The viability of small-scale farming at the Tyhefu Irrigation Scheme, Eastern Cape
- Authors: Sishuta, Happy Babalwa
- Date: 2004
- Subjects: Farms, Small -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Irrigation -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Irrigation farming -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:3344 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1004924 , Farms, Small -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Irrigation -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Irrigation farming -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape
- Description: This investigation is conducted against the background of current attempts to rehabilitate and revive the now defunct Tyhefu irrigation scheme. The poor track record of many irrigation schemes (despite huge investments) in the former homelands has prompted the government to reconsider its active and direct role in small-scale irrigation farming. This has resulted in the closure of many irrigation schemes including Tyhefu irrigation scheme. The new policy framework in South Africa, known as the irrigation management transfer, is premised on the transfer of ownership, authority and responsibility of small-scale irrigation schemes from government to the farmers. Tyhefu irrigation scheme was a state-driven, top-down initiative. This study argues that the justifications for the Tyhefu irrigation scheme were conflated, with the result that the need for political control of the Tyhefu area far outweighed the considerations regarding the financial viability and sustainability of the proposed project. Given the repressive political climate of the time in South Africa, the planners' proposals were a mechanism for the realization of the socio-political and economic agendas of the apartheid state and Ciskei government. Although technical factors critical for project success were examined, little or no attention was paid to the socio-economic aspects. For the planners, the main requirements for success entailed centralized managerial control, no participation of the beneficiaries, capital intensive and sophisticated agricultural techniques and the production of high value crops. Therefore, it can be argued that the nature of the planning and implementation of the Tyhefu irrigation scheme was ill-conceived, short-sighted and misguided. A review of the literature on irrigation development on the African continent provided useful insights for this study. The lessons from irrigation development experience in Sub-Saharan Africa indicate that the continent is littered with examples of derelict and costly failures. What stands out in many of these irrigation projects is their over-emphasis on technical issues to the complete neglect of human and other social aspects. Working partnerships between the farmers and irrigation scheme management could, thus, not be realized. Almost without exception the case studies used here indicate that the industrious type of farmer was never developed as was envisioned in the planning documents. Neither were rural livelihoods improved in a sustainable manner. The findings of this study suggest that irrigation management transfer is a complex and delicate process. In this new set of arrangements, beneficiaries face formidable challenges in terms of capacity (human and financial) if small-scale irrigation farming is to become a viable sector. No doubt, the viability and sustainability of the Tyhefu irrigation scheme demands a comprehensive package of interventions that address various issues of markets and marketing, capital investment and access to finance, technology, education and training, support and extension services. It is evident that institutional aspects and the related issue of functional literacy require much more attention than thus far. As a result, at the moment there is no possibility for independent agricultural production. , KMBT_363
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2004
- Authors: Sishuta, Happy Babalwa
- Date: 2004
- Subjects: Farms, Small -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Irrigation -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Irrigation farming -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:3344 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1004924 , Farms, Small -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Irrigation -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Irrigation farming -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape
- Description: This investigation is conducted against the background of current attempts to rehabilitate and revive the now defunct Tyhefu irrigation scheme. The poor track record of many irrigation schemes (despite huge investments) in the former homelands has prompted the government to reconsider its active and direct role in small-scale irrigation farming. This has resulted in the closure of many irrigation schemes including Tyhefu irrigation scheme. The new policy framework in South Africa, known as the irrigation management transfer, is premised on the transfer of ownership, authority and responsibility of small-scale irrigation schemes from government to the farmers. Tyhefu irrigation scheme was a state-driven, top-down initiative. This study argues that the justifications for the Tyhefu irrigation scheme were conflated, with the result that the need for political control of the Tyhefu area far outweighed the considerations regarding the financial viability and sustainability of the proposed project. Given the repressive political climate of the time in South Africa, the planners' proposals were a mechanism for the realization of the socio-political and economic agendas of the apartheid state and Ciskei government. Although technical factors critical for project success were examined, little or no attention was paid to the socio-economic aspects. For the planners, the main requirements for success entailed centralized managerial control, no participation of the beneficiaries, capital intensive and sophisticated agricultural techniques and the production of high value crops. Therefore, it can be argued that the nature of the planning and implementation of the Tyhefu irrigation scheme was ill-conceived, short-sighted and misguided. A review of the literature on irrigation development on the African continent provided useful insights for this study. The lessons from irrigation development experience in Sub-Saharan Africa indicate that the continent is littered with examples of derelict and costly failures. What stands out in many of these irrigation projects is their over-emphasis on technical issues to the complete neglect of human and other social aspects. Working partnerships between the farmers and irrigation scheme management could, thus, not be realized. Almost without exception the case studies used here indicate that the industrious type of farmer was never developed as was envisioned in the planning documents. Neither were rural livelihoods improved in a sustainable manner. The findings of this study suggest that irrigation management transfer is a complex and delicate process. In this new set of arrangements, beneficiaries face formidable challenges in terms of capacity (human and financial) if small-scale irrigation farming is to become a viable sector. No doubt, the viability and sustainability of the Tyhefu irrigation scheme demands a comprehensive package of interventions that address various issues of markets and marketing, capital investment and access to finance, technology, education and training, support and extension services. It is evident that institutional aspects and the related issue of functional literacy require much more attention than thus far. As a result, at the moment there is no possibility for independent agricultural production. , KMBT_363
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2004
A history of land tenure in the Herschel district, Transkei
- Authors: Viedge, Bronwen Elizabeth
- Date: 2001
- Subjects: Land tenure -- South Africa -- Transkei Land tenure -- Herschel -- South Africa -- Transkei Land tenure -- History -- Herschel -- South Africa -- Transkei
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:3338 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1003808
- Description: A historical review of land tenure systems implemented in the Herschel district, Eastern Cape, South Africa and an analysis of the strengths and weaknesses of each system in conjunction with international experience of land tenure provide guidelines as to what elements could be incorporated in the formulation of a new integrated land tenure system. These guidelines together with the information obtained from a questionnaire survey amongst the Herschel population provide the government of South Africa with a broad outline of an integrated land tenure system that could serve to link the former homelands to the land tenure system that currently operates in the rest of the country thereby removing one of the obstacles to rural development and land redistribution.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2001
- Authors: Viedge, Bronwen Elizabeth
- Date: 2001
- Subjects: Land tenure -- South Africa -- Transkei Land tenure -- Herschel -- South Africa -- Transkei Land tenure -- History -- Herschel -- South Africa -- Transkei
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:3338 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1003808
- Description: A historical review of land tenure systems implemented in the Herschel district, Eastern Cape, South Africa and an analysis of the strengths and weaknesses of each system in conjunction with international experience of land tenure provide guidelines as to what elements could be incorporated in the formulation of a new integrated land tenure system. These guidelines together with the information obtained from a questionnaire survey amongst the Herschel population provide the government of South Africa with a broad outline of an integrated land tenure system that could serve to link the former homelands to the land tenure system that currently operates in the rest of the country thereby removing one of the obstacles to rural development and land redistribution.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2001
From labour reserve to investment opportunity: economic development planning in the Mbashe Local Municipal area in the Eastern Cape
- Authors: Reynolds, John Hunter
- Date: 2003
- Subjects: Economic development -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Community development -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , South Africa -- Economic policy , Planning -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSocSc
- Identifier: vital:3353 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1007490 , Economic development -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Community development -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , South Africa -- Economic policy , Planning -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape
- Description: Planning for economic development at the local level has become increasingly important in many countries of the world. South Africa is no exception and has had the local focus entrenched through constitutional provisions for developmental local government. This developmental approach has been intimately linked to, and influenced by, the broader legislative, policy and planning context within which the development challenges of post-Apartheid South Africa have been addressed. It has also been implemented in a context of far-reaching transformation of public institutions aimed, in the final analysis, at the effective functioning of three spheres of government. In this thesis, the Mbashe Local Municipal area is used as a case study for an examination of the linkages between economic development planning at the local, provincial and national levels. It is not a case study in the sense that an in-depth analysis of practice is undertaken; it is used rather as a lens through which the economic development planning activities of the three spheres of government are viewed. Its value as a lens lies in its location in the former Transkei, which is characterised by high levels of unemployment and poverty and low levels of service infrastructure, and in its status as one of the newly demarcated local municipalities in South Africa. Mbashe is a pilot site of the Promotion of Rural Livelihoods Programme, which has been linked to the Eastern Cape Province's Integrated Sustainable Rural Development Programme. It also includes one of the nodes of the Wild Coast Spatial Development Initiative, which has, since 1998, been promoted as a vehicle for economic development in the former Transkei. Research comprised extensive documentary research, individual interviews with key role players in the Mbashe Local Municipality, the Promotion of Rural Livelihoods Programme and the Wild Coast Spatial Development Initiative, and a group interview with members of the Local Economic Development Sub-Committee of the Mbashe Local Municipal Council. An attempt was made to understand the complex layers of policy and planning frameworks that guide planning at the national and provincial levels and within which local level economic development is situated, and to explore the responses that have been forged by agents within the Mbashe area. Key in this endeavour has been the initiatives developed under the guidance of the Mbashe Local Economic Development Sub-Committee. It is argued that the severe resource constraints faced within Mbashe, combined with limited knowledge of and participation in larger planning and resource mobilisation frameworks, lock Local Economic Development within the top-down and investmentled approaches, rather than the more integrated approach that is promoted in terms of legislation and that is required if poverty is to be addressed successfully. The limitations on state fiscal expenditure and the market-led approach to service provision and economic development, implemented in terms of South Africa's macroeconomic framework, combined with limited synchronisation of planning cycles in which integrated development planning at the local level is privileged, leave little scope for endogenous economic development at local level. There is scope for creative engagement with the interlocking local, provincial, national and continental economies by actively shifting resources in support of integrated, endogenous approaches. Such approaches could serve as counter-narratives to the dominance of neoliberalism and allow for the establishment of local economic development practice that addresses the needs of the poor and that builds integrated local economies under the control of democratic institutions. It is only with such a shifting of approach that economic development within Mbashe will shift the structural conditions that lock it into economic dependence and poverty.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2003
- Authors: Reynolds, John Hunter
- Date: 2003
- Subjects: Economic development -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Community development -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , South Africa -- Economic policy , Planning -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSocSc
- Identifier: vital:3353 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1007490 , Economic development -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Community development -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , South Africa -- Economic policy , Planning -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape
- Description: Planning for economic development at the local level has become increasingly important in many countries of the world. South Africa is no exception and has had the local focus entrenched through constitutional provisions for developmental local government. This developmental approach has been intimately linked to, and influenced by, the broader legislative, policy and planning context within which the development challenges of post-Apartheid South Africa have been addressed. It has also been implemented in a context of far-reaching transformation of public institutions aimed, in the final analysis, at the effective functioning of three spheres of government. In this thesis, the Mbashe Local Municipal area is used as a case study for an examination of the linkages between economic development planning at the local, provincial and national levels. It is not a case study in the sense that an in-depth analysis of practice is undertaken; it is used rather as a lens through which the economic development planning activities of the three spheres of government are viewed. Its value as a lens lies in its location in the former Transkei, which is characterised by high levels of unemployment and poverty and low levels of service infrastructure, and in its status as one of the newly demarcated local municipalities in South Africa. Mbashe is a pilot site of the Promotion of Rural Livelihoods Programme, which has been linked to the Eastern Cape Province's Integrated Sustainable Rural Development Programme. It also includes one of the nodes of the Wild Coast Spatial Development Initiative, which has, since 1998, been promoted as a vehicle for economic development in the former Transkei. Research comprised extensive documentary research, individual interviews with key role players in the Mbashe Local Municipality, the Promotion of Rural Livelihoods Programme and the Wild Coast Spatial Development Initiative, and a group interview with members of the Local Economic Development Sub-Committee of the Mbashe Local Municipal Council. An attempt was made to understand the complex layers of policy and planning frameworks that guide planning at the national and provincial levels and within which local level economic development is situated, and to explore the responses that have been forged by agents within the Mbashe area. Key in this endeavour has been the initiatives developed under the guidance of the Mbashe Local Economic Development Sub-Committee. It is argued that the severe resource constraints faced within Mbashe, combined with limited knowledge of and participation in larger planning and resource mobilisation frameworks, lock Local Economic Development within the top-down and investmentled approaches, rather than the more integrated approach that is promoted in terms of legislation and that is required if poverty is to be addressed successfully. The limitations on state fiscal expenditure and the market-led approach to service provision and economic development, implemented in terms of South Africa's macroeconomic framework, combined with limited synchronisation of planning cycles in which integrated development planning at the local level is privileged, leave little scope for endogenous economic development at local level. There is scope for creative engagement with the interlocking local, provincial, national and continental economies by actively shifting resources in support of integrated, endogenous approaches. Such approaches could serve as counter-narratives to the dominance of neoliberalism and allow for the establishment of local economic development practice that addresses the needs of the poor and that builds integrated local economies under the control of democratic institutions. It is only with such a shifting of approach that economic development within Mbashe will shift the structural conditions that lock it into economic dependence and poverty.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2003
People-centred development in practice: the case of the Zikhova-Ngqinisa Sidibene Woodlot Trust Project
- Authors: Pona, Faith Zolisa
- Date: 2003
- Subjects: Zikhova-Ngqinisa Sidibene Woodlot Trust Project , Rural development -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Rural development projects -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape -- Citizen participation , Woodlots -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Economic development projects -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:3356 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1007610 , Zikhova-Ngqinisa Sidibene Woodlot Trust Project , Rural development -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Rural development projects -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape -- Citizen participation , Woodlots -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Economic development projects -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape
- Description: This study addresses the question of people-centred development as a transformative aspect of the new South African development arena. The concept is defined as the involvement and active participation of people in the decision-making, evaluation and implementation of the development processes, It is one of the forms of democratisation which involves the decentralisaton of authority to the lower tiers of government. This study provides an analysis of the efficacy, relevance, advantages and disadvantages of people-centred development in the South African context. The Zikhoya-Ngqinisa Woodlot Trust Project was chosen as a case study, The reason was that through the process of devolution of the Department of Forestry and Water Affairs (DWAF), which involved the handing over of the management and financial resources of the small woodlots to the communities for their own benefit, the two villages, Zikhova and Ngqinisa, were given the Zikhova woodlot. The devolution of DWAF is one of the various forms of decentralisation that has given more autonomy to the lower tiers of government in the sense that the communities now have to satisfy their own needs. The main focus of the study was to identify and analyse constraints on the implementation of people-centred development specific to the Zikhova-Ngqinisa Woodlot Trust Project. Other interrelated aspects of people-centred development such as sustainability, community involvement and benefits of the project were also investigated and analysed. , KMBT_363
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2003
- Authors: Pona, Faith Zolisa
- Date: 2003
- Subjects: Zikhova-Ngqinisa Sidibene Woodlot Trust Project , Rural development -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Rural development projects -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape -- Citizen participation , Woodlots -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Economic development projects -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:3356 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1007610 , Zikhova-Ngqinisa Sidibene Woodlot Trust Project , Rural development -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Rural development projects -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape -- Citizen participation , Woodlots -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Economic development projects -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape
- Description: This study addresses the question of people-centred development as a transformative aspect of the new South African development arena. The concept is defined as the involvement and active participation of people in the decision-making, evaluation and implementation of the development processes, It is one of the forms of democratisation which involves the decentralisaton of authority to the lower tiers of government. This study provides an analysis of the efficacy, relevance, advantages and disadvantages of people-centred development in the South African context. The Zikhoya-Ngqinisa Woodlot Trust Project was chosen as a case study, The reason was that through the process of devolution of the Department of Forestry and Water Affairs (DWAF), which involved the handing over of the management and financial resources of the small woodlots to the communities for their own benefit, the two villages, Zikhova and Ngqinisa, were given the Zikhova woodlot. The devolution of DWAF is one of the various forms of decentralisation that has given more autonomy to the lower tiers of government in the sense that the communities now have to satisfy their own needs. The main focus of the study was to identify and analyse constraints on the implementation of people-centred development specific to the Zikhova-Ngqinisa Woodlot Trust Project. Other interrelated aspects of people-centred development such as sustainability, community involvement and benefits of the project were also investigated and analysed. , KMBT_363
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2003
A precarious balance: consequences of Zimbabwe's fast-track land reform
- Authors: Sarimana, Ashley
- Date: 2006
- Subjects: Land reform -- Zimbabwe , Land use -- Government policy -- Zimbabwe , Land settlement -- Government policy -- Zimbabwe , Farms, Large -- Zimbabwe , Agriculture and state -- Zimbabwe , Agricultural laborers -- Zimbabwe , Zimbabwe -- Economic conditions
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSocSc
- Identifier: vital:3348 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1006198 , Land reform -- Zimbabwe , Land use -- Government policy -- Zimbabwe , Land settlement -- Government policy -- Zimbabwe , Farms, Large -- Zimbabwe , Agriculture and state -- Zimbabwe , Agricultural laborers -- Zimbabwe , Zimbabwe -- Economic conditions
- Description: This thesis is a detailed account of Zimbabwe's controversial fast-track land reform programme. Zimbabwe's land reform history has been discussed extensively, with a focus on land redistribution. The fast-track land reform programme transferred eleven million hectares of land from 4 000 white commercial farmers to 51 543 landless peasant families. The thesis begins by offering some land reform theories and gives an overview of the land question in Southern Africa. This is followed by a discussion of Zimbabwe's land question from a historical perspective. Next is a periodised account of the successes and failures of land reform attempts made by the Zimbabwean government from independence in 1980 to 1998 when the fast-track land reform programme was conceived. Zimbabwe's political and economic situation at this time is significant. The context for fast-track land reform includes a discussion about the national question in Zimbabwe and the deteriorating status of white citizenship; the rise of Zimbabwe's liberation war veterans as a formidable force and the formation of the Movement for Democratic Change as a strong political party that was challenging, among others, the dominance of the ruling Zanu-PF party and its policies. The blueprint for fast-track land reform is discussed in order to contrast it to how the reform unfolded in practice. In this regard, the response of the international community to the violence and lawlessness that characterised fast-track land reform is worth mentioning, especially since it has bearing on how Zimbabweans are trying to cope with life in a radically altered physical and social environment, following the land reform exercise. The consequences of fast-track land reform are analysed in terms of development and the plight of Zimbabwe's farm workers; the internal displacement of hundreds of thousands of farm workers, white commercial farmers and others in Zimbabwe's countryside and whether or not fast-track land reform beneficiaries can successfully engage in agriculture to improve their standard of living. The Vumba and Burma Valley case study is illustrative of how fasttrack land reform was implemented and its socio-economic impact on Zimbabwe's poor and marginalised groups, for instance, female farm workers. The case study offers valuable insights about the survival strategies that ordinary people affected by the land reform exercise are adopting in order to cope with their new circumstances. Data was gathered from a focus group discussion (pilot study), in-depth semi-structured interviews and observation on three farms, as well as interviews with a few government officials, government documents and newspaper reports. The study is useful to countries that are planning or already implementing land reform, for example, South Africa.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2006
- Authors: Sarimana, Ashley
- Date: 2006
- Subjects: Land reform -- Zimbabwe , Land use -- Government policy -- Zimbabwe , Land settlement -- Government policy -- Zimbabwe , Farms, Large -- Zimbabwe , Agriculture and state -- Zimbabwe , Agricultural laborers -- Zimbabwe , Zimbabwe -- Economic conditions
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSocSc
- Identifier: vital:3348 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1006198 , Land reform -- Zimbabwe , Land use -- Government policy -- Zimbabwe , Land settlement -- Government policy -- Zimbabwe , Farms, Large -- Zimbabwe , Agriculture and state -- Zimbabwe , Agricultural laborers -- Zimbabwe , Zimbabwe -- Economic conditions
- Description: This thesis is a detailed account of Zimbabwe's controversial fast-track land reform programme. Zimbabwe's land reform history has been discussed extensively, with a focus on land redistribution. The fast-track land reform programme transferred eleven million hectares of land from 4 000 white commercial farmers to 51 543 landless peasant families. The thesis begins by offering some land reform theories and gives an overview of the land question in Southern Africa. This is followed by a discussion of Zimbabwe's land question from a historical perspective. Next is a periodised account of the successes and failures of land reform attempts made by the Zimbabwean government from independence in 1980 to 1998 when the fast-track land reform programme was conceived. Zimbabwe's political and economic situation at this time is significant. The context for fast-track land reform includes a discussion about the national question in Zimbabwe and the deteriorating status of white citizenship; the rise of Zimbabwe's liberation war veterans as a formidable force and the formation of the Movement for Democratic Change as a strong political party that was challenging, among others, the dominance of the ruling Zanu-PF party and its policies. The blueprint for fast-track land reform is discussed in order to contrast it to how the reform unfolded in practice. In this regard, the response of the international community to the violence and lawlessness that characterised fast-track land reform is worth mentioning, especially since it has bearing on how Zimbabweans are trying to cope with life in a radically altered physical and social environment, following the land reform exercise. The consequences of fast-track land reform are analysed in terms of development and the plight of Zimbabwe's farm workers; the internal displacement of hundreds of thousands of farm workers, white commercial farmers and others in Zimbabwe's countryside and whether or not fast-track land reform beneficiaries can successfully engage in agriculture to improve their standard of living. The Vumba and Burma Valley case study is illustrative of how fasttrack land reform was implemented and its socio-economic impact on Zimbabwe's poor and marginalised groups, for instance, female farm workers. The case study offers valuable insights about the survival strategies that ordinary people affected by the land reform exercise are adopting in order to cope with their new circumstances. Data was gathered from a focus group discussion (pilot study), in-depth semi-structured interviews and observation on three farms, as well as interviews with a few government officials, government documents and newspaper reports. The study is useful to countries that are planning or already implementing land reform, for example, South Africa.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2006
Small-scale fisheries as a vehicle for rural development : a case study of two villages in the former Ciskei, Eastern Cape Province, South Africa
- Authors: Seti, Simpiwe
- Date: 2003
- Subjects: Small-scale fisheries -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape Fisheries -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape Fishes -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape Rural development -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape Fish trade -- Developing countries Fisheries, Cooperative -- Developing countries
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSocSc
- Identifier: vital:3346 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1006016
- Description: This thesis examines small-scale rural fisheries which were initiated in two villages by the Department of Ichthyology and Fisheries in conjunction with the Institute of Social and Economic Research in 1997. The main objective for undertaking the study was to determine the potential of the fisheries to serve as viable and sustainable options that could contribute towards rural development in the area of study. To examine the contribution made by the small-scale fisheries towards rural development in the villages, it is imperative to have an understanding of the context in which they were established as well as the prospects for sustainable development. It is argued in this study that despite the significant contribution made by inland rural fisheries in improving rural livelihoods they are still accorded minimal support and attention in South Africa. As an illustration of the important role played by rural fisheries, case studies from Malawi and Zimbabwe have been drawn into the study with a view to providing lessons for rural areas of South Africa. The study took place at a time when natural resources in the villages were significantly declining and environmental degradation reaching uncontrollable proportions, so there is an urgent need to secure an alternative mode of subsistence for the population in the villages. Development interventions by the state and non-governmental organisations in the study area have not been sustainable and they collapsed within a short period of time. A case in point is the Tyefu irrigation scheme, which was initiated in the villages but, owing to various factors, it failed leaving the villagers with a diminished mode of subsistence, thus providing the impetus for the implementation of small-scale rural fisheries. In order for small-scale fisheries to be sustainable it is essential to adopt models that are aimed at sound natural resource use and management. This study has raised various issues pertinent to natural resource use and management in the study area. A model for management of natural resources that involves and aims to empower local communities in the management of the fisheries is presented in the study. It has also been demonstrated that rural fisheries in the study area comply with the model. Finally, the study draws the conclusion that small-scale fisheries in the villages contribute towards rural development, however, there are constraints that need to be eradicated.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2003
- Authors: Seti, Simpiwe
- Date: 2003
- Subjects: Small-scale fisheries -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape Fisheries -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape Fishes -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape Rural development -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape Fish trade -- Developing countries Fisheries, Cooperative -- Developing countries
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSocSc
- Identifier: vital:3346 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1006016
- Description: This thesis examines small-scale rural fisheries which were initiated in two villages by the Department of Ichthyology and Fisheries in conjunction with the Institute of Social and Economic Research in 1997. The main objective for undertaking the study was to determine the potential of the fisheries to serve as viable and sustainable options that could contribute towards rural development in the area of study. To examine the contribution made by the small-scale fisheries towards rural development in the villages, it is imperative to have an understanding of the context in which they were established as well as the prospects for sustainable development. It is argued in this study that despite the significant contribution made by inland rural fisheries in improving rural livelihoods they are still accorded minimal support and attention in South Africa. As an illustration of the important role played by rural fisheries, case studies from Malawi and Zimbabwe have been drawn into the study with a view to providing lessons for rural areas of South Africa. The study took place at a time when natural resources in the villages were significantly declining and environmental degradation reaching uncontrollable proportions, so there is an urgent need to secure an alternative mode of subsistence for the population in the villages. Development interventions by the state and non-governmental organisations in the study area have not been sustainable and they collapsed within a short period of time. A case in point is the Tyefu irrigation scheme, which was initiated in the villages but, owing to various factors, it failed leaving the villagers with a diminished mode of subsistence, thus providing the impetus for the implementation of small-scale rural fisheries. In order for small-scale fisheries to be sustainable it is essential to adopt models that are aimed at sound natural resource use and management. This study has raised various issues pertinent to natural resource use and management in the study area. A model for management of natural resources that involves and aims to empower local communities in the management of the fisheries is presented in the study. It has also been demonstrated that rural fisheries in the study area comply with the model. Finally, the study draws the conclusion that small-scale fisheries in the villages contribute towards rural development, however, there are constraints that need to be eradicated.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2003
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