Master of Science / Department of Animal Science and Industry / L.N. Edwards-Callaway / This thesis includes two studies that assessed pain responses to husbandry procedures in order develop mitigation tools. The objective of the first trial was to identify method-related differences in behavioral pain responses in calves of two ages (6 week and 6 months) subjected to castration: surgical cut (CP; n=18), surgical cut and emasculator (CC; n=20), rubber banding (BAND; n=18), or control manipulation of the scrotum (CONT; n=20). Behavior was evaluated pre- and post-castration to record foot stamps, tail flicks, kicks, elimination, in addition to standing and lying post-castration. For 6 week calves, the probability of kicking and eliminations was greater for surgical castrates and all castrated animals, respectively. The probability of kicking was greatest for all 6 month castrates while BAND and CONT had greater probability of elimination. Both age groups increased standing post-castration. Lying decreased in 6 week calves but was unchanged for 6 month calves. Six week calves displayed more tail flicks and tended to display less foot stamps than 6 month calves. Six week calves showed a decrease in tail flicks and foot stamps in response to castration while 6 month calves showed an increase in both behaviors. CP and CC, but not BAND, resulted in less tail flicks than CONT post castration. The second trial compared the effects of preemptive analgesics administered to calves subjected to dehorning with local anesthesia. Six month Holstein steers were randomly assigned to receive one of the following treatments (n= 8/group): meloxicam (1 mg/kg PO), gabapentin (15mg/kg PO), meloxicam (1 mg/kg) and gabapentin (15 mg/kg) PO, flunixin (2.2 mg/kg IV), or a placebo. Drug, cortisol, ex-vivo prostaglandin, haptoglobin, and substance P concentrations, ocular thermography, algometry, and average daily gain were evaluated. Analgesic-treated calves had lower plasma SP concentrations and improved ADG compared with controls. Flunixin calves had reduced cortisol and ex-vivo prostaglandin concentrations for 24h compared to controls. Meloxicam treated calves showed an increase in MNT at two horn bud sites compared with the other treatments. Overall, the results provide validation of responses to noxious stimuli that can be used to develop pain alleviation for livestock.

Small, Micro and Medium Enterprises (SMMEs) in the South African present context are integral instruments of economic and social development. In these times of high unemployment in South Africa, the need for SMMEs to alleviate the high rate of poverty due to unemployment is evident. The government is committed to ensure that small businesses progressively increase their contribution growth and performance of the South African economy in critical areas such as job creation, equity and access to markets. As from 1994, with the new advent of a new democratic era, government has taken measures to ensure that small business development becomes a key focus. Since then, government has put in place institutions and programmes within all three tiers of government with the aim of providing comprehensive support to small business. This is suggestive of the government being mindful of the challenges/gaps which still need to be addressed to support small business especially in rural areas where unemployment and poverty are rife. Whilst there are institutions which provide support to SMMEs, the overall impact of these initiatives is insignificant. This study explored the perceptions of the owners of rural-based SMMEs about factors responsible for the success and failure of rural-based SMMEs. The study adopted a qualitative approach and it was exploratory in nature. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with five owners of rural-based SMMEs and with three key informants from three local municipal districts/offices around Pietermaritzburg in KZN. The main findings of the study identified initiatives to address the challenges to rural-based SMMEs, such as, provision of good infrastructure, business management skills, business equipment and land/premises. The recommendations suggested a need of partnerships between banks and community business support organizations, subcontracting of SMMEs to big business, introducing entrepreneurship from school level and introducing monitoring and evaluation systems in all government levels as proposals to address challenges to rural-based SMMEs.

Uganda faces considerable challenges in revamping economic growth performance, reducing the proportional of people living below the poverty line to below 20 percent, and attaining other Millennium Development Goals by the year 2015. These developments have prompted the government to prioritise poverty alleviation and the attainment of sustainable real GDP growth (i.e. at 7 percent per annum), among other policies. This dissertation argues that a proper identification of the critical sectors of growth with significant linkages to the rest of the economy can guide policy makers to affect the outcomes of external shocks (e.g. by redirecting resources to sectors with potential for higher output growth and welfare effects) .Using the 2002 Social Accounting Matrix (SAM) for Uganda, we investigate the properties of the multipliers that can be calculated from the SAM, in particular contrasting them with the simpler input-output multipliers. Using the SAM multipliers, the computed linkages suggest that Agriculture, Food Processing, and Other Services (Trade, and Health and Education) are the key sectors of Uganda’s economy. Similarly, Manufacturing, Construction, and Transport were found to be sectors with weak linkages to the rest of the economy. Moreover, the multiplier impact on output, employment, and household income distribution is higher with in agriculture relative to other sectors. Our multiplier results confirm the need for policy makers in Uganda to target agriculture-led growth if Uganda is to substantially raise economy wide growth, and to improve household incomes for significant poverty alleviation. Policies to boost the agriculture sector include: building and maintaining feeder roads, provision of farm inputs, training farmers on better methods of production and productivity, reviving cooperatives (i.e. to enable coordinated farming activities, storage, processing, and marketing of farmers produce, and easy access to credit from lending institutions). It should be noted that Agriculture in Uganda is characterised by low productivity resulting from the use of poor inputs, undeveloped value chains, and low public and private investment in the sector. Government should significantly invest in agro-processing industries to increase value addition and exports for higher incomes. Since such investments are costly, requiring significant capital investments which majority of poor farmers cannot afford, the government should promote public-private sector partnership. It should be noted that Uganda’s exports are dominated by unprocessed primary low products which fetch low earnings from world markets. Using a country specific CGE model and selected exogenous changes and policies, our findings suggest that an increase in the world price of exports and workers remittances, and a decrease in import tariffs are growth and welfare enhancing with the positive shock to world export prices producing the largest impact on real GDP, employment (largely, low skilled labour and in agriculture), factor and household incomes. The significant role of migrant remittances in growth and poverty alleviation (i.e. by increasing household incomes, and investment in agriculture, education, and real estate among others) is worth noting. These findings suggest that Ugandan authorities could encourage Ugandans living and working abroad to invest at home by introducing a diaspora bond and sharing information on investment opportunities to encourage increased inflow of workers remittances which would boost domestic investment. Where possible, surplus labour could be exported to other regions or countries and arrangements made to have workers remittances invested in Uganda. In all the policy experiments performed, we find that the welfare of households in the northern and eastern regions of the country is lower compared to that of households based in other regions. This suggests that the government needs to design and implement specific poverty alleviation programs in these regions. The relatively high poverty in northern and eastern regions is attributed to the 19 year civil conflict and the communal land ownership which limits agriculture production for food security and improved household incomes. The government could increase the provision of social and physical infrastructure and promote sustainable agriculture by opening up irrigation schemes, supplying farmers with drought resistant crops, restocking farms, and building and maintain valley dams, and implementing land reforms which promote agriculture. Given the importance of agriculture to Uganda’s growth and poverty alleviation prospects, we argue that the government should implement the recommendations of the Comprehensive African Agriculture Development Program (CAADP) and the Maputo Declaration which calls for the allocation of 10 percent of the national budget to agriculture. This allocation is necessary to achieve the target of agriculture sector growth by 6 percent which is required to reduce significantly the number of Ugandans living in extreme poverty and hunger. The budgetary allocation of 4 percent coupled with inadequate supervision, and corruption and misallocation of funds meant for agriculture development programs have contributed to persistent decline in in output and increase in rural and urban poverty. Our results suggest agriculture is associated with higher employment of low skilled labour which is the largest labour force in Uganda. According to the World Bank, employment is the surest way to poverty alleviation. Thus, Uganda should pursue an agriculture led growth strategy for poverty alleviation and sustained economic growth. However, to substantially increase household incomes and contribute to poverty alleviation, policy interventions in agriculture should focus on increasing value addition through food processing and exports. Further, interventions that empower women to own assets should be enforced by government. Women are the principal users of land, and they must have stronger rights over the resources they depend upon. Our simulations have demonstrated that employment and incomes of women increase from interventions that target the agriculture sector in Uganda. Women constitute over 90 percent of the total labour force employed in agriculture and earn less or none of farm incomes, and most of them operate under chronic poverty. To gain greater knowledge of and control over their environment and build more productive sustainable systems, the government could empower women with basic education and training, increase their access to new technologies and mobilise them to participate in rural saving banks and cooperatives to boost their earnings from agriculture. Our results suggest that Services (mainly education and health) are potential candidates for growth and poverty alleviation in Uganda because they generate significant employment. However, Uganda, Services employ high skilled labour and are urban based, implying they cannot absorb the dominant low skilled labour and the youth. According to the Uganda Bureau of Statistics, Uganda currently has about 34.5 million people of which about 65 percent are youth. About 83 percent of these youth (aged 18-30 years) have no formal employment. This calls for authorities in Uganda to reorient the current curriculum towards her development needs where the youth and graduates are trained to be job creators and not job seekers. Massive investment in vocation training where the youth are trained and equipped with skills to manage their own lives by engaging in small scale projects should be prioritised by the government. To overcome the high rate of youth and graduate unemployment in developing countries Uganda inclusive, the donor community in collaboration with African governments identified vocational training as a critical component in each country’s poverty reduction strategy.

Thesis (M.Inf.) --University of Limpopo, 2018 / The purpose of this research is to investigate the information needs of rural communities in Bushbuckridge. Investing information of communities is vital because information plays an important role in enabling communities to meet their development needs, such as employment, education, health, safety, food security, and leisure. Libraries are therefore instrumental in helping library users to meet these needs. The study utilised triangulated (quantitative) and (qualitative) research methods. Participants in this study included 100 library users, four librarians and one library manager drawn from four local libraries through a combination of random (probability) and purposive (non-probability) sampling. The quantitative part of the study i.e. survey measured the perceptions of users on library services through questionnaires, while unstructured interviews elicited the experiences of librarians in addressing the information needs of library users in the four libraries of Bushbuckridge. Findings from the survey revealed, inter alia, that: most (65%) users had access to library services, although high travelling costs were a major barrier for those living in remote villages; a large number of users (60%) still depended on librarians to help them find information, while a growing number of users (33% had begun using computers and the internet to meet their information needs; the most important reasons for using the library were: assignments, study and careers, and, the majority of users in all four libraries were generally satisfied with the quality of the services rendered, although significant improvements were required in the supply of materials and water. Findings from interviews with librarians demonstrated that significant steps had been taken to address information needs of users across the four libraries. Common examples include: books and materials; computers and internet services; study groups; user training, and outreach programmes – although these were hampered by shortage of staff and vehicles. Cross-cutting problems included delays in purchasing of library materials; shortage of water and low perceptions about the benefits of library services in the community. In light of these results, it was concluded that information needs of library users had been partially met, with greater room for improvement in areas like human resources, information technology, transport and procurement systems and processes. The research findings have demonstrated that if provided well, library information services may help reduce the challenges of illiteracy, poverty and unemployment in this area. In light of these findings, the study recommended, inter alia, that the skills of library staff along with procurement systems and processes be upgraded in order to satisfy the information needs of library users in the study area. The study further recommended that outreach programmes be scaled up to increase awareness in the community about the role and benefits of library services in facilitating community development, particularly in Bushbuckridge where challenges of illiteracy, poverty and unemployment continue unabated.

Thesis (MPA.) --University of Limpopo, 2015 / Refer to the document

Thesis (M Dev.)--University of Limpopo, 2006. / Eliminating poverty and deprivation and their negative social effects is a critical challenge facing South Africa today. No political democracy can survive and flourish if the masses of the people remain in poverty, are landless, and do not have tangible materials for a better life. Attacking poverty and deprivation should be a priority of any democratic government (RDP 1994:1, 2, 9). Then South African government like its counterparts in the developing world is being restructured to improve governance and alleviate poverty. Optimal agricultural performance by small-scale farmers for poverty relief, food security, is shown to increase income and employment. Recognizing the contribution of these farmers in agricultural development and helping them improve their farming methods and secure small loans would impact favorably on poverty alleviation in the rural areas. The aim of this study is to determine the role played by rural development projects in poverty alleviation. In addition policy options, consequences and recommendations will be entertained. / Not listed

Thesis (M.Dev.) --University of Limpopo, 2009 / This study focuses on the impact of the community development projects on the livelihoods of the people. The aim of the study is to assess the impact of the community development projects and the livelihood of the community of Lepelle-Nkumpi Municipality. The study examines the operations and performance of the community development projects since they started. The objectives of the study are to assess the impact of the community development projects on the livelihood of the beneficiaries and the community in terms of income, jobs and living standards, as well as identify and recommend appropriate intervention strategies where necessary. The finding of the study revealed that the community development projects did have an impact on both job creation and income generation, although the income part of it is not satisfactory. The other findings were the skewed participation where women were dominating. The study reveals that the government and the private sector should play an active role in training the beneficiaries, encourage youth participation in order to ensure sustainability of the projects, and also expose the project members to different technologies available in agriculture to ensure mass productions which will translate into better incomes from the projects.

Thesis (M.Dev.) --University of Limpopo, 2011 / Poverty among communities is not a static condition. There are many factors which contribute to its causes and depth. In South Africa, the economic gaps imposed by the previous apartheid government aggravated economic inequalities and caused considerable disparities, which resulted in the high unemployment rates. This led to a call for pro-active initiatives by post 1994 democratic government to remedy the living condition of the previously disadvantaged people. As part of its poverty relief drive, the South African government has embarked on a series of developmental initiatives to bring services to the poor and to reduce enormous prevailing backlogs, with the aim of increasing community participation and improving the lives of the poor. This study evaluates the egg layers project as a poverty alleviation effort within Blouberg Municipality of the Limpopo Province to respond to the prevailing poverty and underdevelopment among the poor communities. This study revealed from the observations, interviews conducted and questionnaires administrated to sampled beneficiaries of Blouberg Municipality who faces poverty. The study formulated strategies and made recommendations regarding the impact and implementation of the egg layers on poor people.

Thesis (M.Dev.) --University of Limpopo, 2011 / The study investigates the impact of LED projects funded by the DHSD on poverty alleviation in the Bakenberg area of the Mogalakwena Municipality. The DHSD established more than ten different types of projects in the area to alleviate poverty in the local area. The Bakenberg area is part of the Mogalakwena Municipality and is characterized by high poverty rate and unemployment. It is also regarded as one of the rural areas of the Municipality. The study used a case study methodology and a mixture of quantitative and qualitative research designs. The stratified random sampling method with a sample size of sixty (60) was used to collect data from various projects in the six categories. Data were collected by using the unstructured face-to-face interview method. The data were then analysed using the Moonstats Windows 14.0 to describe frequency tables, plotted pie and bar graphs for the quantitative study and the thematic method of analysis for the qualitative study. The key findings of the study were based on core issues, such as the profiles of the respondents that indicated that the majority of the research participants were females. Most of the LED projects had a problem of marketing their products, and this needed urgent attention. LED projects make an impact on job creation, sustainable livelihoods and social capital among project members and their communities. The study recommends that committed individuals who take part in poverty alleviation should be considered for funding rather than to provide state grants only to groups of people. Resources such as transport should be provided to projects in local areas to access any type of market. LED projects should install palisade and electric security fences around projects to prevent theft within the projects. The study also recommends that a stipend of R500 should be paid to each youth who joins the LED projects to encourage the youth to participate in LED projects.

Thesis (M.Dev.) --University of Limpopo, 2006 / The purpose of the study was to identify material benefits that households participating in poverty alleviation projects receive. The study used both the qualitative and quantitative research design in the context of a random sample of 70 non-project households and 42 households participating in projects. A structured interview schedule was used to collect data. The major findings of this research study are that poverty alleviation projects are effective in alleviating poverty especially amongst rural women. The significance of the study lies in insights on improved methods in the management of poverty alleviation projects