<p>In most developing countries, forest resources are a major source of livelihood for forest dwellers. Forests provide fuel wood, farm products, meat, timber and plants of high medicinal value, including Prunus africana. The collection of medicinal plants is also an important source of cash income for some forest communities, and widely relied on to cure illnesses (Poffenberger, 1993). Because of this, the poor forest dwellers in particular are forced to exert pressure on their surrounding environment to make ends meet. Indiscriminate exploitation of forest resources has cost some forest dwellers dearly as they are now experiencing marked reduction of wildlife, forest cover, soil fertility and most importantly water supply, which is a key to life. Prunus africana has a very high economic and medicinal value locally as well as internationally. The exploitation of this species is a very profitable activity in most parts of Africa where it occurs, including the Mount Cameroon region. In recent years, most youths and young men in the Mount Cameroon region have seemingly become less interested in their usual income generating activities (farming, hunting, etc.) because of reduced productivity and have taken up Prunus harvesting as their major source of income. Increase in demand for this species by the French pharmaceutical company (Plantecam), weak institutional capacity to control exploitation, uncontrolled access into the forest, scramble for diminished stock by legal and illegal exploiters, destruction of wild stock by unsustainable practices, and insufficient regeneration of the species in the past have almost driven this species to extinction in certain parts of Cameroon and made it severely threatened in others. Prunus africana is presently threatened with extinction in the entire Mount Cameroon region. In response to this, the Mount Cameroon Project (MCP) and the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MINEF) helped some communities (Bokwoango and Mapanja) in the Mount Cameroon region to form Prunus africana harvesters’ unions with the aim of preserving the resource and improving the socio-economic benefits. The principal aim of the Bokwoango Prunus africana harvesters’ union is to ensure sustainable exploitation of Prunus africana while saving money for important development projects for individual members, their families and the entire community. This piece of work highlights the different facets of Prunus africana management in Cameroon in general and the Bokwoango community in particular. The study examines the socio-economic impact of Prunus africana management in the Bokwoango community and shows specifically the management role played by the Bokwoango Prunus africana harvesters’ union to reduce the rate of exploitation of Prunus africana and also to ensure benefit sharing of the earnings from sales of Prunus bark. It at the same time brings out the constraints encountered by harvesters as well as the opportunities that can make the union become more viable to the socio-economic development of the Bokwoango community. Results of this study show that for the short period that the Bokwoango Prunus africana harvesters’ union has existed, the socio-economic changes in this community are encouraging if one compares the present situation with that before the formation of the union. Most importantly, there has been increased awareness on the great need to conserve not only the threatened Prunus africana species but also other threatened plant and animal species in the region through sustainable hunting, harvesting and regeneration. Some proposals are made for efficient natural resource management and improvements on livelihood through alternative income generating activities. The study ends with recommendations for policy and institutional reforms as well as suggestions for further research in sustainable management of Prunus africana.</p>

No description available.

<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>

Local perceptions and livelihood strategies have in this study been examined through extensive fieldwork in two villages in rural Pondoland in the former homeland Transkei in South Africa’s Eastern Cape Province. Using a bottom-up perspective, changes in livelihoods and the processes involved in choosing between and combining various types of livelihood activities are analysed. The study also looks at specific South African policies, targeted at poverty relief and restriction of natural resource use, from the local perspective and points at communication problems between the national and local levels. Livelihoods in Transkei are today often conceptualised as consisting of subsistence agriculture combined with monetary incomes in the forms of state pensions and remittances from migrant labourers. This view is challenged by the results of the present study, showing that local jobs are the major components of livelihoods in the studied villages. Informal jobs are stressed as constituting an important, and perhaps previously underestimated, part of local job opportunities. While pensions also do make important contributions to livelihoods, the significance of agriculture, livestock keeping and various forms of natural resource use is shown to be relatively low. Key insights are that livelihood activities in rural Transkei vary a lot between specific localities, and that important recent changes in livelihoods have taken place. Transkei is furthermore often conceptualised as a region where severe environmental degradation is taking place, a fact that is also contradicted by findings from the study area. In accordance with recent research on an ‘African degradation narrative’, the hopeless and homogenous picture of Transkei as a generally degraded region is questioned. These results are also used to critically examine concepts such as ‘multiple livelihood strategies’ and the tendency to generalise about rural livelihoods across regions, countries or even continents. / Lokala uppfattningar och försörjningsstrategier har i denna studie undersökts genom långvarigt fältarbete och omfattande intervjuer med lokalbefolkningen i två byar i den rurala kustregionen i Pondoland, i Sydafrikas f.d. ‘homeland’ Transkei (idag Östra Kapprovinsen). Under apartheidtiden tvingades Sydafrikas befolkning av afrikanskt ursprung i hög utsträckning att bo i dessa s.k. homelands, vilket anses ha lett till både fattigdom och omfattande miljöförstöring i dessa områden. Transkei konceptualiseras idag därför ofta som ett problemområde, där befolkningen överlever på småskaligt jordbruk, nyttjande av, statliga bidrag och pengar från släktingar som jobbar i storstäder. Denna studie ifrågasätter upprätthållandet av en sådan bild av Transkei, genom att peka på att majoriteten av hushållen i fältområdet idag har lokala jobb. I detta sammanhang har informella jobb en viktig och troligtvis tidigare underskattad roll. Studien pekar också på att försörjningsstrategier är föränderliga och att det finns stora skillnader mellan olika lokaliteter med avseende på olika försörjningsmöjligheter. Många studier i Afrika har på senare tid ifrågasatt antaganden om att olika regioner är generellt degraderade, och visat på att detta ofta kan vara ett narrativ som av olika skäl upprätthålls utan att närmare granskas. Denna studie visar däremot på att miljön i fältområdet inte är generellt degraderad och att lokalbefolkningen inte överutnyttjar naturresurserna. Därmed bidrar studien till att nyansera en ibland alltför homogen och hopplös bild av Transkei som region. Studien granskar också specifika Sydafrikanska policies för naturvård och fattigdomsbekämpning utifrån lokalbefolkningens perspektiv och visar på problematiska kommunikationsbrister mellan nationell och lokal nivå.

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

Residents of informal settlements (slums) are vulnerable to various disturbances; e.g. diseases spreading and fluctuations in food prices and local access to credits. The lack of credits derives from the continuous outflow of money from communities. This study examines a financial innovation called Sarafu-credits (SC) implemented in Kenyan informal settlements by the organization Grassroots Economics (GE). SC is a community currency (CC), more particularly vouchers only used within a network of micro-businesses, which aim to complement scarcity of conventional money. In addition, GE have initiated community activities, e.g. tree planting, trash collection, food gardens and cultural events, where residents can be paid in SC to improve the community socially and environmentally. This study examines the design and practice of SC, and the activities, using mainly semi-structured interviews with SC-network-members and GE key persons, to understand how a CC can contribute to sustainable livelihood. The concepts specified and general resilience are used to understand the links between SC and the various social-ecological disturbances facing slum-dwellers. The results suggest that SC-members who are actively trading with SC are able to increase their sales, savings and access to basic goods and services thanks to SC. The results also suggest the networks and community activities are strengthening social contacts in the neighbourhood, and constitute examples of how a CC can help finance management of local environmental problems, where SC paid for community services also support local trade. The identified challenges are related to local leadership, where trust, communication and consistency of rules are lacking. In one of the networks, the confidence in the usefulness of the currency is lacking, due to these challenges. GE have experimented with different designs where one successful innovation is the ability to exchange SC to conventional money at certain occasions, which seem to strengthen the confidence in SC.

Thesis (M. Dev.) -- University of Limpopo, 2016 / This study focuses on the contribution of community gardens to livelihoods of participants. It was carried out among 7 community gardens in Mudavula village in Thulamela Municipality in Limpopo Province, South Africa. The village is located in Vhembe District. The aim of this study was to assess the technical efficiency and the contribution of community gardens to the livelihoods of participants at Mudavula Village. The objectives of the study were to determine the contribution of community gardens to food security and the livelihood of Mudavula community gardens’ participants using per capita production to determine the technical efficiency of the community gardens in the village and to identify sources of improvement of the contribution of the gardens towards food security and livelihoods. The findings from the descriptive and quantitative test revealed positive and negative relationship between variables and how the constraints affect their livelihood. The results shows that there is no relationship between gender and years of education, years of education and age, family size and age, employment and gender. The estimate of technical efficiency for the irrigated crops suffers more from omitted variable bias (OVB) than the rainfed equation. The study reveals that community gardens have positive impact to the livelihood of Mudavula villagers. It is therefore recommended that the Department of Agriculture capacitate farmers through their local extension officers to help empower them and equip them with the necessary skills and knowledge. Key Words: community gardens, livelihood, technical efficiency, Mudavula

MSCAGR (Agricultural Economics) / Department of Agricultural Economics and Agribusiness / See the attached abstract below

MSCAGR (Agricultural Economics) / Department of Agricultural Economics and Agribusiness / See the attached abstract below

No description available.