Involvement in agricultural activities has generally been the main livelihood strategy for
rural people. This was also the case with KwaMbonambi and Sokhulu farmers,
especially amadumbe producers. The research was therefore undertaken to explore the
marketing opportunities for amadumbe in the Mbonambi Municipality under which
KwaMbonambi and Sokhulu tribal areas fall.
A research team was formed by five staff members from the Department of Agriculture
including the researcher. Five research tools were used to collect data and these were
questionnaires for formal retail shops, focus groups for processing centres, a transect
walk to assess the land availability, sustainable livelihoods and force field analyses for
amadumbe producers,
From the findings, the formal retail shops and processing centres did not have a direct
link with local amadumbe producers of KwaMbonambi and Sokhulu. Their produce
came via agents from Durban and Johannesburg.
Amadumbe producers on the other hand were producing amadumbe for their own
consumption or to sell either to local communities (from the garden gate) or to hawkers
in nearby towns. A recommendation was made that an amadumbe marketing forum be
constituted in order to close the gap between formal retail shops, the processing centres
and the amadumbe producers of KwaMbonambi and Sokhulu. Farmers felt that they
could produce amadumbe of the quantity and quality required by the formal outlets if
they improved their production amounts and marketing strategies. / Thesis (M.Soc.Sc.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2008.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:ukzn/oai:http://researchspace.ukzn.ac.za:10413/5479 |
| Date | January 2008 |
| Creators | Tembe, Prudence Ntombifikile. |
| Contributors | Green, J. Maryann. |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Language | en_ZA |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
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