An investigation of skills, knowledge and farmer support programmes of land reform beneficiaries :a case study of Forest Hill farmers in Kenton-on-Sea in the Ndlambe Local Municipality
- Authors: Tshuma, Mengezi Chancellor
- Date: 2013
- Subjects: Land reforms -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Agricultural development projects -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Rural development -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Farms, Small -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD (Agricultural Economics)
- Identifier: vital:11205 , http://hdl.handle.net/10353/d1013109 , Land reforms -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Agricultural development projects -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Rural development -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Farms, Small -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape
- Description: black owners by white colonialists. Even though whites made up less than 20% of the nation‟s population, they took more than 80% of the agriculturally productive land and drove the original owners to the unproductive reserves where they were cramped and could not practice agriculture at all. Various acts such as the Black Land Act of 1913, Development Trust Act of 1936 and the Native Laws Amendment Act of 1937 were introduced which further frustrated the displaced black population thereby plunging it deeper and deeper into poverty. The main objective behind the introduction of these acts was to restrain the black population from earning livelihoods through agriculture thus forcing them to offer their labour to white farmers for low wages just to earn some form of livelihood. Such unfair practices and distribution of land prompted the first democratically elected government of South Africa to embark on a drive to redistribute the nation‟s land equitably amongst its citizens to foster national reconciliation, stimulate economic growth and compensate those that were forced out or lost their land during the apartheid era. This initiative was called the Land Reform Programme (LRP) and was implemented with three prongs namely (i) land redistribution; (ii) restitution; and (iii) land tenure. Among the beneficiaries of the LRP were farmers from a community called Marselle in Kenton-on-sea. In addition to getting land for farming purposes, the Marselle farmers also obtained financial support from the government‟s Land Bank to help them kick-start their farming activities. However, in spite of such interventions, they have struggled to turn their activities into sustainable livelihood sources. One most likely cause for this is the lack of farming knowledge and skills needed to make them more efficient and productive. This study was thus geared towards evaluating the knowledge and skills gap in Marselle which, when addressed, could make the Marselle farmers more productive. Its focus was limited to the 32 livestock and 8 chicory farmers that are recognized members of their respective projects. Focus was limited only to these farmers since the next phase of this study will involve building their capacity based on the skills gaps identified through this study. The findings showed that the two projects benefited at least 130 individuals belonging to the farming households, with 67.5% of these households headed by males. The age of these farmers was equally shared at 40% each between those above 65 years and those that only went as far as fourth grade. No one went to tertiary at all. At least 75% of the investigated farmers were unemployed and 42% of this population was pensioners. In terms of income though, 64.98% of it was from external sources. The Masakhane Silime (Chicory) project was implemented to generate income and provide job opportunities for the locals but neither of these objectives had been met at the time the data for this study was collected due to various challenges like lack of funds and infrastructure to enhance productivity. Just like the chicory project, the livestock project had its own objectives, namely; to remove animals from the residential areas, provide the animals with a safe place, reduce road accidents and also to provide a livelihood source for local farmers. Due to overgrazing the pastures, lack of proper camps and other challenges, some effort still needs to be put to achieve these objectives. Even though the livestock project was formed with these objectives in mind, the farmers themselves reared livestock either for personal consumption, selling, ritual purposes, store of wealth or all these combined. Regarding technical skills, livestock farmers were found to rely mostly on indigenous knowledge sources to attain farming knowledge. Only animal healthcare knowledge was popular to more than half the respondents. This was said to be due to the focus group meetings held on the farm every other Wednesday to share information with local extension officers. In spite of these information sharing events, livestock farmers identified training on how to feed; market; handle; and treat their livestock as key intervention knowledge areas. Attendance to these focus group meetings was limited to livestock farmers only. Various socio-economic factors were also found to have some form of influence on the acquisition of livestock knowledge. Education was the most dominant factor, with a significant association with the farmers‟ feeding (p=0.033); animal healthcare (P=0.038); marketing (p=0.009); veld management (p=0.036); and cattle slaughtering (p=0.027) knowledge. Other variables most influential include the gender and age of the household head. The former was significant at 95% confidence level for farmers‟ feeding knowledge (p=0.021); animal healthcare (p=0.039); marketing (p=0.043); livestock housing and handling (p=0.023); veld management (p=0.018); and cattle slaughtering (p=0.043). The dominance of males in acquiring these skills could be explained by the fact that the majority of the livestock project members were males. The majority of the few female members became members by default after the passing on of their husbands but their participation in the project was done through other project members who looked after their animals on their behalf. The number of farming years also had some positive and significant influence on other knowledge areas such as feeding (p=0.021) and livestock housing and handling (p=0.013). The logic supporting this association is that farmers tend to accumulate new and more skills the longer they stay in the same enterprise. In addition, most of the interviewed farmers were farm labourers prior to relocating to Marselle hence they acquired the necessary knowledge long before the project started. Concerning the chicory project, its members also relied heavily on indigenous knowledge sources for farming knowledge. Soil preparation (24.1%); planting (20.7%); land care (24.1%); and mechanical weed control (48.3%) were the knowledge areas lacked by more than half the respondents. The farmers identified land preparation (75%); communication skills (25%); marketing (100%); financial management (62%); and harvesting (88%) as the key crucial intervention areas they needed prioritized. As a study meant to inform the capacity building phase of the Land Bank project, this study identified the existing skills gaps in the two projects implemented in Forest Hill. When implementing the Capacity Building (CB) phase, various socio-economic factors will have to be considered. For example, the proposed intervention should not discriminate against anyone on the grounds of gender or physical abilities. The skills introduced should also be simple enough to be accepted and acquired even by the illiterate, especially when one considers the high illiteracy levels amongst the respondents. Efforts should also be made to create partnerships with the right organizations or groups of people so that they provide the required expertise and resources for the benefit of the farmers as and when required.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2013
- Authors: Tshuma, Mengezi Chancellor
- Date: 2013
- Subjects: Land reforms -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Agricultural development projects -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Rural development -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Farms, Small -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD (Agricultural Economics)
- Identifier: vital:11205 , http://hdl.handle.net/10353/d1013109 , Land reforms -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Agricultural development projects -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Rural development -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Farms, Small -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape
- Description: black owners by white colonialists. Even though whites made up less than 20% of the nation‟s population, they took more than 80% of the agriculturally productive land and drove the original owners to the unproductive reserves where they were cramped and could not practice agriculture at all. Various acts such as the Black Land Act of 1913, Development Trust Act of 1936 and the Native Laws Amendment Act of 1937 were introduced which further frustrated the displaced black population thereby plunging it deeper and deeper into poverty. The main objective behind the introduction of these acts was to restrain the black population from earning livelihoods through agriculture thus forcing them to offer their labour to white farmers for low wages just to earn some form of livelihood. Such unfair practices and distribution of land prompted the first democratically elected government of South Africa to embark on a drive to redistribute the nation‟s land equitably amongst its citizens to foster national reconciliation, stimulate economic growth and compensate those that were forced out or lost their land during the apartheid era. This initiative was called the Land Reform Programme (LRP) and was implemented with three prongs namely (i) land redistribution; (ii) restitution; and (iii) land tenure. Among the beneficiaries of the LRP were farmers from a community called Marselle in Kenton-on-sea. In addition to getting land for farming purposes, the Marselle farmers also obtained financial support from the government‟s Land Bank to help them kick-start their farming activities. However, in spite of such interventions, they have struggled to turn their activities into sustainable livelihood sources. One most likely cause for this is the lack of farming knowledge and skills needed to make them more efficient and productive. This study was thus geared towards evaluating the knowledge and skills gap in Marselle which, when addressed, could make the Marselle farmers more productive. Its focus was limited to the 32 livestock and 8 chicory farmers that are recognized members of their respective projects. Focus was limited only to these farmers since the next phase of this study will involve building their capacity based on the skills gaps identified through this study. The findings showed that the two projects benefited at least 130 individuals belonging to the farming households, with 67.5% of these households headed by males. The age of these farmers was equally shared at 40% each between those above 65 years and those that only went as far as fourth grade. No one went to tertiary at all. At least 75% of the investigated farmers were unemployed and 42% of this population was pensioners. In terms of income though, 64.98% of it was from external sources. The Masakhane Silime (Chicory) project was implemented to generate income and provide job opportunities for the locals but neither of these objectives had been met at the time the data for this study was collected due to various challenges like lack of funds and infrastructure to enhance productivity. Just like the chicory project, the livestock project had its own objectives, namely; to remove animals from the residential areas, provide the animals with a safe place, reduce road accidents and also to provide a livelihood source for local farmers. Due to overgrazing the pastures, lack of proper camps and other challenges, some effort still needs to be put to achieve these objectives. Even though the livestock project was formed with these objectives in mind, the farmers themselves reared livestock either for personal consumption, selling, ritual purposes, store of wealth or all these combined. Regarding technical skills, livestock farmers were found to rely mostly on indigenous knowledge sources to attain farming knowledge. Only animal healthcare knowledge was popular to more than half the respondents. This was said to be due to the focus group meetings held on the farm every other Wednesday to share information with local extension officers. In spite of these information sharing events, livestock farmers identified training on how to feed; market; handle; and treat their livestock as key intervention knowledge areas. Attendance to these focus group meetings was limited to livestock farmers only. Various socio-economic factors were also found to have some form of influence on the acquisition of livestock knowledge. Education was the most dominant factor, with a significant association with the farmers‟ feeding (p=0.033); animal healthcare (P=0.038); marketing (p=0.009); veld management (p=0.036); and cattle slaughtering (p=0.027) knowledge. Other variables most influential include the gender and age of the household head. The former was significant at 95% confidence level for farmers‟ feeding knowledge (p=0.021); animal healthcare (p=0.039); marketing (p=0.043); livestock housing and handling (p=0.023); veld management (p=0.018); and cattle slaughtering (p=0.043). The dominance of males in acquiring these skills could be explained by the fact that the majority of the livestock project members were males. The majority of the few female members became members by default after the passing on of their husbands but their participation in the project was done through other project members who looked after their animals on their behalf. The number of farming years also had some positive and significant influence on other knowledge areas such as feeding (p=0.021) and livestock housing and handling (p=0.013). The logic supporting this association is that farmers tend to accumulate new and more skills the longer they stay in the same enterprise. In addition, most of the interviewed farmers were farm labourers prior to relocating to Marselle hence they acquired the necessary knowledge long before the project started. Concerning the chicory project, its members also relied heavily on indigenous knowledge sources for farming knowledge. Soil preparation (24.1%); planting (20.7%); land care (24.1%); and mechanical weed control (48.3%) were the knowledge areas lacked by more than half the respondents. The farmers identified land preparation (75%); communication skills (25%); marketing (100%); financial management (62%); and harvesting (88%) as the key crucial intervention areas they needed prioritized. As a study meant to inform the capacity building phase of the Land Bank project, this study identified the existing skills gaps in the two projects implemented in Forest Hill. When implementing the Capacity Building (CB) phase, various socio-economic factors will have to be considered. For example, the proposed intervention should not discriminate against anyone on the grounds of gender or physical abilities. The skills introduced should also be simple enough to be accepted and acquired even by the illiterate, especially when one considers the high illiteracy levels amongst the respondents. Efforts should also be made to create partnerships with the right organizations or groups of people so that they provide the required expertise and resources for the benefit of the farmers as and when required.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2013
Impact of human dimensions on smallholder farming in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa
- Authors: Kibirige, Douglas
- Date: 2013
- Subjects: Farms, Small -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Agriculture -- Economic aspects -- South Africa , Rural development -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Community development -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Entrepreneurship -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , South Africa -- Social conditions , South Africa -- Economic conditions , DEA approach , Stochastic production frontier , Production efficiency , Human dimensions , Irrigation
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD (Agricultural Economics)
- Identifier: vital:11201 , http://hdl.handle.net/10353/d1007532 , Farms, Small -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Agriculture -- Economic aspects -- South Africa , Rural development -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Community development -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Entrepreneurship -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , South Africa -- Social conditions , South Africa -- Economic conditions , DEA approach , Stochastic production frontier , Production efficiency , Human dimensions , Irrigation
- Description: Considering the backward and forward linkages, the agro-industrial sector contributes about 12 percent of South Africa‘s GDP, and employs approximately 8.5 million people. In the Eastern Cape Province, the sector contributes about 1.9 percent of the Provincial GDP, and over 3 million people derive their livelihoods from subsistence smallholder farming. Despite its importance, agricultural productivity has stagnated for several years across the Eastern Cape rural communities. There have been several attempts by the government to improve the agricultural productivity on smallholder farms since the end of apartheid, especially through the establishment of small-scale irrigation schemes, subsidization of farm inputs, and provision of credit facilities and enacting a number of land reform policies. In spite of the government support, most rural communities like Qamata and Tyefu are still faced with high levels of poverty affecting 76 percent and 91 percent of the population, respectively. This research evaluated the current smallholders‘ production efficiency, and the link between smallholder farmers‘ human dimensions (entrepreneurial spirit and positive psychological capital, goals and social capital, and other efficiency related variables) with production efficiency and household commercialisation index/level. The study used participatory approaches for site selection, sample selection and data collection. The analysis was based on both information from informal interviews and formal primary data collection. The Data Envelopment Analysis and Stochastic Production Frontier techniques were used to determine the relative efficiencies of individual farmers and to identify the major factors that influence the efficiency of production. Overall, 158 farmers were interviewed both at Qamata and Tyefu irrigation schemes. Descriptive statistics of this study indicated that most of the farmers were men with an average age of 61 years, and mean household size of 4 persons with the household head having at least obtained some primary school education. Farming is the major source of livelihood for smallholders with an average income of R4527.49 per crop season. Smallholders use improved seeds, fertilizers and tractor for ploughing with less use of pesticides and herbicides. Although smallholder irrigators generate more gross margins from maize and cabbage enterprises, generally both categories of farmers exhibited a low average household commercialization index for maize and cabbage at 0.41 and 0.22, respectively. Both Data Envelopment Analysis and Stochastic Production Frontier results indicate that farmers are about 98 percent technically efficient in maize and cabbage enterprises, respectively. However, farmers were allocatively inefficient as they were under-utilizing seed and pesticides while over-utilizing inorganic fertilizers. Factors that are positively associated with technical efficiency in maize production included household size, farming experience, off-farm income, use of agro-chemical; gross margins and commercialisation level of maize output. Determinants of technical efficiency in cabbage enterprise included farming experience, amount of land owned, use of agro-chemicals, group membership and gross margins accrued to cabbage sales. Farmers‘ human dimensions that could be more positively and significantly associated with production, efficiency and household commercialisation level included risk taking (hope), innovativeness (confidence) and optimism for entrepreneurial/positive psychological capital. Farmers‘ goals included self-esteem and independence, and only external social capital which were identified to be more positively and significantly associated with farmers‘ production efficiency and commercialization level. The transition from homestead subsistence to commercial oriented small-scale irrigation farming is inevitable since smallholder irrigators earn more incomes from maize and cabbage and are relatively food secure. However, the key policy options that must be considered to address inefficiencies and improved commercialization level to aid the transition include: agricultural policies geared toward attracting youth in farming, improved quality of extension services, speeding up the land reform process, and formation of cooperatives and participatory policy formulation that takes full cognizance of the farmers‘ human dimensions. Since farmers‘ human dimensions as defined in the literature and this study are not things that are amenable to direct policy intervention, they can only be modified indirectly through policy actions that affect their determinants. This means that a number of the demographic and socio-economic characteristics such as age, sex and education level of household head, farming experience, size of land owned, crop incomes, source of water for irrigation and location of the irrigation scheme that govern the way people perceive reality and respond to them must be the focus of concerted policy actions over the medium to long term.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2013
- Authors: Kibirige, Douglas
- Date: 2013
- Subjects: Farms, Small -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Agriculture -- Economic aspects -- South Africa , Rural development -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Community development -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Entrepreneurship -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , South Africa -- Social conditions , South Africa -- Economic conditions , DEA approach , Stochastic production frontier , Production efficiency , Human dimensions , Irrigation
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD (Agricultural Economics)
- Identifier: vital:11201 , http://hdl.handle.net/10353/d1007532 , Farms, Small -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Agriculture -- Economic aspects -- South Africa , Rural development -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Community development -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Entrepreneurship -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , South Africa -- Social conditions , South Africa -- Economic conditions , DEA approach , Stochastic production frontier , Production efficiency , Human dimensions , Irrigation
- Description: Considering the backward and forward linkages, the agro-industrial sector contributes about 12 percent of South Africa‘s GDP, and employs approximately 8.5 million people. In the Eastern Cape Province, the sector contributes about 1.9 percent of the Provincial GDP, and over 3 million people derive their livelihoods from subsistence smallholder farming. Despite its importance, agricultural productivity has stagnated for several years across the Eastern Cape rural communities. There have been several attempts by the government to improve the agricultural productivity on smallholder farms since the end of apartheid, especially through the establishment of small-scale irrigation schemes, subsidization of farm inputs, and provision of credit facilities and enacting a number of land reform policies. In spite of the government support, most rural communities like Qamata and Tyefu are still faced with high levels of poverty affecting 76 percent and 91 percent of the population, respectively. This research evaluated the current smallholders‘ production efficiency, and the link between smallholder farmers‘ human dimensions (entrepreneurial spirit and positive psychological capital, goals and social capital, and other efficiency related variables) with production efficiency and household commercialisation index/level. The study used participatory approaches for site selection, sample selection and data collection. The analysis was based on both information from informal interviews and formal primary data collection. The Data Envelopment Analysis and Stochastic Production Frontier techniques were used to determine the relative efficiencies of individual farmers and to identify the major factors that influence the efficiency of production. Overall, 158 farmers were interviewed both at Qamata and Tyefu irrigation schemes. Descriptive statistics of this study indicated that most of the farmers were men with an average age of 61 years, and mean household size of 4 persons with the household head having at least obtained some primary school education. Farming is the major source of livelihood for smallholders with an average income of R4527.49 per crop season. Smallholders use improved seeds, fertilizers and tractor for ploughing with less use of pesticides and herbicides. Although smallholder irrigators generate more gross margins from maize and cabbage enterprises, generally both categories of farmers exhibited a low average household commercialization index for maize and cabbage at 0.41 and 0.22, respectively. Both Data Envelopment Analysis and Stochastic Production Frontier results indicate that farmers are about 98 percent technically efficient in maize and cabbage enterprises, respectively. However, farmers were allocatively inefficient as they were under-utilizing seed and pesticides while over-utilizing inorganic fertilizers. Factors that are positively associated with technical efficiency in maize production included household size, farming experience, off-farm income, use of agro-chemical; gross margins and commercialisation level of maize output. Determinants of technical efficiency in cabbage enterprise included farming experience, amount of land owned, use of agro-chemicals, group membership and gross margins accrued to cabbage sales. Farmers‘ human dimensions that could be more positively and significantly associated with production, efficiency and household commercialisation level included risk taking (hope), innovativeness (confidence) and optimism for entrepreneurial/positive psychological capital. Farmers‘ goals included self-esteem and independence, and only external social capital which were identified to be more positively and significantly associated with farmers‘ production efficiency and commercialization level. The transition from homestead subsistence to commercial oriented small-scale irrigation farming is inevitable since smallholder irrigators earn more incomes from maize and cabbage and are relatively food secure. However, the key policy options that must be considered to address inefficiencies and improved commercialization level to aid the transition include: agricultural policies geared toward attracting youth in farming, improved quality of extension services, speeding up the land reform process, and formation of cooperatives and participatory policy formulation that takes full cognizance of the farmers‘ human dimensions. Since farmers‘ human dimensions as defined in the literature and this study are not things that are amenable to direct policy intervention, they can only be modified indirectly through policy actions that affect their determinants. This means that a number of the demographic and socio-economic characteristics such as age, sex and education level of household head, farming experience, size of land owned, crop incomes, source of water for irrigation and location of the irrigation scheme that govern the way people perceive reality and respond to them must be the focus of concerted policy actions over the medium to long term.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2013
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