Poverty, unemployment, inequality and food insecurity are common facts of
life in rural communities in the former homelands of the Eastern Cape
Province of South Africa despite decades of massive infusion of irrigation
technology and resources into the rural economies. These problems are
mostly the corollary of public policies enacted and executed over the years
under colonial and apartheid regimes. Even the establishment of
developmental local government and the introduction of various forms of
integrated and sustainable rural development policies and programmes under
the current democratic political dispensation, which began in 1994, have not
brought much relief to the rural areas. Development policies and programmes
have not been successful at increasing the coping strategies of the majority of
the rural poor as they continue to remain outside the mainstream of
development action.
The persistence of socio-economic problems elicits questions regarding the
appropriateness of development policies with respect to the transfer of
irrigation technology to the rural poor. This study critically investigates the
social and economic effects of Qamata Irrigation Scheme (QIS) on the living
conditions and coping strategies of the farmers at Qamata. The outcome of
the investigation is used as the context to analyse the effectiveness and
appropriateness of the irrigation development and management policies in the
transfer of irrigation technology to the farmers. The choice of QIS was
occasioned by its position as the first state financed large-scale irrigation
scheme in the late 1960s in the former Transkei which was the poorest and
most populous Bantustan; Qamata was one of the poorest rural communities
in the territory. Besides, QIS is one of the largest irrigation schemes in the
Eastern Cape which has attracted a considerable amount of resources and
public attention. It was therefore thought that the study of QIS could generate
the relevant data required to evaluate the appropriateness of irrigation
schemes in rural development in the province. The roles and expectations of development functionaries with reference to development policies, programmes, practices and achievements, and the living conditions, needs, aspirations and perceptions of beneficiaries were critically examined. Because rural development is a multi-faceted concept, the approach of the study was eclectic. The data which ensued was analyzed both qualitatively and quantitatively with chi-square test and independent samples t-test to arrive at forthright and compelling conclusions.
The study revealed that rural development at Qamata is fraught with political,
institutional and organizational problems. As a result, the Qamata Irrigation
Scheme could not bring about the expected socio-economic development in
the surrounding rural communities. Suggestions are offered on the basis of
the research findings for meaningful rural development. The participation of
local communities, especially women who bear the brunt of rural poverty and
food crop production, in development policy formulation and the participation
of the youth in irrigation farming are seen as essential prerequisites for goal
oriented rural and agricultural development intervention programmes. / Thesis (Ph.D.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2009.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:ukzn/oai:http://researchspace.ukzn.ac.za:10413/647 |
| Date | January 2009 |
| Creators | Kodua-Agyekum, Collins. |
| Contributors | Lawrence, Ralph. |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
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