Albeit much effort having been put to review the performance trend of smallholder irrigation farmers in South Africa. However, there seems to be a paucity of information regarding the level of entrepreneurship on these farmers. Most research works on smallholder irrigation farmers have mainly focused on livelihoods trajectory providing a review on how the welfare of the rural poor has been transformed after the introduction of irrigation schemes. With most research evidence indicating a high degree of underperformance on most smallholder irrigation schemes, this research attempted to investigate the level of entrepreneurship among the small holder irrigation farmers. In order to achieve the main research objective, a sample of 110 farmers drawn from Qamata irrigation scheme was interviewed and each farmer’s performance on the nine components of entrepreneurship was assessed. The aspects assessed to determine the farmer’s entrepreneurial behaviour were: planning ability, risk taking, achievement motivation, leadership ability, Cosmo politeness, decision making, and innovativeness and farming knowledge. Basing on previous studies which indicated entrepreneurial behaviour to be influenced by several factors the study also analysed the determinants of entrepreneurship among the irrigation farmers and a binary logistic regression model was used to establish the connection between various independent variables and the farmers’ entrepreneurial performance given as a total score of the nine components. Though the findings of the study revealed a prevalently low level of entrepreneurship among the smallholder irrigation farmers on Qamata irrigation scheme, a high proportion of the respondent farmers (65.5% and 60.5%) showed to have a high degree of achievement motivation and decision making ability, respectively. The observed trend thus reflected that smallholder farmers have a potential to become entrepreneurs and are willing to succeed. The binary model results revealed that the prevailing land tenure system will be a strong determinant of the farmer’s level of entrepreneurship. Equally, levels of training in farming, motive for farming and information seeking tendency also proved to have a significant influence on the degree of farmer entrepreneurship. Based on the results of this study recommendations have thus been drawn on the need for policies and practices aimed at promoting entrepreneurship and not dependency among farmers. Key focus areas identified include: the need to revise the current land ii tenure system on irrigation schemes, intensify on entrepreneurship training for both farmers and extension officers and regular on-farm training on new technologies.

The study was conducted to determine the effect of agricultural extension services on beneficiaries of the Nguni Cattle project in Ncera and Kwezana villages, both in Nkonkobe local Municipality of the Eastern Cape Province. The objectives of this study were to determine the quality of extension services offered to the beneficiaries of the Nguni cattle project, relationship between extension officers and beneficiaries of the project, lastly was to determine communication strategies used by extension officers to communicate with the project beneficiaries. A total of 73 Nguni cattle project beneficiaries were interviewed. Semi- structured questionnaires were administered to the beneficiaries of the project who were willing to participate in the study. Xhosa speaking enumerators assisted in data collection. Focus group discussions were later carried out in both villages to determine effect of agricultural extension services on socio-economic status of the beneficiaries. The focus groups were divided into three groups of different ages and gender. The majority of the beneficiaries in the project were males (62.2 % Ncera and 75% Kwezana). There was an association between gender and extension services. Farmers depended on different sources of income. Old age pension and animal sales being the main contributing sources and also having a significant difference. The results of the study further revealed that the beneficiaries were faced with cattle production challenges, lack of extension support services being the main challenge. The results of the study indicated that the majority of beneficiaries had no access to extension services. Only 37.8% and 32.1 % at Ncera and Kwezana respectively reported that they had access to extension services. Although the latter is the case it was further explained by the beneficiaries that extension services offered to them were of poor quality due to poor communication strategies used to provide these services. Beneficiaries also reported the relationship between them and extension officers’ as poor. It was concluded that extension services had an effect on beneficiaries of the Nguni cattle project, largely based on the constraints they face on the project and limited access to extension services.

Background: In South Africa, limited research has focused on the task demands and workers responses associated with forestry silviculture work, particularly pitting and planting. The methods currently in use are manual, but despite our lack of understanding of the existing demands, advances in forestry engineering have resulted in an introduction of semi-mechanised versions of these tasks. This project aimed to compare the task demands of silviculture tasks using the current manual techniques and the more modern, semi-mechanised techniques. Methods: A holistic investigation focused on the worker characteristics of a sample of black male pitters and black female planters from the Kwa-Zulu Natal forestry industry, as well as biomechanical (spinal kinematics and L5/S1 forces), physiological (heart rate, oxygen consumption and energy expenditure) and psychophysical (ratings of perceived exertion and body discomfort) responses associated with manual and semi-mechanised pitting and planting. Results: The pitting task saw significant improvements in the spinal kinematic measures as a result of the increased mechanisation, with eight of the 16 recorded variables decreasing to a lower level of risk classification. Physiologically, the manual task was associated with a mean heart rate of 157 bt.min⁻¹ and absolute energy expenditure of 11.27 kcal.min⁻¹, which were not found to be significantly different to the values of 143 bt.min⁻¹ and 9.8 kcal.min⁻¹ recorded during the semi-mechanised technique. Psychophysical responses indicated that the workers perceived manual pitting to be more physically demanding than the semi-mechanised method. The manual and semi-mechanised planting tasks were, in general, found to be acceptable from a spinal kinematics perspective, with the majority of variables classified as low risk. However, the maximum sagittal angle was reduced by more than 20 degrees as a result of the new equipment. The physiological and psychophysical demands associated with manual planting were found to be within acceptable limits. Conclusion: In terms of pitting, it can tentatively be concluded that the semi-mechanised technique is better than the manual one, based on the biomechanical and psychophysical findings, however physiological demands require further investigation. When considering the planting techniques, the semi-mechanised method showed a slight improvement from the biomechanical perspective, but further physiological and psychophysical investigations are needed.

Due to the particular nature of accelerated soil erosion, its impact on food security is usually very intense. The impact starts first on the farmer, and then to his/ her environment. This is why soil erosion, when unchecked, is very devastating. Therefore this study was set to evaluate the perceived impact of soil erosion on food security in the Upper and Lower Areas of Didimana, Eastern Cape of South Africa, and the role farmers’ adoption behaviours play in the interaction. Three specific objectives were put forward by the study, vis-à-vis: (1) to establish farmers’ perceptions on the impact of soil erosion on food security of the study area; (2) to establish farmers’ innovation adoption behaviour with respect to soil erosion control in the study area; and (3) to establish farmers’ perceptions on the impact of extension activities with respect to soil erosion-control in the study area. The central argument of discussion is that soil erosion like every other agricultural problem, is the result of farmers’ non-adoption or inappropriate adoption of improved and recommended soil management technologies in the study area. The survey method of research was adopted for the study, where data were collected, using a well structured questionnaire, from a total of 60 farmers in the study area, through a simple random sampling process. Farmers’ perception suggested that the impact of soil erosion in their area is severe. This severity is demonstrated firstly in the form of climate change, as the time of rain in their area is gradually changing, and thus changing their time of cropping. Similarly the livelihoods of farmers are being negatively affected, as farmers’ crops, livestock, and even household feeding are being affected. More so, findings indicate that most farmers now plant fewer crops and there is an estimation of crop loss by most farmers of well between 21-60 percent of crops every year. Farmers’ perception further revealed that due to soil erosion, over 50 percent of farmers are unsustainable and a total of 71.7 percent of farmers’ population admitted that the amount of food available for their households is being severely affected. In virtually every sphere of human endeavours improved technologies have been developed to solve human problems, but the main reason problems like soil erosion is still very evident is the fact of farmers’ non-adoption or inappropriate adoption of specific recommended technologies. In the study area, the role of farmers’ adoption behaviour in the interaction of the impact of soil erosion on food security was very prominent. Findings indicate that despite the presence of certain recommended soil management technologies in the study area, majority of farmers do not use them neither extension advices. Moreover their satisfaction with those technologies was found to be low, which could be an explanation why they do not use them. For innovation to be adopted, rejected or utilized inappropriately, the effectiveness and performance of agricultural extension, as well as farmers’ perception play a great role. Thus in the study area, farmers’ perception on extension effectiveness indicates that extension hardly talk about soil erosion and its control during times of their visit. Similarly, farmers’ rating for extension services and advices was as well very low (23.4 percent). In fact, a comparison of farmers’ traditional methods of soil erosion control with extension recommendations (53.4 percent) indicated that farmers perceive their local methods of more importance than extension methods. In the same vein, majority of farmers in the area indicated that extension officers are inadequate in their jobs. Reasons offered range from issues of unreliability, lack of regular visits, communication problems, less attention for crop farming, and other reasons such as extension being unconcerned for subsistence farmers, as well as the fact that they focus more on cooperatives. In all, the findings of the descriptive statistics reveal that the impact of soil erosion on food security in the study area is very significant, and the results of the linear regression model of relationships in the study reveal that soil erosion relates positively with age of farmers, their product quality, and their sustainability. In a similar note, the innovation adoption behaviours of farmers was also found to be positively related to farm yield and food accessibility. Thus showing that innovation adoption behaviour of farmers in the interaction of soil erosion and food security in the study area is significant. Therefore, efforts should be geared toward improving factors that increases yield and accessibility of farmers to serve as boosters of farmers’ motivation towards the adoption of appropriate soil management technologies in their area.

Thesis (M.A. Agricultural Management (Agricultural Extension)) -- University of Limpopo, 2019 / This study was designed to examine the perceptions of subsistence farmers about the use of the extension communication channels to receive farm management information including climate variability in relation to their innovation decision process. A survey approach was used in this study and by means of stratified sampling, 85 farmers were selected from 372 respondents from Mankweng and 251 from Tshebela service centres in Polokwane Local Municipality for interviews considering gender and their proportions in each service centre. Data were collected from individual respondents by means of personal interviews using a semi-structured questionnaire. The questionnaire was tested among similar farmers in a village near the University of Limpopo. The data were subjected to both descriptive and inferential analyses using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) programme. The findings around the research questions and the hypothesis test showed that all respondents received farm management information including climate variability through all 10 communication channels investigated. Furthermore, it was indicated that group discussion was the only channel through which most respondents received information most of the time. The study findings also revealed that of all the channels investigated, slightly more than half of the respondents preferred group discussions and of those who preferred group discussions, almost half of them preferred it as the first choice. The hypothesis test further showed that the farmer characteristics that positively influence farmers‟ use of group communication channels were farming experience, farmer association membership and affordability group channels. In other words, a farmer who has more farming experience and belongs to a farmers‟ association is more likely to choose group channels for receiving farm management information including climate variability. The hypothesis test also indicated that the strongest predictor of reporting preference of group channels of communication channels was seeking innovation for a farm management problem in relation to climate variability. Finally, the study found that time was the most serious constraint farmers face in assessing or receiving farm management information including climate variability. ix In view of the fact that most respondents will have group discussions as their first choice, the use of this channel should be timed to allow respondents to attend. Extension agents therefore, have to discuss the timing of such meetings with participants to arrive at times suitable to most participants. Extension agents also need to realise that a subsistence farmer who is looking for information for a farm management problem including climate variability is more likely to seek it through the television. / ARC

This dissertation reports on an evaluation of the home visiting programme of the SACLA Rehabilitation Worker project against the background of the socio-economic context of the community and the history of the project. The evaluation had two aims. Firstly, it aimed to highlight the programme's strengths and weaknesses so that the work could become both more efficient and more effective. Secondly, it aimed to establish whether the SACLA rehabilitation project is an effective model of a community based rehabilitation project on which other local projects could be based. Quantitative data was collected by interviewing the caregivers of disabled children who were involved in the project. In-depth interviews with the rehabilitation workers provided qualitative data which was used to confirm the validity of some of the quantitative data. The foremost findings were that the mothers were very positive about the support received from the RWs. The majority of the caregivers remembered the activities that they had been taught by the RWs and performed them well. Poor communication with the caregivers and a lack of skills on the part of the RWs gave rise to a number of problems. A number of changes highlighted by the evaluation were suggested. In conclusion, the project was found to be an effective model of local community based rehabilitation on which other projects could be based.

This thesis is about agricultural extension education. The context is agricultural extension in South Africa. It addresses the following questions: To what extent does current agricultural extension education in South Africa adequately reflect the current and changing educational and developmental imperatives? To what extent does it adequately equip extension officers and other agricultural development practitioners to deliver relevant support to farmers and farming communities? In short, how relevant is the training received by South African Agricultural Extension practitioners? The South African government has made significant changes in the policy environment governing agriculture. While the majority of the policy changes fall outside the scope of this research, it can be safely argued, as noted in the current Strategy for South African Agriculture, that the changes are fundamental. The changes redirect agriculture to the majority population which has hitherto been marginalised and generally denied meaningful access to the agricultural sector of the South African economy. To implement these changes, the agricultural sector will need appropriate skills – skills which, it is submitted – are largely lacking within the agricultural extension service and, more relevantly to this study, in Agricultural Extension curricula. In addition to the foregoing, assumptions about farmers and their roles in technology and information creation and consumption, assumptions about the roles of tertiary institutions in the triad of teaching, extension and research and indeed about the triad itself need to be challenged. A system of education which has its origins in the 1800s (before even the industrial revolution, much less the digital revolution) needs, per force, to be interrogated regularly to ensure that it delivers according to the demands of the exigencies of the time. Similarly, assumptions about the aim of development and in particular agricultural development have been questioned in many parts of the world. And yet it is submitted that in South Africa, the basic extension methodologies have not changed in any fundamental way; rather they have adopted some of the outer trappings of new approaches, without assessing the fundamentals of the core extension approach. It is believed that extension is in need of a serious review and that it is timely to do so. Recent research in Africa and elsewhere in the world indicates that extension needs be reconstructed on a different set of operational objectives led by a different vision. The extension strategy herein presented is built around a vision which places the focus on the farmer (and other land users) in the context not of technology, but of creating prosperity. The vision implies that the purpose of agricultural extension is to facilitate the establishment of self-reliant farmers who are contributing to widespread prosperity. The dual outcomes of self-reliant farmers and widespread prosperity are meant to be realised through a new set of =rules of engagement‘. Prosperity is derived out of farmers working together, sharing information, and learning together. Self-reliant farmers are an outcome of a learning partnership between farmers and extension practitioners. This study was conducted in a series of stages. The first thrust examined the nature of Agricultural Extension and the assumptions on which it is predicated. The result of this interrogation was to propose a new concept for Agricultural Extension – Agriflection – which is a learning-based concept aimed at improving the sustainability of the livelihoods of farmers through iterative development processes fostered through a learning agenda that is facilitated by an appropriately trained Agricultural Extension practitioner. To realise such a vision, it is essential that the mission of the extension service be recast to reflect the dynamics of the implications of the vision. The key elements of the mission are, therefore, client-responsiveness and partnerships. The power to realise the vision rests in three critical aspects. First is the capacity of the extension service to engage with its clients as genuine partners in a shared learning agenda. The second is the capacity of the extension service to engage with the many other agencies and organisations which supply goods and services to farmers and land users. The third is ensuring that engagements with farmers support sustainable development, that is, that production of food, fibre and fuel is socially just, economically sustainable and environmentally sustainable. This new vision and mission lay the foundation for a fundamental shift in the way agricultural extension is positioned, resourced, implemented and evaluated. The strategic goals, principles and values presented in this strategy are built on this foundation, and they, in turn, create the framework for constructing the operational plans of the extension service as well as for management and measurement of the service. The second thrust of the study was to filter the Agriflection concept through South African educational and agricultural policy. Given that the agricultural frontier is subject to change in focus and priorities, it was reasoned that the training and education of would-be extension practitioners needs to be able to respond to changes in methods and in the field. The National Government has adopted the outcomes-based model as the general structure for curriculum development. Further sustainable development/livelihoods has been adopted as the general framework for development. Outcomes-based education and sustainable development/livelihoods provide a framework for studying and developing curricula. A tool that enables curriculum analysis and development which allows for adjustment to changing imperatives while maintaining integrity in terms of education and development, would be valuable for tertiary institutions training extension officers. The result of this second thrust was the development of curriculum markers that encapsulated what non-technical knowledge and skills (i.e. Agricultural Extension knowledge and skills) were needed to be able to deliver on the imperatives of the transformation agenda of current agricultural policy. Thirty-four markers were identified. The third thrust of the study was to create a credible method to evaluate Agricultural Extension curricula and to capture and analyse data. A detailed review of methods and approaches was made resulting in fashioning the Theory-led Instructional-Design Curriculum Evaluation (TICE) method. One of the primary facets of this six-process method is questioning of the assumptions on which the discipline of Agricultural Extension is based. Such a questioning would lead to a new theory to govern the evaluation of curriculum. Ancillary to the TICE method were the methods of data collection and analysis. The study consolidated these in presence and efficacy factors. These factors measured the presence of the 34 markers in Agricultural Extension curricula and the extent to which they were addressed, if present. The fourth thrust of the study was the detailed evaluation of curricula of qualifications most commonly held by public sector Agricultural Extension practitioners. The study examined the curricula of agricultural diplomas, of three- and four-year agricultural degrees and of one-year postgraduate qualifications offered by Colleges of Agriculture and selected Universities and Universities of Technology. The fifth thrust was to conduct corroborative investigations in the public sector. This was done by surveying Agricultural Extension practitioners asking them to evaluate the extent to which they believed they have knowledge and/or skill represented by the 34 curricula markers. In addition, a brief analysis was made of Agricultural Extension practitioner job descriptions used in the public sector. This was done to determine what knowledge and skills were expected of Agricultural Extension practitioners and comparing this to the 34 markers. The study revealed that there is very limited Agricultural Extension training offered in the curricula of qualifications held by the majority of public sector Agricultural Extension practitioners. Further, using the 34 markers as the touchstone, it was determined that the current curricula do not adequately equip public sector Agricultural Extension practitioners to deliver on the agenda of current South African agricultural policy. Without extensive revision of curricula in terms of both the quantity and content of extension training, the South African public sector Agricultural Extension service will not be able to realise the intended transformation of agriculture. Its key operatives will not have the knowledge and skills needed to do so. This is a unique study. No study of its kind has ever been conducted in South Africa. Numerous studies have been conducted into the training needs of Agricultural Extension practitioners. None have gone to the extent of questioning the assumptions on which Agricultural Extension is based. None have made a critical examination of curricula in the light of current educational and agricultural policy. This study found that there is an urgent need for serious attention to be given the purpose, scope, outcomes of Agricultural Extension higher education in South Africa to ensure that it can contribute to the positive and sustainable transformation of agriculture. / Thesis (Ph.D.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2008.

Thesis (M. Tech. Agriculture) -- Central University of Technology, Free state, 2012 / Small-scale and subsistence farmers in general lack knowledge and information as a result of limited personal contact at grassroots level with extension workers. Therefore, the formation of farmer groups needs to be encouraged in most rural areas as tools of extension delivery. The value of farmer groups for quality decision making and generating of new ideas is well known, and therefore, the use of group contact may accelerate capacity building and empowerment to subsistence farmers. The problem under investigation is the effectiveness of farmer groups as tools of extension delivery in Makhuduthamaga in Sekhukhune District. The investigation seeks to establish the factors that influence the effectiveness of the farmer group in Makhuduthamaga local municipality. This study was conducted in the Makhuduthamaga local municipality in Sekhukhune District. Data was gathered through two questionnaires, one for farmers and one for extension workers. The study applied quantitative methodology, cluster sampling and non-probability sampling methods, and used field interviews with structured questionnaires. The study found that there are many stakeholders involved in the formation of farmer groups, such as NGOs, social welfare and extension workers, and the initiation by the different stakeholders has an influence on the development of the groups. Most of the farmer groups were initiated by NGOs, the reason being the financial support offered. The effectiveness of the selected farmer groups on Makhuduthamaga municipality is influenced by group dynamic factors. These factors include group size and gender composition, updating of the constitution, and the frequency of group meetings. The respondents highlighted the fact that there is a poor relationship within the groups, poor leadership, misuse of funds, lack of knowledge and division in the groups. There is a culture of not believing and/or not trusting the local people, and it is difficult to disclose information. The number of extension workers is still small in relation to the size of the farming population to be served. Stakeholders will learn from the study that the formation of farmer groups should serve the interests of the farmers, not of the institutions. The training institutions should base the training of extension workers on the needs of the farmers. The farmers should strive for self-reliance in order to sustain their farming enterprises. Extension workers should be formally trained on group dynamics, because agriculture in rural areas is about people working together. Government should minimise the top down approach and institutionalise the participatory extension approach methodology.

The purpose of the study was to find out about provision of guidance and counselling in the schools in the Transkei sub-region of the Eastern Cape. Guidance and counselling services are crucial to the success of lifelong learning policies, providing assistance and advice to learners so that they make better informed and future educational and career choices suitable for them. Through guidance and counseling services, students develop a clear understanding of self, their attitudes, abilities, interests, ambitions, resources and limitations from career counselling. They are also guided into various entrepreneurial activities, training, advancement and other benefits for sustainable self-reliance and self-worth. Students are able to achieve and live fulfilled lives and contribute meaningfully to the development of their country in all spheres of life once they receive appropriate guidance and counselling services. Guidance and counseling services look at the holistic development of the learner by taking into account the psycho-social, intellectual, emotional and physical development aspects of the learner within the context of the learner’s environment. The provision of guidance and counselling programmes and services is the shared responsibility of all school staff. A team approach should be employed, wherein all staff members have specified roles to play. School counsellors play a key role in planning and implementing programmes and service. Guidance and counselling programmes and services are systematically planned to meet the needs of all learners and are infused into the daily activities of schools. Using a quantitative research design, the research sample included Department of Education (DoE) Officials and teachers in seven districts in the Transkei sub-region of the Eastern Cape. Questionnaires were used to collect data. Descriptive statistics in were used to analyse the provision of guidance and counselling in the schools in the Transkei sub-region of the Eastern Cape. The results revealed that guidance and counselling is necessary in schools and that it should be provided in all schools in the districts. / Psychology of Education / M. Ed. (Specialisation in Guidance and Counselling)

Burnout can occur in any occupation and is a risk in the modern world of work. The objective of the study was to investigate how burnout, coping and sense of coherence are related and influence each other in an engineering environment. A Cross-sectional survey design was used in this descriptive study. The convenience sample consisted of 118 engineers and scientists at various levels in a global engineering organisation that is based in South Africa. The Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI), Coping Orientations to the Problems Experienced (COPE) and Sense of Coherence (SOC) questionnaires were administered for this quantitative study. A theoretical relationship was proved by means of a literature study and an empirical relationship proved that there is indeed a relationship between the constructs and that focus and venting of emotions as well as SOC are predictors of emotional exhaustion and cynicism. SOC also proved to be a predictor of professional efficacy. / Industrial and Organisational Psychology / M.A. (Industrial and Organisational Psychology)