, machinery and livestock, Price and quality of food and beverages, Amenities, Signage and marketing, Networking and trade, and Value. T-tests, ANOVAs and Spearman’s Rank Order Correlations were used to determine whether statistically significant differences existed between the respondents’ socio-demographic and behavioural characteristics and the factor Loyalty as well as between the contributing factors, so as to establish where differences occur between two groups and more groups. There were statistically significant differences based on demographic and behavioural intentions and loyalty factors. Spearman’s Rank Order Correlations were used to determine which demographic and behavioural aspects correlate with one another. In addition, Structural Equation Modelling was used to determine the relation between the factors and Loyalty. In preparation for the Structural Equation Modelling, Spearman’s Rank Order Correlations were also used to determine the relation between the factor Loyalty and the contributing factors as well as between the different contributing factors. The model provided evidence of a good fit since the CFI was between 0.0 and 1.0 (0.819) and the relative/normed chi-square was 3.987 and acceptable chi-square ranges between 2.0 and 5.0. The factors that had a direct relationship and are supported at 5% significance level with Loyalty were Agricultural exposure and edification as well as Lifestyle, escape and socialisation. The contribution of this research is twofold: firstly, to the authors’ knowledge, agri-tourists to a specific agri-festival in South Africa were analysed in terms of their demographic profile and behavioural characteristics. Therefore this research greatly contributes towards the literature base regarding these types of tourists. Secondly, this research identified the factors that contribute towards loyalty at an agri-festival and how organisers and marketers can effectively use these factors to sustain loyalty among not only repeat visitors, but first-timers as well. The results from this research can aid this agri-festival to remain competitive and remain in a growth phase of its product lifecycle. This is imperative for the future success of agri-festivals such as the NAMPO Harvest Day. / MA (Tourism Management), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2015

No description available.

No description available.

There has been active development and implementation of agri-environmental policies dealing with the provision of ecosystem goods and services over the years. However, these policies have often not been directed towards certain lands with the greatest potential for producing environmental benefits and those areas where the benefits are greater relative to cost. The limited budgets allocated to agri-environmental programs, and the often large and heterogeneous nature of agricultural landscapes, makes policy efficiency an important consideration. Incorporating targeting mechanisms in the design of agri-environmental policy instruments could improve the efficiency of such policies. This thesis illustrates the efficiency gains from policy targeting, by applying three targeting protocols and a hybrid method using representative wildlife habitat conservation policy approaches that set-aside land from crop production by purchasing or leasing land. The GIS land selection models developed for this research assessed the net benefits for wildlife based on the opportunity cost of idling land from agricultural production. As indicated by the results, policy delivery using targeting mechanisms selectively enrolls significantly greater areas of wetlands and natural vegetative cover. Thus, targeted policy enrolled land will provide greater wildlife habitat and other environmental benefits compared to the baseline landscape which represents a non-targeted land enrollment and hence increase the environmental benefits of the program for a given budget.

Today's consumer attitude and behaviour are increasingly driven by quality, safety and health consciousnessF. rom the producer viewpoint, quality control has evolved from an efficiency challenge to a tremendous opportunity by building competitive advantages through pursuing relationships based on an integrated chain approach with quality guarantees. To succeed in today's competitive agri-food marketplace, two options are available: organise production more efficiently and work more consumeroriented in order to meet consumer requirements. During recent years, several concepts like Organic and PDO/PGI labels, and the ISO and HACCP schemes, embodied into the wider Supply Chain Management, or Total Quality Management initiatives, have been introduced. All these concepts share the objectives of adding value to the entire chain, of releasing competitive advantages and a better performance of the chain through increasedr esponsivenessto consumern eeds,w ants and demands. The research at hand addresses questions related to collecting valuable information at consumer level, since this is the prerequisite for the practical application of the aforementioned concepts by industries such as the olive oil industry. The work focuses on assessing both the quality perception of olive oil and the attitude of consumers to olive oil quality assurance schemes. The central theme of the study is the domestic consumer as an alternative source of profit and competitiveness for the high quality olive oil firms. This is be achieved through the identification of a quality and healthconscious urban segment and the explanation of its purchasing motives and behaviour by relating quality olive oil attributes to its personal values. Instead of following a "positivistic" way of clearly presenting the research hypotheses, a description of the wider environment surrounding the quality-conscious consumer internationally is chosen. In this mostly "phenomenological" way, ideas about the quality consumer are implied through induction from data. The methodological nature of the study is two-dimensional. The horizontal "conjoint analysis" dimension is used to quantitatively prove the findings of the vertical "laddering method" qualitative dimension, which develops quality consumers' psychographic profile and predicts purchase behaviour.

Student Number : 0006374W - MA research report - School of Sociology - Faculty of Humanities / The principal aims of the study were to evaluate the objectives, achievements and limits of the South African land redistribution programme as from 1994-2005. This study placed particular emphasis on evaluating the period commencing in 1999 until 2005 since this period is credited for formally aligning Land redistribution with broader objectives of Broad Based Black Economic Empowerment (BBBEE). As a result of the aforementioned this study also aimed to evaluate the extent to which the Land Redistribution for Agricultural Development (LRAD) reflects the broader objective, vision and aspirations of BBBEE and Agri-BEE. The latter analysis was based on an LRAD case study called Calcom PTY LTD in Barberton; Mpumalanga, South Africa. To extrapolate the data required for the attainment of the aims of the study, a qualitative research strategy which was based on a case study approach was utilised. This culminated in the choice of Calcom which is an LRAD project in order to further the analysis of the study. This enabled the study to develop a conceptual account of policy developments in the post-1999 period which saw BBBEE becoming a permanent feature of the South African land redistribution programme. Consequently a number of theories were used to account for changes that were made in the post-1999 period, namely the Neo-Classical, radical political economy, conceptual approaches to policy making and theories of development. This study argues that these changes are important for facilitating land redistribution to black people. However, without ensuring the availability of basic prerequisites for the emergence of black commercial farmers, such as skills developments, infrastructural support services, postsettlement support and access to finance and credit; the achievements and bias of LRAD towards black commercial farmers in theory will not have any impact on the broader vision of deracialising the Agri-economy in practice. Instead it will exclude the majority of poor black South Africans it ought to help, while empowering a few well resourced South Africans.

No description available.