Orientador : Rinaldo Barcia Fonseca / Dissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Instituto de Economia / Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-07T00:43:45Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Souza_RubensAntonioMandettade_M.pdf: 733093 bytes, checksum: 436dd7818e0f948a895ab54243f0ae77 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2005 / Resumo: Este trabalho de dissertação consiste de um estudo sobre as mudanças no consumo e na distribuição de alimentos, e particularmente, na distribuição de hortaliças de folhas na região metropolitana de São Paulo. As pesquisas foram desenvolvidas entre janeiro e agosto de 2003, quando foram entrevistados profissionais das grandes redes de supermercados (entrevistas pessoais); do setor supermercadista em geral ¿ lojas grandes, médias e pequenas (entrevistas por telefone); profissionais dos sacolões particulares e administrados pela Prefeitura Municipal de São Paulo; permissionários atacadistas e produtores da CEAGESP; profissionais feirantes das feiras administradas pela prefeitura municipal de São Paulo; profissionais dos varejões ¿ feiras administradas pela CEAGESP; distribuidores independentes ¿ produtores, atacadistas de origem, distribuidores cujo processo de atendimento aos varejistas ocorre de forma independente da passagem do produto pelo Entreposto São Paulo da CEAGESP. Os objetivos da pesquisa foram de natureza qualitativa, embora alguns levantamentos quantitativos fossem necessários para correlacionar quantidades com a organização dos distribuidores e varejistas. Os levantamentos qualitativos foram feitos para compreensão e análise das formas de compra e aprovisionamento de hortaliças de folhas, buscando identificar: (1) Locais de compra entre os compradores e distribuidores varejistas, bem como suas práticas de distribuição de hortaliças; (2) Se os varejistas entrevistados têm alguma percepção do que o consumidor final entende por qualidade, quais os principais atributos que ele valoriza no produto e quais suas possíveis exigências quanto a embalagem, produtos minimamente processados, orgânicos, hidropônicos etc; (3) Condições de negociação, bem como exigências de distribuidores e varejistas sobre produtores e fornecedores quanto a qualidade, forma de embalagem ou preparo do produto, volume de compra e serviços prestados (pontualidade e periodicidade de entrega, quantidade mínima de produto fornecida por dia ou semana). A primeira etapa consiste em identificar o número de elementos no universo a ser pesquisado dentro de cada segmento do público-alvo. A segunda, na definição do tamanho da amostra e no levantamento de dados, em que constam entrevistas por meio da aplicação de questionários específicos para cada segmento de público-alvo, in loco ou por telefone. A terceira trata do processamento do banco de dados coletados, para posterior análise e interpretação. Grandes mudanças no processo de distribuição de hortaliças de folhas estão ocorrendo no município de São Paulo, orientadas basicamente pelo aumento da competitividade no setor e pelas exigências de qualidade que o consumidor moderno tem feito sobre a cadeia de fornecimento de alimento. Produtos perecíveis, como hortaliças de folhas, mostraram não só fazer parte desse processo, como também ser instrumento importante das estratégias comerciais para atrair o consumidor final. Existe uma clara tendência em todos os segmentos varejistas de buscar abastecimento direto com as regiões produtoras. A maior parte dos distribuidores (92%) é independente (não-permissionária da CEAGESP). Entre os independentes, 60% são produtores. Surgem distribuidores especializados que concentram maior volume de distribuição por dia que os permissionários, oferecendo abastecimento diário de hortaliças de folhas. Cerca de 60% dos distribuidores, tanto permissionários como independentes, preferem negociar com produtores fixos, pois essa forma de trabalho traz vantagens aos varejistas por consolidar uma parceria, favorecer a obtenção de produtos padronizados e de melhor qualidade, conseguir um melhor atendimento das suas exigências, reduzir perdas e facilitar a programação do transporte. O distribuidor independente consegue aplicar uma maior margem de lucro ao seu produto do que o permissionário da CEAGESP. Existe significativa diferença de barganha entre os varejistas e fornecedores, dependendo do tipo e do porte do varejista: os menores varejistas (feirantes) pagam à vista; os supermercados, quanto maiores, pagam com maior prazo, isto é, à medida que cresce o tamanho do supermercado, mais longo fica o prazo de pagamento (semanal, quinzenal e mensal); entre os sacolões, cerca de 1/3 paga à vista; 1/3, semanalmente; e 1/3 quinzenalmente, o que demonstra preocupação crescente desse segmento em garantir aos produtores recursos mínimos para remunerar seus custos de produção. A lei da oferta e procura, presente no mercado físico, já não é o único referencial utilizado no processo de negociação. Todos os agentes varejistas têm buscado estabelecer preços mais estáveis, válidos no mínimo pelo período de uma semana. As embalagens plásticas modernizaram o transporte das hortaliças. As perdas variam em proporção inversa à dimensão do varejista, isto é, quanto maior o porte, menor a perda de hortaliças de folhas. As maiores perdas são dos feirantes (entre 11 e 15%); seguida dos sacolões, de 5% a 15% (média de 10%) e dos supermercados, entre 5% e 10%; para as grandes redes, as perdas variam entre 4,5%, 10% e 15%. A principal estratégia para reduzir as perdas, no caso dos sacolões e supermercados, é diminuir a compra e a exposição, com pouco investimento em treinamento da mão-de-obra. A forma organizacional híbrida já é uma realidade no sistema varejista. Principal forma de organização de compra e abastecimento dos maiores distribuidores varejistas modernos, ela tende a consolidar uma mudança na economia de custo da transação comercial na cadeia de abastecimento alimentar. Foram verificadas imposições de formas de negociação em conseqüência de exigências do consumidor final, interpretadas pelo varejo e transferidas ao sistema de distribuição como um todo. As mudanças e estratégias comerciais apresentadas para a cadeia produtiva e, principalmente, para o sistema produtivo, são a necessidade de economia de escala, eficiência, uso adequado de tecnologia produtiva e produtos padronizados. Cresce a proporção de supermercados e sacolões que trabalham com hortaliças produzidas ou processadas com tecnologia diferenciada (orgânicas, hidropônicas e pré-processadas) como estratégia de oferta de um produto especial. Melhora a percepção dos varejistas quanto à concepção de qualidade do consumidor. Entre os varejistas e profissionais de lojas entrevistados, essas percepções foram muito semelhantes, porém, com ordem de prioridade variável entre eles: os atributos mais valorizados nas hortaliças pela dona-de-casa envolvem maior frescor, forma de exposição, preço, atendimento, higiene, tamanho e hábito de compra; e a concepção de qualidade pela dona-de-casa consiste em um produto sem folhas estragadas, manchas ou lesões, com boa consistência, coloração e tamanho adequados / Abstract: This is a study on the changes occurred in non-processed food distribution and preferences, and particularly, on the leafy vegetable distribution in the metropolitan region of São Paulo, State of São Paulo, Brazil. The research activities were carried out between January and August 2003, when several professionals were investigated: large supermarket nets (personal interviews), large, medium and small supermarket stores (telephone interviews), 'sacolões¿, retails and open-markets; independent distributors; permitted distributors associated to distribution centers (CEAGESP); and producers. The aim of this research work was of qualitative nature, although some quantitative surveys were also performed in order to correlate numbers about the distributors and retailer organizations. The qualitative surveys were made in order to understand and analyze the forms of leafy vegetable purchase and distribution and to identify: (1), the favorite purchase sites and procedures used by professional distributors in the leafy vegetable trade market; (2) whether the interviewed professionals have any perception about what is the final consumers¿ food quality conception, what are their most important product attributes and what are their possible main requirements regarding packaging and pre-processed, organic and/or hydroponic leafy vegetables; (3) the imposed trading conditions and the traders¿ requirements onto the producers about leafy vegetable quality, packaging or pre-processing, purchase volume and services (delivery, delivery periodicity, minimum product volume per day or week). The first step consisted on identifying the universe to be investigated within each target public segment. The second step consisted on the sample size definition and data survey, which was carried out throughout specific question forms for each target public segment, and personal or phone interviews. The third step consisted on the data bank processing for posterior analysis and interpretation. Significant changes were observed in the leafy vegetable distribution process in the municipal district of São Paulo, basically oriented by the increasing competition and by the final consumers¿ quality demands, which have influenced the whole food supply chain. The perishable food items such as leafy vegetables showed to be not only inserted in this process, but also important tools for commercial strategies to attract the final consumer. There has been a clear trend within all commercial segments to search for direct business with the producing regions. Most retailing distributors are independent (92%) and within this segment 60% are producers. Specialized distributors are coming about and have concentrated larger leafy vegetable trading volume than permitted distributors, offering daily supply of leafy vegetables and many times twice a day supply. A large number of permitted and independent distributors (60%) prefer to make a package-deal with one known producer, because this way of working represents advantages to them such as to consolidate a partnership, to favor the offer of better quality and standardized products, to have prompt consideration for their requirements, to reduce losses and to make easier a planned transport. The independent distributors have been able to get larger profits than the permitted ones. There has been significant differences in trade bargaining between distributors and producers, which depends on the distributor type and size: small distributors (from open markets) pay the producers cash; in the case of supermarkets, the large they are the longer the period for payment (weekly, twice a month, monthly); among 'sacolões¿, 1/3 pay cash, 1/3 pay weekly and 1/3 twice a month, showing an increasing concern about giving the producers the necessary to cover their production costs. The existing law of offering and demanding is not anymore the unique referential in the trading process. All distribution agents are interested in more stable prices, valid at least for one week. There has been a visible modernization of containers used for leafy vegetable transport. And the losses vary with the type and size of distributors, that is, the larger the enterprise, the lower the losses. Larger losses are observed among small distributors (11 to 15%); followed by 'sacolões¿ (5% to 15%), supermarkets (5% to 10%) and the large distribution nets (4.5%, 10% to 15%). The main actions to reduce losses consisted on reducing product purchase and exposition, but there is still low investment in labor training. The hybrid organization is already a reality within the retailing system and is the main organization form used for modern distributors in the leafy vegetable purchasing and supplying chain, which tends to consolidate a significant economy cost change in the non-processed food business. Trading impositions have occurred in consequence of final consumers¿ demands, which were interpreted by the commercial segments and transferred to the entire distribution system. The main changes and commercial strategies observed in the food producing chain can be defined by the need for an economy of scale, efficiency, adequate production technology, and standardized products. There has been an increasing number of food stores working with differentiated products, such as organic, hydroponics¿ and pre-processed leafy vegetables, as a strategy to attract the final consumer. There is an increasing perception among the interviewed distributors and food-store professionals about the consumers¿ quality conception. On the overall, these perceptions were very similar among them, however, varying in order of priority. The most valued product attributes for the final consumer were indicated as: higher freshness, form of exposition, price, service, hygiene, product size, purchase habit; and the consumers¿ quality conception was reported to be related to: non-spoiled leaves, no-spots or lesions, good consistence and coloration, adequate product size / Mestrado / Economia Agricola e Agraria / Mestre em Desenvolvimento Econômico

O objetivo deste trabalho é discutir a alimentação de rua na cidade de São Paulo no período entre 1828 e 1900. Quando falamos de alimentação de rua, estamos nos referindo de modo geral às variadas formas de comer fora de casa (restaurantes, cafés, confeitarias, botequins, etc.). Mas o foco principal é a alimentação consumida na própria rua, que tem o tabuleiro das quitandeiras (e posteriormente os vendedores ambulantes) como o principal foco dessa atividade. Nosso intuito é compreender as relações entre a comida de rua e a própria cidade em um momento de intensas transformações sócio-espaciais. / The aim of this paper is to discuss the street food in the city of Sao Paulo in the period between 1828 and 1900. When we talk about street food, we are referring generally to many forms of eating outside the home (restaurants, cafes, confectionery, botequins, etc.). But the main focus is the food consumed in the street, which has a board of greengrocer (and later the street vendors) as the main focus of this activity. Our purpose is to understand the relationship between street food and city in a time of intense socio-spatial processing.

A ovinocultura leiteira tornou-se importante economicamente na América do Sul nas últimas décadas, sendo ainda pouco estudada no Brasil. O leite é destinado à produção de queijo, proporcionando valor agregado, sendo considerado fonte de renda aos produtores. Como ponto de partida para o estudo da ovinocultura leiteira, é proposta a descrição do sistema agroindustrial (SAG) para a melhor compreensão das relações entre os agentes. O estudo das cadeias agroalimentares, visando desempenho econômico superior, utiliza abordagens da microeconomia como Economia dos Custos de Transação (ECT), Economia dos Custos de Mensuração (ECM), Visão Baseada em Recursos (VBR) e Teoria do Empreendedor. Dentro dos SAGs existem as cadeias agroalimentares curtas, formas de organização e comercialização que buscam a proximidade entre produtores e consumidores. Este trabalho teve como objetivo descrever o SAG do leite ovino no Brasil, buscando entender as estratégias adotadas pelos agentes e propor uma metodologia de estudo as cadeias curtas. A pesquisa foi do tipo exploratória e de multi-caso, por meio de entrevistas com questionários pré-formulados. O SAG do leite ovino foi caracterizado como um sistema em cadeia curta pela aproximação do produtor com o consumidor, possuindo, na maior parte das vezes, apenas um agente responsável pelas diferentes etapas da cadeia. O sistema é composto, em termos de transformação tecnológica, em quatro grandes elos: insumos, produção primária, agroindústria e distribuição, sendo os insumos adquiridos em mercados spot. Foram identificadas 18 fazendas produtoras no país. As raças predominantes eram Lacaune e East Friesian, com média de 1,17 litros de leite/animal/dia, abaixo da média potencial para as raças (2 litros). Observou-se que 14 entre as 18 propriedades apresentam mão de obra familiar. Dentre os laticínios, quatro possuíam inspeção federal, três possuíam inspeção estadual e três possuíam inspeção municipal. Sete propriedades optaram por não ter o próprio laticínio, fazendo parte de cooperativa; as outras propriedades optaram pela integração vertical. A distribuição é realizada por delivery e venda em mercados pequenos ou lojas próprias. Os maiores centros consumidores encontram-se nos estados do Rio Grande do Sul, Santa Catarina, São Paulo e Minas Gerais, havendo, porém, venda do produto em várias regiões do país. A principal característica do consumidor é o alto poder aquisitivo, fazendo-o buscar o produto em lojas especializadas. Pelo modelo das Cinco Forças de Porter, sugere-se que o sistema se apresenta sustentável e estável, sendo que o principal obstáculo para o crescimento são os produtos substitutos. Há falta de informações técnicas para melhorar a produção, assim, a verticalização do sistema e produção em cadeia curta parece ser a opção mais segura e rentável para os produtores. O modelo de estudo proposto permite analisar uma cadeia curta qualquer, caracterizando-a, com vistas à proposição de estratégias superiores de gestão e coordenação / The dairy sheep industry became economically important in South America in recent decades, but still little studied in Brazil. Milk is utilized for the production of cheese, providing added value, and it is considered a source of income to producers. As a starting point for the study of dairy sheep industry is proposed the description of the agro-industrial system for better understanding of the relationship between the agents. The study of the agri-food chains, targeting higher economic performance, uses microeconomic approaches as Economics of Transaction Costs (ETC), the Economics of Measurements Costs (EMC), Resource-Based View (RBV) and Entrepreneur Theory. Within the agribusiness, there are the \"short food supply chains\", forms of organization and marketing seeking the proximity between producers and consumers. This study aimed to describe the agribusiness of dairy sheep in Brazil, seeking to understand the strategies adopted by agents and propose a methodology to study the short food supply chains. The research was exploratory type and multi-case, through interviews with pre-formulated questionnaires. The agribusiness of dairy sheep was characterized as a short food supply chain system due to the approximation of the producer to the consumer having, in most cases, only one agent responsible for the different stages of the chain. The system is composed, in terms of technological transformation, in four major links: inputs, primary production, processing and distribution. The inputs are purchased in spot markets. It was identified 18 producing farms in the country. The predominant races were Lacaune and East Friesian, with an average of 1.17 liters of milk / animal / day, below the average potential for the races (2 liters). It was observed that 14 among the 18 properties had family labor. Among dairy products, four of them had federal inspection, three had state inspection and three had municipal inspection. Seven farms have chosen not to have the dairy itself but they were part of the cooperative; the other farms have opted for vertical integration. The distribution is carried out by delivery and sale in small markets or stores. The largest consumer centers are in the states of Rio Grande do Sul, Santa Catarina, São Paulo and Minas Gerais, however, there were sale of the product in various regions of the country. The main consumer characteristic is the high purchasing power, so they looked for the product in specialty stores. By the Porters five forces model, it is suggested that the system is sustained and stable and the main obstacle for growth are substitute products. There is a lack of technical information to improve production, so the verticalization of the system and production in a short chain system seems to be the safest and most costeffective option for producers. The proposed study model allows the analysis of any short food supply chain, characterizing it, with a view to proposing higher management strategies and coordination

Orientador: Marco Tulio Ospina Patino / Dissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Faculdade de Engenharia Agrícola / Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-23T00:18:17Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Machado_MarinaFalascina_M.pdf: 3931311 bytes, checksum: 7f74f4e7f9b6d8ac5b30284bd0fc0311 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2013 / Resumo: A agricultura brasileira apresentou, nos últimos anos, altas taxas de crescimento, sobretudo no setor de grãos. Para o acondicionamento de toda a produção de forma adequada, as redes de armazenamento são indispensáveis, e os armazéns, por sua vez, devem estar localizados em áreas de maior concentração de produção de grãos evitando a perda desnecessária do produto e garantindo a sua qualidade. O presente trabalho buscou diagnosticar a capacidade de armazenamento existente e, comprovar, calculando a previsão futura da produção, da produtividade e da área a necessidade de infraestrutura de armazenamento de grãos, assim como simular o tamanho, o número, o custo e a localização de novas unidades de armazenamento nas principais microrregiões produtoras. O trabalho foi dividido em três etapas: a primeira consistiu no diagnóstico da quantidade existente de unidades estáticas de armazenamento de grãos no país e na previsão da produção da produtividade e área das culturas da soja, do milho e do arroz. Na segunda etapa foram identificadas as 100 principais microrregiões produtoras de grãos do Brasil, e a localização de novas unidades de armazenamento. A terceira etapa consistiu na definição do número e tamanho das unidades de armazenamento que devem ser instaladas para suprir a futura necessidade de armazenamento de grãos, no custo e na viabilidade econômica total necessária para adequada implementação dessas unidades de armazenamento de grãos em cada microrregião. Os resultados da previsão mostram que a produção continuará crescendo nos próximos dez anos. Os casos mais críticos de déficit de armazenamento de grãos estão nas microrregiões de Alto Teles Pires - MT, Barreiras - BA, Dourados - MS, Sudoeste de Goiás - GO e Toledo - PR. Para armazenar toda a produção de grãos nessas cinco microrregiões são necessárias 544 unidades de vinte mil toneladas e o custo dessa instalação é de R$2,1 bilhões. A viabilidade econômica mostrou que o investimento em unidades de armazenamento de grãos apresenta uma rentabilidade mínima, mas as condições de financiamento do Plano Nacional de Armazenagem (PNA) do governo brasileiro com juros negativos, dois anos de carência e nove para pagar tornam atrativo esse tipo de investimentos / Abstract: Brazilian agriculture in the last years showed high growth rates, particularly in the grain sector. For the packaging of all production in an appropriate way, storage networks are indispensable, and the warehouses, in turn, should be located in areas of high concentration of grain production avoiding the unnecessary loss of product and ensuring their quality. This study aimed to diagnose existing storage capacity, and prove, calculating the prediction of future production, productivity and area, the need for grain storage infrastructure, as well as simulate the size, number, cost and location of new storage units in major producing micro regions. The study was divided into three stages: the first consisted in the diagnosis of the amount of existing static units of grain storage in the country and in forecasting the production, the productivity and area of soybean, corn and rice. In the second stage were defined 100 main micro regions producing grain in Brazil, identifying each of these micro regions and final location of the storage units. The third step consisted to determine the number and size of storage units that should be installed to supply the future need for grain storage, the cost and the economic viability total required for proper implementation of these storage units in each micro grains. The forecast results show that production will continue growing over the next ten years. The most critical micro regions with deficit of grain storage are in Alto TelesPires-MT, Barreiras -BA, Dourados -MS, Sudoeste de Goiás -GO e Toledo -PR. To store all the grain production of these five micro regions, 544unitsof twenty thousand tons each are needed at a cost of R$2.1 billion. The economic feasibility showed that investment in new storage units provide a minimum return but the conditions of the National Storage Plan (PNA) of the Brazilian Government with negative rates and two year grace period and nine years for payment make attractive this type of investment / Mestrado / Planejamento e Desenvolvimento Rural Sustentável / Mestra em Engenharia Agrícola

Orientador: Nilson Antonio Modesto Arraes / Dissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Faculdade de Engenharia Agricola / Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-04T17:34:17Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Leite_JulianaPiresdeArruda_M.pdf: 706155 bytes, checksum: 283d5da19b8c928c44a5e96b281a9d8b (MD5) Previous issue date: 2005 / Resumo: O rápido florescimento no Brasil de iniciativas programáticas descentralizadas de Políticas de Segurança Alimentar, confere importância à análise de tais políticas, tanto no que se refere aos processos de formulação e implementação, quanto aos resultados e impactos destas iniciativas. Este trabalho buscou caracterizar um caso de política descentralizada de Segurança Alimentar (Programa de Segurança Alimentar do Município de Campinas/SP), com o intuito contribuir para a discussão da atuação das administrações municipais neste campo. O referencial metodológico escolhido enuncia uma análise tridimensional das políticas públicas municipais, composto pela análise da Dimensão Institucional, delineada pelo sistema jurídico e estrutura institucional do sistema político-administrativo; pela análise da Dimensão Processual da política, que se refere ao processo político, no que diz respeito à imposição de objetivos e tomadas de decisão, e, por fim, pela análise da Dimensão Material da política, composta pela configuração dos programas políticos, problemas técnicos e conteúdo material das decisões políticas. A caracterização da dimensão processual evidenciou um forte vínculo entre o programa municipal de segurança alimentar e o programa Fome Zero, antes mesmo deste ser uma programa Federal. A caracterização da dimensão institucional evidenciou a importância da relação entre os órgãos que formulam a política e os órgãos responsáveis por sua implementação. Por fim, a descrição dos projetos que compõe o referido programa, chama atenção para a importância da função de coordenação, com intuito de obter benefícios decorrentes da sinergia entre projetos distintos, reunidos sob uma mesma coordenação / Abstract: The emergence of decentralized programs of Food Security in Brazil reinforces the importance of analyzing processes of formulation, implementation and evaluation of results and impacts of these initiatives. The objective of the present study was to characterize the Food Security Program of Campinas City (São Paulo State), contributing to the discussion about the municipal administration in this field. The analytical reference concerns a three main dimensions of municipal public policies: the institutional dimension ¿ polity; the procedural dimension (search of objectives and decision process) ¿ politics; and the material dimension (programs configuration, technical problems and material content of decisions) ¿ policy. The procedural dimension characterization demonstrated the existence of a strong link between the food security municipal program and Fome Zero program, even before it became a federal program. The importance of the relation between the formulators and those who implement the policies became evident with the institutional dimension characterization. Finally, the description of the projects that compose the program itself reinforces the importance of the coordination function, concerned with the benefits of the whole set of distinct projects / Mestrado / Planejamento e Desenvolvimento Rural Sustentável / Mestre em Engenharia Agrícola

The purpose of this research was to investigate the impact of rural development projects on food insecurity and malnutrition at Siyazama food garden project in Sakhisizwe Municipality. The study followed a qualitative approach which included in-depth interviews of twenty-six (26) Siyazama food garden project members and four (4) municipal officials. The process of collecting data also made use of observations. Data was analyzed qualitatively, using thematic analysis of the content of the data, which employed an interpretative approach, resulting in a presentation of data, which is textual rather than statistical. The study found that the level of food insecurity and malnutrition in the studied area is still regarded as being high as most of the participants reported that they still have a problem in accessing all the vital nutritional elements which constitute a balanced diet. Also, the study also found that although most of the rural development projects like the Siyazama food gardening project have a profound effect in tackling food insecurity and malnutrition on household level, in South Africa there is a debate about the sustainability or such projects in solving this issue. The study found a number of challenges facing the Siyazama Food gardening project which include: theft, poor management, lack of support, lack of agricultural expertise and conflict amongst members. The study concluded by making some recommendations with to view of resolving the above mentioned challenges.

This study sought to investigate the purchasing determinants of food insecurity conditions in Klipplaat, in the Eastern Cape. The study comprised a pilot study and main study (n=459) making use of an adapted version of the Household Food Insecurity Access Scale. It was found that food insecurity conditions in Klipplaat were high, with most households experiencing food insecurity conditions between three and ten times per month. Income level was found to have a significant effect on food insecurity conditions in Klipplaat. The availability of efficient transport and refrigeration was also found to significantly influence the experience of food insecurity conditions.

The research sought to examine the effect of literacy on access to, and utilization of agricultural information for household food security at Chirau Communal lands in Zimbabwe. The study was influenced by the diffusion of innovations approach based on interviews, observation and document study. Selected female farmers from Chirau communal lands were respondents to the self administered interviews and focus group discussions. Representatives from, Agriculture Extension and the Ministry of Agriculture were key informants. Systematic Random sampling was used to select 100 female respondents from the age of 18 to above 80 from wards 1 to 10 of Chirau Rural District in Zimbabwe. Data was analyzed into themes and coded for statistical analysis using the SPSS. The country is faced with food insecurity and the main findings of this study support the view that women play an active role in food production but their potential is limited by inadequate levels of literacy that affect the way they access and utilize resources for sustainable agriculture and household food security among other factors. This may be generalized to the situation of female farmers in Zimbabwe. Improved literacy competencies among the female farmers in Zimbabwe lends itself as one of the interventions that may assist in improving access to information and its effective utilization.. This calls decision-makers to boost literacy for women, develop available agricultural information resources and harness effort towards making them accessible. While interventions may be multi-sectored, the role of government is stressed in this report.

A cardinal development goal of the Zimbabwean government is agricultural mechanization through the acquisition and use of tractors by arable crop farmers in communal and resettlement state land. This research project therefore aimed at investigating the impact of mechanization on agricultural productivity focusing on farmers in Bindura district of Zimbabwe who benefitted under the ongoing farm mechanization program. The existing land policy and the issue of technical efficiency in agricultural productivity are assumed to be the drivers of the program. It is likely that these key issues will constitute an important consideration in determining the sustainability of the mechanization policy. A multistage sampling technique was used to randomly select 90 farmers in the study area. The Cobb Douglas approach and Logistic regression were used to analyze data obtained from the respondents. Results revealed that tractor use was positively influenced by household size, access to extension services and crop output equivalent. Education, land area cultivated, stoniness negatively influenced the probability of adoption of mechanized farming. Furthermore, the technical efficiency estimate of adopter and nonadopters of mechanized farming showed no difference in their level of technical efficiency in agricultural productivity that was 64 percent on average. The level of observed inefficiency was increased by slope, stoniness and household size while age reduced technical inefficiency. It is recommended that government should consolidate the present gains arising from extension services. Also, environmental factors such as slope (topography) and stoniness, which constituted major disincentives in communal areas, could be overcome if government and farmers can identify and open up new areas of farmland for occupation by farmers.

Food aid and domestic food production capacities in Zimbabwe have been compromised by the poor performance in the country’s agricultural sector, which has necessitated an increase in and a continual need for humanitarian assistance over the past decade. The country’s commercial cereal food import capacity has not been an exception as it has also been greatly affected by the poor performance of the agricultural sector and the shortage of foreign currency that hit the country in the past few years. Secondary data on food aid, commercial cereal imports and cereal food production was obtained from World Food Programme (WFP), Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), the Grain Marketing Board (GMB) of Zimbabwe and from Zimbabwe Statistics (ZimSTATS) databases. This time series data was then analysed in the Vector Autoregression (VAR) analysis. Trends observed in the time series data reveal that commercial cereal food imports and cereal food aid inflows to Zimbabwe had been increasing between 1988 and 2008. Domestic cereal food production levels however were observed to have been declining within the same period. The restricted VAR model which was specified to investigate the short and long term effects of food aid on food production and on commercial food imports in the country revealed a low statistically significant positive relationship between domestic food production and food aid volumes. Results from the model also indicated a negative relationship between commercial food imports and food aid volumes. This means that as food aid volumes to Zimbabwe increase, the volume of commercial cereal food imported into Zimbabwe falls. This result therefore suggests that food aid in the country had a displacement effect on commercial cereal food imports in the short term. The results of the Granger causality test and the estimation of the Impulse Response Functions also helped to confirm and reinforce these findings from the vector error correction model. The conclusions drawn from the study were that the responsiveness of domestic food supply, that is, cereal production, to food aid inflows in the short term has been elastic. That is to say, an increase in food aid inflows would influence an increase in the level of domestic food production in the short term. However, in the long term, findings confirm that food aid does indeed discourage domestic food production in the country. Also, for the relationship between food aid and commercial food imports, it can be concluded from the study findings that food aid in the short term has caused a reduction in commercial food imports whereas in the long term, food aid inflows have actually stimulated the commercial food import capacity. In recommendation, the Government of Zimbabwe, the private and public institutions as well as the Non-Governmental Organisations should partner and work together in defining the criteria for vulnerability assessment, food aid targeting and distribution, and in the implementation of strategies for ensuring national food availability. Such partnerships would help in ensuring the sustainability of food aid and food security in Zimbabwe, which is the main goal.