Agriculture revenue contributions to Ghana's gross domestic product have declined because of limited farm funding, which has constrained some smallholder rice farmers access credit to acquire necessary inputs, and to secure a stable market for their harvests. The purpose of this qualitative multiple case study was to explore successful strategies some smallholder rice farmers in the Afadzato South District of Ghana used in obtaining farm funding. Data collection included semistructured, face-to-face interviews with 9 smallholder rice farmers who successfully obtained farm funding. Previous research, reports, and policies of the Ghana Ministry of Food and Agriculture served as additional data collection sources. Data were analyzed using thematic analysis and resulted in three major themes: the smallholder farmer's strategy of belonging to cooperative association membership, the smallholder farmer's strategy for satisfying lender collateral requirements, and smallholder farmer's strategies for developing a repayment rating history. The implications for positive social change include the potential to guide the smallholder farmers to successful strategies to access farm funding for their farming activities and increase their farm sizes. The increase in farm sizes may result in more rice production that can help mitigate hunger and reduce poverty in the Afadzato South District of Ghana.

The study uses the conventional economic approaches to savings behaviour as a point of departure. In the past, agricultural programmes and policies overlooked the importance of savings mobilization in favour of credit extension programmes. This line of economic development approach arose from the assumption that poor rural people cannot save and will not respond to opportunities to save. The latest research results clearly demonstrate that rural people do mobilise significant voluntary savings, even at their low levels of income. The thrust of the study was to research savings behaviour and motivation to save by resource poor farmers, with specific reference to farmers in Moretele District, Northwest Province. The study tested the hypothesis that poor people cannot save, and went further to analyse determinants of savings behaviour, motivations to save, sources of savings mobilization, savings accounts used and motivations to use a specific savings product. The application of the life cycle hypothesis was also analysed. Linear multiple regression, Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) technique, analysis of variance (ANOV A), and factor analysis (FA) were used to analyse the data pertinent to the study. The findings of the study confirmed income as a major determinant of savings mobilization in the district. The extent of dependency, defined as the proportion of the population of a country falling in the age groups of 0-15 and 64 years and older, considered economically unproductive and therefore not counted as part of the country's labour force was found to have a negative effect on the ability of farmers to save. This is due to large family sizes and high levels of dependency in households. Age was also discovered to influence savings behaviour, but not in accordance with the application of the life cycle hypothesis. With regards to motivations to save, it was found that farmers in the district mainly save to cater for emergencies and for grandchildren's education, and not for accumulation/investment purposes. In addition to the abovementioned savings motives, farmers were however found to consider an investment imperative as reflected by an interaction between savings for accumulation and emergency purposes. The low investment imperative may change if other emergency management structures are considered. The main sources of savings mobilization for the farmers were income from livestock sales and government social security grant (government old age pension). These farmers were discovered to prefer ordinary savings plans. The rationale for this choice was found to be motivated by ease of quick access to savings and the liquidity provided by this savings product. The liquidity requirement is regarded as a strategy to address emergencies and any other financial need that might arise. The findings of the study calls for policy instruments that will expedite the implementation of outreach programmes and strategies for voluntary savings mobilization that will cater for investment imperative and emergency needs. Critical to this will be the development of savings products that respond to the various needs of resource poor farmers as well as to serve different categories of rural savers. The decentralization of savings institutions and linking of formal and informal financial institutions will enhance access to financial services by the rural population. Policies intended to discourage large families would help reduce the high rates of dependencies and relieve pressure on household income, which could be used for savings. / Dissertation (MSc (Agricultural Economics))--University of Pretoria, 2007. / Agricultural Economics, Extension and Rural Development / unrestricted

MSCAGR / Department of Agricultural Economics and Agribusiness / The study was conducted in the Mutale Local Municipality, Vhembe District of South Africa on a proportionally randomly selected sample of 153 smallholder farmers after clustering them into agricultural zones and commodity groupings (vegetables under irrigation, dryland maize and citrus fruit farming). Data were collected through a structured qualitative and quantitative questionnaire that was administered face-to-face to respondents and captured into the SPSS Version 24 computer program. The same program was used to analyse data through cross tabulations and logistic regression modelling. In particular, the study focussed on the impact of socio-economic characteristics, challenges that farmers face and views of extension officers on transforming subsistence farmers towards commercialization. The most critical findings of the study were dominance of women, lower youth participation, poor training and educational achievements, non-membership to agricultural organizations, low income levels and dependence on social grants and lack of credit as factors that could impact on farmers’ transformation process. Farmers’ challenges that could impact on transformation were identified as lack of production inputs, water, access to market and supportive infrastructure such as mechanization. However, the views of extension officers regarding transformation centred mostly around insufficient land holdings, climate change and financial support. In contrast to farmers, extension officers viewed market access as a minor challenge. The study recommended for development of strategies that could increase youth participation in farming such as start-up credit, reduction of dependence on social grants by adopting strategies that could increase productivity and thus income, exposure to funding opportunities through training and increased involvement of institutions of higher learning into smallholder farming activities.

Magister Philosophiae - MPhil / The purpose of this study is to investigate determinants of land tenure, agricultural activities involvement, and the use of agricultural products and stock keeping among small-scale farmers across all nine provinces of South Africa. Little is known regarding tenure status that households typically use to access land across nine provinces of South Africa. The characteristics of household heads in small-scale farming still under-researched; and socio-demographic characteristics for household subsistence still scanty in the literature. GHS between 2015 and 2018 from StatsSA was employed.

Climate change in the East African country of Uganda is causing severe variations in the once predictable seasonal weather patterns that farmers had come to depend on. This, in combination with social and economic challenges, has significantly increased the vulnerability of farmers who make up the majority of Uganda’s population. Previous knowledge and observations suggest that Ugandan farmers may be reluctant or slow to change their practices in response to the changing climate. Strategies are therefore needed to identify challenges and sustainable solutions. This research used qualitative data collection methods known as participatory rural appraisal (PRA) and participatory action research (PAR) over a seven-month period with two communities in western Uganda. One community was located in an urban area while the other was rural. Research methods were used to first identify real challenges specific to the community before developing strategies to solve them. Both of these steps were conducted in a bottom-up community-based way, utilizing the expertise of community participants. Overall, the main problems identified included degraded water resources, poor farm performance, gender issues, and health challenges. Most of these problems were not directly a result of climate change, but rather a combination of social and economic challenges like poverty and a lack of support from the government and other organizations. In both communities, sustainable solutions to major problems were created by increasing the overall knowledge, expertise, and cooperation among community participants in addition to improving access to local services. The actions taken resulted in a pilot project that improved water resources for the rural community. The approach was effective because it allowed the communities to advocate for themselves to create lasting change. This research builds upon a rapidly growing body of literature on the effectiveness of community-based efforts to solve real-life problems in struggling communities. Furthermore, these findings also challenge more traditional donor-driven approaches to development.

During the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, the xii Shoshones of Cache Valley evolved from scattered pedestrian hunter-gatherers to large, armed, mounted bands that hunted and gathered from the Great Basin to the Plains. Trade with European Americans helped initiate this evolution. However, Shoshones did not respond passively to the presence of European Americans. Shoshones actively sought change, and incorporated trade goods into their culture within a Shoshone context. They adapted to each wave of European Americans that they encountered. When Mormons dispossessed them of their land, Cache Valley Shoshones resisted by going on the offensive. Finally overwhelmed, the remnants of the Cache Valley Shoshones submitted--physically but not spiritually--to European-American oversight.

I conduct the first comparative analysis of long term human population stability in North America. Questions regarding population stability among animals and plants are fundamental to population ecology, yet no anthropological research has addressed human population stability. This is an important knowledge gap, because a species’ population stability can have implications for its risk of extinction and for the stability of the ecological community in which it lives. I use archaeological and paleoclimatological data to compare long term population stability with subsistence strategy and climate stability over 6,000 years. I conduct my analysis on a large scale to better understand general trends between population stability, subsistence strategy, and climate stability. I found that agricultural sequences fluctuate less than hunter-gatherer sequences in general, but they also experience rare, extreme population swings not seen among hunter-gatherers. I suggest that agriculturalists are more vulnerable to population collapses because of their increased population densities. I found that population stability shows a weak relationship with climate stability. Climate stability may have an indirect effect on long-term population stability.

Groups of agriculturalist/hunter-gatherers known as the Fremont inhabited the eastern Great Basin and Colorado Plateau from roughly A.D. 1-A.D. 1350 (Madsen 1989). Fremont groups used differing storage strategies through time and across space. Storage strategies included on-site and off-site storage facilities which were constructed above and/or below-ground. These forms of storage occurred at different frequencies and times throughout the Fremont's 1350 year time span. Researchers (Binford 1980, 1990; Keeley 1988; Soffer 1989; Testart 1982; Wills 1992; Young 1996) using examples from various parts of the world have noted a correlation between the degree of residential mobility and the use of storage. Lisa Young's (1996) model of storage and mobility posits that there is a direct correlation between the types of storage facilities a group uses and the level of mobility that they engage in. Generally, groups who use subterranean and/or off-site storage engage in a mobile or semi-sedentary settlement strategy and those who use on-site above-ground storage engage in a sedentary settlement strategy. This model was used to analyze mobility among the Fremont. To do so, a storage database was created which contained information on Fremont storage features such as type, location, date, and size. Analysis shows that there was a general trend of increasing sedentism through time for the Fremont, although this trend varies in degree through three general time periods and in three geographic areas. Further, the data was analyzed to determine whether there was significant spatial or temporal patterning of storage facilities. It was found that significant patterns do exist and are correlated in part with Fremont mobility.

Throughout the past, bioarchaeologists have been concerned with identifying subsistence strategies of past populations and when subsistence strategies have transitioned from foraging to agriculture practices. Specifically, one area of major concentration has been examining the transition from foraging to agriculture in the southeast of the present day United States. The present study examines the transition of subsistence practices in prehistoric Tennessee utilizing dental microwear texture analysis. This study examined a total of 49 individuals from Archaic and Mississippian sites. These were compared temporally by comparing Archaic microwear signatures to Mississippian microwear signatures, and geographically, through the comparison of each site in relation to its geographic location. Non-parametric Mann-Whitney U tests were utilized to determine if statistical significant differences existed between the Archaic and Mississippian groups analyzed, and to determine if statistical significant differences existed based on geographic location. Due to the small sample size utilized in the study, it must be stated that the results are preliminary and further testing using dental microwear texture analysis needs to be undertaken in order to better understand the results.

The parasitic weeds belonging to the genus Striga are among the world's most tenacious, prolific and destructive agricultural pests. Crop loss estimates due to Striga infestations can reach 100 percent. Furthermore, the weeds' affinity for low-fertility soils and low rainfall means that those farming the most marginal lands are most severely affected. Nonetheless, subsistence farmer have yet to adopt seemingly beneficial control practices to any appreciable degree. This paper develops a bio-economic model capable of identifying: (1) affordable, effective Striga control practices consistent with the resource constraints of subsistence farmers; and (2) barriers to the adoption of those practices. The model is comprised of two components: a biological component modeling Striga population dynamics, and an economic component representing the production opportunity set, resource constraints, and price parameters farmers face. The model is applied to two zones in Northwestern Mali, Sirakorola and Mourdiah, and solved using non-linear, dynamic programming. Data collected by the USAID IPM-CRSP/Mali project are used to specify the economic parameters of the model. A new technique for estimating the lower bound of a farmer's production planning horizon is also developed and employed in the application of the model to Sirakorola and Mourdiah. The results of several model scenarios indicate that the availability of information regarding the efficacy of Striga control practices is a primary barrier to their adoption by subsistence farmers. The movement of Striga seed between fields, however, is of limited importance. The "optimal control practices" identified by the model depend on the size and demographic composition of the production unit (UP), the zone in which the UP is located, and the cash budget available to the UP. At low budget levels, the model suggests planting millet without fertilizer at a high density in Sirakorola and a low density in Mourdiah. At high budget levels, the model suggests planting millet at a high density in both zones while applying urea. The benefits of adopting the optimal set of practices are presented in both nutritional and financial terms, and can reach as much as a ten-fold increase in the nutritional content of and financial returns to a harvest. / Ph. D.