New policy initiatives that followed the 1994 democratic elections aim strongly on construction and development, especially in the agrarian sector. Land reform is one of the initiatives that the democratic government has implemented post 1994 to enable the previously marginalised and disposed individuals and families to own land. The aim of the land reform was not only to provide settlement beneficiaries, but to provide post settlement support to them and enable them to live a better life. However, most of the beneficiaries who acquired farms through the land reform programs lack practical experience in commercial agricultural production. In light of the above, the agricultural mentorship programme was implemented to offer a ray of sunshine to smallholder and emerging farmers. However, it is quite evident that although the agricultural mentorship program was implemented, the Kat river valley emerging citrus farmers are still facing challenges such as limited production capacity; limited access to financial capital; limited access to production equipment; and limited post-harvest support. This study aims to review the agriculture mentorship programme of the Department of Agrarian Reform and Rural Development (DRDAR), with a specific focus on citrus at Kat River Valley. Using data drawn from a sample of nine (9) mentees, two (2) mentors and one official from DARDAR who were personally visited and interviewed, the thesis presents the results of an assessment of the program’s outcomes for participant’s experiences and perceptions in order to strengthen the programme. A review of related literature on land and agriculture reform, agricultural policies, emerging farmers and mentorship has been presented. The study employed a qualitative approach for in-depth understanding and verification. Source documents, open-ended questionnaires and semi-structured interviews were used to collect data from participants. The study revealed that the mentorship programme has made an impact since its implementation as can be noted by the increase in production and income levels; sustainability of skills and knowledge attained from during mentorship and also job opportunities from the projects.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:nmmu/vital:9252 |
| Date | January 2014 |
| Creators | Dyasopu, Thembani |
| Publisher | Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, Faculty of Business and Economic Sciences |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis, Masters, MA |
| Format | viii, 73 leaves, pdf |
| Rights | Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University |
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