Diss. (Sammanfattning) Göteborg : Göteborgs universitet, 2008. / Härtill 4 uppsatser.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2004. / Supervisor: Roy F. Schwitters. Vita. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis--University of California, Berkeley, 1959. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 81-84).

This study was undertaken at a smallholder irrigation scheme in the previously disadvantaged rural area of Mamuhohi in the Limpopo Province. Like other smallholder irrigation schemes in South Africa, Mamuhohi Irrigation Scheme has not performed particularly well. The expectations of interveners like politicians, development agencies and planners have not been realised in smallholder irrigation schemes. Constraints faced by smallholder farmers include a history of dependency; the high costs of mechanisation; the absence of credit, inputs, and output markets; insecure land tenure; “hedgehog behaviour” among smallholders; lack of funding; and poor management and maintenance of infrastructure. The White Paper on Agriculture (NDA, 1995) clearly set out government‘s intention to withdraw subsidies previously enjoyed by farmers and to ensure that the real costs of natural resources are reflected in the pricing of resources in order to discourage abuse. This resulted in the enacting of laws like the new National Water Act of 1998 (DWAF, 1998), aimed at sustainable water management. This included the rehabilitation of infrastructure prior to transfer, and the establishment of water users’ associations amongst farmers, which were to take over ownership and collective management of the schemes. The overall objective of the study was therefore to assess the sustainability and, more specifically, the economic viability of smallholder irrigation schemes in South Africa in the context of irrigation transfer. Hypothesis to be tested: <ul> The behaviour of smallholder farmers is diverse and is reflected in the way in which they view farming and engage in agricultural practices. </ul> The study also sought to indicate the existence of diversity in the smallholder irrigation scheme, by exposing different types of smallholder farmers within the scheme. This information should be of great importance in assisting smallholder farmers regarding issues of their own development. The findings will also help to curb the generalisation of developers’ perceptions regarding smallholder irrigation farmers. Smallholder irrigation farmers are feeling the full impact of the withdrawal of government assistance from the irrigation schemes, which have deteriorated to a state of partial collapse. A great need among farmers remains the rehabilitation of irrigation infrastructure, which would enable them to farm their land. As indicated earlier, the study found that diverse types of smallholder farmers exist within the irrigation scheme. This indicates that appropriate information in this regard is important for government in the formulation of policies aimed at the development of such farmers. Through this study, four types of smallholder farmers were identified within the same irrigation scheme. The methodology applied in achieving the aforementioned outputs pursued a specific sequence, starting with the formulation of questions. The particular study area was chosen due to the likelihood of the presence of different types of farmers that could be identified through the study. A list of the names of smallholders and other key information was provided by the local agricultural office. This assisted with the identification of people to be interviewed. The preliminary interviews were conducted with a sample size of 25 farmers and were aimed at gaining a better understanding of the people within the study area. The questionnaire used during these interviews contained open-ended questions that allowed respondents to express their views and make suggestions. This led to the development of a questionnaire consisting of closed-ended questions, aimed at eliciting responses that were relevant to the purpose of the survey. The questions were also as simple as possible to ensure that they would be clearly understood by both the interviewer and the respondents. About four weeks were spent in trying to understand the real setup of the study area and the lifestyle of the local community. The second step in the methodological sequence was the collection of data from 60 farmers. These interviews were conducted with the assistance of two extension officers. It was not possible to interview all the farmers at once, and it took about two weeks to interview all 60 farmers. Fortunately, the farmers were extremely co-operative throughout the entire interview process. The third step in the methodological sequence was the processing of the data collected during the interviews. The typology here was developed by means of qualitative analysis and had to be refined over a period of time to ensure a valid typology of farmers. This necessitated the use of other data analysis tools, which ultimately contributed towards the classification of farmers according to different types. Four types of farmers were eventually identified, namely: Highly intensive maize growers; Vegetable growers; Diversified maize growers; and Intensive diversified growers. Lastly, the conclusion that can be drawn from the research is that any attempt to develop smallholder irrigation farmers requires an understanding of their diversity – hence this study’s intention to identify, in a scientific manner, the existence of such diversity. Understanding diversity amongst farmers also requires an understanding of the different strategies that farmers employ to ensure their livelihood. This means that both the socio-economic and institutional setting of such farmers must be understood. / Dissertation (MInstAgrar)--University of Pretoria, 2010. / Agricultural Economics, Extension and Rural Development / unrestricted

No abstract available. / Dissertation (LLM)--University of Pretoria, 2011. / Mercantile Law / unrestricted

In assessing the impact of global tourism on climate change, emissions from transport receive the most attention although emissions associated with accommodation account for more than 20% of the total. A plethora of hotel certification schemes have been established worldwide that assess various environmental performance indicators, among them energy use. However, none explicitly quantify CO2 emissions, and in many, energy is poorly accounted for, or other non-energy related factors are weighted so that the overall impact of energy use (and hence CO2 emission) is weak. The main thrust of the research is to ascertain the effect of certification on CO2 emissions. The research questions whether the certification schemes are robust and rigorous and whether the results are credible. First, four widely used certification schemes are compared Nordic Swan (Scandinavia), Green Globe (Worldwide), EU Flower (European) and Green Hospitality Award (Ireland). The key issues are identified such as performance and process related criteria, use of benchmarks, and the weighting of different categories. A comparison is made with LEED-EB, a well-established environmental certification scheme, not dedicated to the hotel sector. Secondly, the way in which emissions from electricity, including so-called green electricity and carbon offsetting, are accounted for is examined since it is found that in obtaining certification, this often plays an important part. Actual annual energy use data is desperately needed as feedback to designers, managers and owners in order to give confidence that certification schemes have true validity. Results are presented from large multi-hotel data samples and for detailed results from the quality, illustrative in-depth studies which provided invaluable insight into the technical realities of a multitude of causes and effects which can often be masked in large data samples. An analysis was carried out for four In-depth studies located in Sweden (Nordic Swan), Maldives (Green Globe), Malta (EU Flower) and Ireland (Green Hospitality Award). Global CO2 emissions were compared and calculated from the delivered electricity and fuels consumption data from seventy selected certified hotels worldwide. No corrections were made in the calculations for climate, quality of services, existence of services etc. The performance indicator used is kgCO2 per guest night. The analyses shows no clear pattern. CO2 emissions show a wide variance in performance for 8 hotels certified under different schemes, as well as for 28 hotels certified under the same scheme. In some cases emissions reduced after certification in others no change. Certified hotels do not necessarily have lower emissions than uncertified hotels and a comparison of before – and after – certification shows no significant improvement prior to certification. Most dramatically emissions from certified hotels widely vary by a factor of 7. Although it is arguable a number of corrections should be made to account for different climates, the research highlights that hotels with high CO2 emissions are being awarded certification and it questions what message‘certification’ gives to guests and other stakeholders. At worst it appears ‘business as usual’ can achieve certification with no obvious improvement in performance. The overall conclusion is that existing certification schemes do not properly account for CO2 emissions and do not produce more energy efficient (or less CO2 intensive) buildings. Hotel accommodation was found to be more CO2 intensive than domestic emissions. The findings also uncovered inconsistencies in current methods of certification and indicate a vital need for improved methods. The results also challenge prevailing aesthetic stereotypes of sustainable hotels. The author concludes a simple CO2 accounting method is needed as the first step of a diagnostic process leading to a solution i.e. reduced emissions, to the problem i.e. high energy consumption and/or emissions, thus reducing the environmental impact (in terms of emissions reduction) of the hotel. This method of accounting can be adopted universally by using a Regional, European (O.475 kgCO2/kWh) or Universal (0.55 kgCO2/kWh) conversion factor. In relation to the proper calculation of energy and CO2 emission, sub-metering is a key factor, and with current technological developments, realistic and affordable. Furthermore, apart from certification itself, an essential quality with any monitoring system is that the user can obtain results easily and understandably, in order to get feedback from their actions. This could be facilitated by incorporating sub-metering as part of the building environmental management system software. This ensures that the certification activity is not simply a benchmark, but is also part of a diagnostic and educational process, which will continue to drive emissions down. Only then should it be ethically justified to use as a marketing tool providing diagnostic support in existing buildings, and design and operational guidance for new designs.

No description available.

Organisations are continuously re-engineering human resource strategy in order to attract, motivate and retain the best possible talent possible. This is a continuous process because strategies are quickly copied and replicated within industries. Share schemes have been used over a long period of time to attract, motivate and retain employees. The dawn of democracy in South Africa has seen the introduction of broad based black economic empowerment share schemes in a number of organisations. Organisations implemented these share schemes not only to improve BEE score rating but to motivate and retain employee.This research studies the impact that B-BBBEE share schemes have had on employee motivation and retention at a South African organisation. / Dissertation (MBA)--University of Pretoria, 2012. / Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) / unrestricted

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No description available.