Since the 1979 World Conference on Agrarian Reform and Rural Development (WCARRD) and the 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment Development, international agricultural development organizations have been urged to strengthen their focus toward the sustainable development of the small-scale, resource poor farmer. A recent report from the Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations (FAO, 1996) indicated that many small-scale farmers were not being reached by agricultural extension, although approximately 75% of the worlds' farmers are small-scale, resource poor farmers. The report suggested that in some instances agricultural extension services reported reaching one out of three farmers in Africa. In other areas such as the Near East, the report stated that one out of seven farmers had been reached by the extension services. This study investigated the small-scale, resource poor farmer's ongoing level of participation, rate of adoption of agricultural technology, and the sustainable benefits of the implemented projects within the documents of several international agricultural development organizations to determine if the farmers can positively impact the forecasted food shortage expected during the early part of the 21st Century. To accomplish this, the methodology utilized the Light and Pillemer (1984) method of exploratory literature review. The Light and Pillemer method provided the foundation for data collection as well as numerical and narrative document analysis. Data collection: Eleven key governmental and non-governmental international agricultural development organizations were contacted by the researcher and supplied the following types of documents: (1) unpublished completed projects reports, (2) unpublished annual reports, and (3) published news reports. A planned systematic investigation of the documents was carried out (Girden, 1996). Numerical and Narrative Document Analysis: Both numerical and narrative data were collected from the documents. The Light and Pillemer (1984) method was used to determine the level of overall project change in those documents which provided numerical or quantitative data. Meta ethnography and the QSR NUD.ist computer software (Qualitative Solutions and Research Pty. Ltd., 1996) were used to investigate themes and characteristics of the narrative data within the documents. The findings of the study were placed in matrices which provided a systematic examination of the characteristics of the implemented projects of 51 international agricultural development organizations located within 38 developing countries. The narrative document analysis indicated the participation of the smal-lscale, resource poor farmers. The characteristic indicators of farmer participation were farmer participation in: farmers groups, select groups, community development, and in capacity building methods such as training, leadership development, and planning and decision making. The findings of the study suggest that though many international agricultural development organizations claim that they are making some progress there remains a grave need for international agricultural research and extension to provide more documentation of project outcomes especially those outcome which are concerned with more than 75% of the worlds' farmers, the small-scale, resource poor farmer. For example, of the study’s 51 projects, only six reported small-scale, resource poor farmers participation percentage. Seven projects reported numerical data on before and after rate of adoption of the technology. Sixteen of the 51 projects reported numerical data on sustainable benefits of the project to the small-scale, resource poor farmer. Only one document reported data on both the adoption of technology and sustainable benefits to the small-scale, resource poor farmer. However, in light of the world impacting Plan of Actions (i.e. 1979 World Conference on Agrarian Reform and Rural Development held in Rome, Italy; 1991 Plan of Action for Peoples’ Participation report of the Twenty-sixth Session held in Rome, Italy; 1992 Agenda 21 document a product of the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development held in Brazil; and the 1996 Plan of Action for Global Partnership in Agricultural Research held in Washington, D.C.) all of the documents should have indicated this type of essential data, and should be striving for a development which would be both productive and sustainable to the farmer. The results of this study suggested that the impending need for improved global food production as we move into the 21st century through the more than one million small-scale, resource poor farmer participants within the projects of this study may not be met due to the low amount of evidence in the implemented project reports of adoption of the technology, and the inadequate reporting of benefits essential to the small-scale, resource poor farmer. / Ph. D.

Thesis (M.A.)--University of Montana, 2007. / Title from title screen. Description based on contents viewed Aug. 1, 2007. Includes bibliographical references (p. 102-106).

Thesis (Ph.D. (Psychology)) -- University of Limpopo, 2022 / Climate change poses a major threat to both the well-being of people and the environment. Subsistence farmers are particularly affected because they rely on local supply systems that are sensitive to climate variation. The aim of the study was to explore psychological resilience factors associated with climate change adaptation by subsistence farmers in a rural farming community in Maruleng Municipality in Limpopo Province (South Africa). The objectives of the study were to: investigate subsistence farmers' notions of climate change and adaptation; determine the psychological resilience factors influencing the farmers’ adaptation the climate change; determine strategies that the farmers use to cope with climate change; and, based on the farmers’ notions of climate change and adaptation, and the associated resilience factors, develop a psychological explanatory model on climate change adaptation by subsistence farmers. Data were collected through direct interactions with participants using a grounded theory research design. An open-ended interview guide was used to collect data with a sample of 15 participants selected through theoretical sampling within the Maruleng Municipality. The research findings indicate that farmers have limited conceptual knowledge relating to climate change and its causes. The results further indicated that participants have become resilient to climate change through mitigation strategies including mulching, adaptive irrigation techniques and being innovative. From a psychological perspective, the subsistence farmers’ resilience factors that emerged included passion for farming, hope, enthusiasm, courage, acceptance or tolerance, livelihood and a coherent belief system. Based on the findings of the study, a psychological explanatory model in climate change adaptation by subsistence farmers was developed. The explanatory model suggests that resilience factors are influenced by notions and adaptations of climate change. The study is concluded by, among others, recommending that counseling services be made available to farmers to help them deal with the stress associated with the negative impact of climate change.

Thesis (MDev.) -- University of Limpopo, 2014 / Smallholder subsistence agriculture is regarded as an approach that can be adopted by poor rural households to meet their food and nutritional requirements. The practice of smallholder subsistence agriculture is a basis upon which poor households can enhance their household food security through increased incomes and food supply, ultimately generating extra income for other household needs. The present study discusses and analyses the importance of smallholder subsistence agriculture as an effective method easily available to households residing in rural areas to access food and incomes for household purposes. Hence, the study seeks to explore and analyses the role of smallholder subsistence agriculture in contributing to household food security in rural areas. Both primary and secondary data have been used to analyze the factors for the purpose of the study. The primary data were collected through a designed survey questionnaire administered to sampled smallholder subsistence farmers in the study area. This study used purposive sampling technique, through a transect walk, to draw households involved in smallholder subsistence agriculture in Maroteng Village. From the total population in the study area, only 100 households were selected for the purposes of the study. Both descriptive and qualitative techniques were used to analyze salient variables of the practice in order to give an insight of the important role the sector can play in addressing poverty, enhancing incomes and creating employment, consequently contributing to household food security in rural areas. The study shows that the participation on smallholder subsistence farming by households in rural areas could have positive impact on food security situations.

Thesis (M.A. Admin. (Development)) -- University of Limpopo, 2014. / Smallholder subsistence agriculture is regarded as an approach that can be adopted by poor rural households to meet their food and nutritional requirements. The practice of smallholder subsistence agriculture is a basis upon which poor households can enhance their household food security through increased incomes and food supply, ultimately generating extra income for other household needs. The present study discusses and analyses the importance of smallholder subsistence agriculture as an effective method easily available to households residing in rural areas to access food and incomes for household purposes. Hence, the study seeks to explore and analyses the role of smallholder subsistence agriculture in contributing to household food security in rural areas. Both primary and secondary data have been used to analyze the factors for the purpose of the study. The primary data were collected through a designed survey questionnaire administered to sampled smallholder subsistence farmers in the study area. This study used purposive sampling technique, through a transect walk, to draw households involved in smallholder subsistence agriculture in Maroteng Village. From the total population in the study area, only 100 households were selected for the purposes of the study. Both descriptive and qualitative techniques were used to analyze salient variables of the practice in order to give an insight of the important role the sector can play in addressing poverty, enhancing incomes and creating employment, consequently contributing to household food security in rural areas. The study shows that the participation on smallholder subsistence farming by households in rural areas could have positive impact on food security situations.

Thesis (MScAgric (Plant Pathology)--Stellenbosch University, 2008. Includes bibliography.summary,list of figures and appendices. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Fusarium spp. and Aspergillus spp. are toxin-producing fungi associated with maize and groundnut. Fusarium verticillioides produces fumonisins in maize, and Aspergillus flavus produces aflatoxins in maize and groundnut kernels. Both toxins are responsible for carcinogenesis in humans and animals. Contamination of maize and groundnut with mycotoxins is often most severe in rural areas where subsistence farmers are unaware of their existence and follow agricultural practices that might contribute to their production. A questionnaire was, therefore, compiled to investigate agricultural decisions in rural areas that may influence mycotoxin contamination of crops. During 2006 and 2007, maize and groundnut samples were collected in the Eastern Cape, KwaZulu-Natal (KZN), Limpopo, and Mpumalanga provinces. Mycotoxin levels were quantified using the ELISA technique, and the incidence of Fusarium spp. in maize grain was determined by plating maize kernels out on Fusarium selective medium. Fumonisin-producing Fusarium spp. were also quantified using real-time PCR (TaqMan). The incidence of A. flavus and A. parasiticus in groundnut was determined by plating out kernels on potato dextrose agar. Fumonisin contamination levels in maize samples ranged from 0-21.8 parts per million (ppm) and aflatoxin levels ranged from 0- 49 parts per billion (ppb), depending on the region where samples were collected. Aflatoxin levels in groundnut ranged from 0-160.1 ppb. Fusarium verticillioides was the most common Fusarium sp. in maize followed by F. subglutinans and F. proliferatum, respectively. Regression analyses showed a positive correlation between fumonisin-producing Fusarium species when determined by real-time PCR and fumonisin concentration (r2=0.866). Regression analyses further showed a highly significant positive correlation between A. flavus and aflatoxin contamination (r2=0.10235). Samples from northern KZN contained levels of mycotoxins that were far in excess of the maximum levels set by the Food and Drug Administration in the USA. In South Africa there are currently no regulations with regard to the maximum allowable levels of fumonisin in human food. The high incidence of mycotoxin contamination of human food in subsistence farming systems indicates the need for awareness programmes and further research. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Fusarium spp. en Aspergillus spp. is toksien-produserende fungi wat met mielies en grondbone geassosieer word. Fusarium verticillioides produseer fumonisiene in mielies, terwyl, A. flavus aflatoksiene in mielies en grondbone produseer. Beide toksiene is karsinogenies vir mens en dier. Die vlakke van toksien-kontaminasie is meestal die ergste in landelike gebiede waar bestaansboere onbewus is daarvan. Landboupraktyke wat deur die boere toegepas word vererger dikwels die probleem. ‘n Vraelys is saamgestel om vas te stel watter landboupraktyke in landelike gebiede toegepas word, en hoe dit toksien-kontaminasie in mielies en grondbone beinvloed. In die 2006 en 2007 seisoene is mielie- en grondboonmonsters in Kwa-Zulu-Natal (KZN), die Oos Kaap, Limpopo en die Mpumalanga provinsie versamel. Toksien-vlakke is gekwantifiseer deur gebruik te maak van die ELISA tegniek. Die insidensie van Fusarium spp. in mielies was bepaal deur pitte op Fusariumselektiewe agar uit te plaat. Fumonisien-produserende Fusarium spp. was ook gekwantifiseer deur van kwantitatiewe PCR (TaqMan) gebruik te maak. Die voorkoms van A. flavus en A. parasiticus is bepaal deurdat mielie- en grondboonpitte op aartappel dekstrose agar uit te plaat. Fumonisien-vlakke in die mieliemonsters het gewissel van 0-21.8 dele per miljoen (dpm), terwyl aflatoksienvlakke gewissel het van 0-49 dele per biljoen (dpb), afhangende van die omgewing waar monsters versamel is. Aflatoksien vlakke in die grondboonmonsters het gewissel van 0-160.1 dpb. Fusarium verticillioides is die meeste vanuit mielies geisoleer, gevolg deur F. subglutinans en F. proliferatum. Regressie analises het ‘n positiewe korrelasie tussen fumonisien konsentrasie en fumonisien-produserende spp. aangedui waar daar gebruik gemaak is van die kwantitatiewe PCR (r2= 0.866). Regressie analises het ‘n hoogs betekenisvolle positiewe korrelasie getoon tussen A. flavus en aflatoksien kontaminasie (r2=0.10). Monsters van noordelike KZN het toksienvlakke bevat ver bokant die maksimum toelaatbare vlakke is soos bepaal deur die Food en Drug Administrasie in die Verenigde State van Amerika. Daar is tans geen regulasies in Suid Afrika wat die maksimum toelaatbare vlakke van fumonisiene in voedsel vir menslike gebruik bepaal nie. Die hoë voorkoms van mikotoksien-kontaminasie in bestaansboer-sisteme, dui die belangrikheid van verdere navorsing en bewusmakings-progamme aan.

Arctic ecosystems are undergoing rapid environmental transformations. Climate change is affecting permafrost temperature, vegetation structure, and wildlife populations, and increasing human development is impacting a range of ecological processes. Arctic indigenous communities are particularly vulnerable to environmental change, as subsistence harvesting plays a major role in local lifestyles. In the Inuvialuit Settlement Region (ISR), in the western Canadian Arctic, indigenous land-users are witnessing a broad spectrum of environmental changes, which threaten subsistence practices. Local cumulative effects monitoring programs acknowledge the importance of subsistence land use; however there are few cumulative effects assessments that measure the impact of environmental change on land-based activities. My MSc addresses this gap with a broad-scale spatial inventory that measures the distribution of multiple disturbances in the mainland ISR, and assesses their overlap with community planning areas, land management zones, and caribou harvesting areas. I also generated nine future disturbance scenarios that simulate increases in both human development and wildfire occurrence, in order to understand how additional environmental change may affect the availability of un-impacted harvesting lands. I used the conservation planning software, Marxan, to assess the impact of increasing environmental perturbations on the availability and contiguity of 40 subsistence harvesting areas. Results show that the study region is already impacted by multiple environmental disturbances, and that these disturbances overlap considerably with wildlife harvesting areas. This limits the success of Marxan runs that attempt to conserve high percentages of subsistence use areas. It becomes increasingly difficult to conserve large, contiguous assortments of wildlife harvesting areas when using Marxan to assess conservation potential in future disturbance scenarios. In a separate study, I conducted 20 semi-structured interviews in the communities of Inuvik, Aklavik, and Tuktoyaktuk that explored the impact of environmental change on Inuvialuit land-users. Participants in my study indicated that wildlife harvesting in the region is being affected by a range of environmental disturbances and that this change is typically considered to be negative. Climate change-related disturbances were noted to affect travel routes, access to harvesting areas, wildlife dynamics, and the quality of meat and pelts. Human activity, such as oil exploration, was noted to impact both wildlife populations and harvesters’ ability to use the land. These observations are an important contribution to local cumulative effects monitoring because they highlight local accounts of environmental change, which are often missed in broad-scale assessments, and they emphasize the concerns of local land-users. This underscores the importance of including indigenous insights in cumulative effects monitoring and suggests that combining quantitative assessments of environmental change with the knowledge of local land-users can improve regional cumulative effects monitoring. / Graduate

Problem statement Previous studies have indicated that poverty can be reduced through selling products to the poor. Moreover, these markets contain a large potential for profit that is currently untapped. Reaching these however requires substantial innovativeness and many companies have tried and failed. Surprisingly then, little theoretical guidelines exist on how to create social innovative products for poor markets. Purpose and research question The purpose of this study is to contribute to a better understanding of social product innovation for poor markets. This is done through investigating key factors to consider for SMEs emanating from developed countries in order to create social innovative products for these markets. Methodology This paper is a qualitative research and takes an exploratory approach, and uses a cross- sectional, multiple case study methodology. This study has investigated four products emanating from Swedish micro-SMEs, sold primarily in Tanzania, Zambia and Kenya. The empirical data was collected through conducting 12 semi-structured interviews. Results and conclusion The result of this paper contributed to a deeper understanding of social product innovation in subsistence markets. Theoretical guidelines in form of a model has been developed which summarizes 19 key factors that SMEs emanating from developed countries need to consider in order to create social innovative products for subsistence markets. Out of these, three are deemed to be of particular importance, namely the need to understand the marketplace, to develop the product in a price-based costing framework, and to scale.

Ce travail interroge la constitution d’une métaphysique de la personne humaine dans la pensée de Thomas d’Aquin. Si on s’accorde généralement à reconnaître que la réflexion thomasienne sur la personne a eu une influence décisive sur la compréhension moderne de l’homme comme personne, on constate également que l’expression personne humaine n’est pas familière de l’Aquinate et ne fait l’objet d’aucun développement particulier dans son œuvre. En effet, l’approche métaphysique de la personne humaine dans le corpus thomasien est logée dans les textes théologiques dans lesquels Thomas, suivant une démarche analogique, définit la personne divine en conservant l’affinité avec l'homme. Ce travail de conceptualisation, à la charnière de la théologie et de l’anthropologie, s’inscrit dans le sillage de la thématique chrétienne de l’homme image de Dieu. Dans le monde latin, les diverses composantes de cette riche tradition se rassemblent à la fin du VIe siècle autour de la figure de Boèce. Au détours des analogies sur les mystères de la Trinité et du Christ, Thomas est conduit à repenser la métaphysique de la substance et de la subsistence, héritage de la traduction de la notion grecque d'hypostase effectué par Boèce. Au bout du compte, ces analogies n’aboutissent pas seulement à une métaphysique de la personne subsistant dans la nature humaine, elles fondent ultimement une véritable métaphysique de la personne humaine en définissant une manière humaine de subsister. / This work examines the formation of a metaphysics of the human person in the thought of Thomas Aquinas. On one side it is generally agreed that the Thomistic thought on the person had a decisive influence on the modern understanding of man as a person, on the other side the term human person is not familiar of Aquinas and not subject to any particular development in his work. Indeed, the metaphysical approach of the human person in the Thomistic corpus is found in the theological texts in which Thomas defines the divine person maintening the affinity with man. This work of conceptualization deals with the Christian theme of man image of God using the analogy. In the Latin world, the various components of this rich tradition come together in the late sixth century around the figure of Boethius. From analogies on the mysteries of the Trinity and of Christ, Thomas is led to rethink the metaphysics of substance and subsistence inherited from the translation of the Greek notion of hypostasis made by Boethius. Ultimately, these analogies do not lead only to a metaphysics of the person subsisting in human nature, they found a true metaphysics of the human person by defining a human subsisting way.

Magister Commercii - MCom / Women play an important role in food security. Growing, processing, purchasing, preparing and serving food to their families is a common and distinctive relationship they have to food in most societies in the world. They also play a critical role in food security. Yet, studies show that women are the most vulnerable to household food insecurity. At the heart of women’s differential vulnerability to household food insecurity is their lack of ownership of the means of food production, mainly land. Food is grown on land and access to land for productive purposes is vital for food security, especially for women who have little other means of securing food aside from performing subsistence farming for household food security. Thus, analyzing women experiences of accessing land and productive resources, and the manner in which such access shapes their empowerment and ability to achieve household food security is important. In this dissertation, women’s empowerment refers to a process where women gain the ability to make strategic life choices; I take the position that for women to be empowered, their access to resources, individual capacities and agency must be improved. Thus, this dissertation aims to examine the lived experiences of female farmers in Stellenbosch in terms of access to land and productive resources, and the implications this kind of access has for women’s empowerment and household food security.