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Browsing by Author "Jacobs, Peter"

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Adverse welfare effects of regulations on small tobacco exporters: the case of Zimbabwe
(University of the Western Cape, 2005) Matemba, Edward; Jacobs, Peter; Dept. of Economics; Faculty of Economics and Management Sciences
Regulations to reduce the consumption of tobacco products have dual effects on economies. Economies that are net consumers of tobacco products experience welfare enhancing effects as a result of these regulations. However, these regulations can have adverse welfare effects among net producing economies. Many studies have explored these welfare effects on net consuming economies, whereas the impacts among net producing economies have been neglected. This research paper examined the adverse welfare effects of smoking regulations on small tobacco exporting economies with, a comparative advantage in tobacco production.
Another countryside? Policy options for land and agrarian reform in South Africa
(Institute for Poverty, Land and Agrarian Studies, University of the Western Cape, 2009) Aliber, Michael; Andrews, Mercia; Baiphethi, Mompati; Cliffe, Lionel; Hall, Ruth; Jacobs, Peter; Jara, Mazibuko; Kleinbooi, Karin; Lahiff, Edward; Zamchiya, Phillan
Land reform in South Africa is a political project that has foundered. For years, the process has been variously described as being ‘in crisis’, ‘at a crossroads’, ‘at an impasse’ or simply ’stuck’. This still seems as true as ever, as political pressure is mounting to find new solutions to old problems. In recent years, the issue of ‘delivery’, and how to speed it up, has taken centre stage and become a justificatory framework for arguments about how to reconfigure roles of the state and private sector in land reform. In the process, little attention has been given to the relationship between policy change and mobilisation from below. In the absence of sustained and organised pressure from rural people themselves, it appears that the shifts underway in land reform policy are not so much about ‘delivery’ as about reframing the entire project. Increasingly, the debates on land reform centre not so much on the mechanisms to be used, as on the vision that is to be pursued – something about which existing policy is remarkably silent. At stake is nothing less than what, and whom, land reform is for. South Africans are deeply divided on this question.
Developmental social policies for the poor in South Africa: Exploring options to enhance impacts?
(Institute for Poverty Land and Agrarian Studies (PLAAS), 2010) Jacobs, Peter; Ngcobo, Nonkululeko; Hart, Tim; Baipheti, Mompati
Options to enhance the developmental impact of South Africa’s comprehensive suite of social protection policies have attracted considerable research and policy interest. The country’s society safety nets appear to be well-target at its intended beneficiaries (poor and vulnerable households) as manifested in reduced levels of income poverty among social grant recipients. To date a plethora of mixed results exist on its immediate and short-term impacts on fiscal spending trade-offs and disincentive effects to participate in labour markets. However, in the context of structural poverty the need exists to better understand the potential longer-range developmental spin-offs of targeted social spending. This paper contributes to this expanding body of research with a specific focus on how social grant payment options might be used to enhance the developmental impact of social grants. It constructs a conceptual framework which connects the developmental potential of cash, in-kind and voucher payment options with development interventions targeting smallholder farm production, employment and child development. It brings together evidence on relevant global and local case studies, using a typology derived from the conceptual framework.
Evaluating land and agrarian reform in South Africa : Final Report
(Institute for Poverty Land and Agrarian Studies (PLAAS), 2003) Hall, Ruth; Jacobs, Peter; Lahiff, Edward
Land dispossession was a key feature of racism under colonial rule and apartheid in South Africa. More than 3.5 million people were forcibly removed in the period 1960 to 1983 alone, through homeland consolidation, removals from ‘black spots’ and the Group Areas Act. One result of massive dispossession is the concentration of poverty in South Africa’s rural areas, where about 70% of the population lives below the poverty line (May 1998). The prospect of democracy in the 1990s raised expectations that the dispossessed would be able to return to their land, but the terms on which political transition was negotiated constrained how this could happen. Despite calls for a radical restructuring of social relations in the countryside, the constitutional negotiations on the protection of property rights, and on the economy more broadly, ensured that land reform would be pursued within the framework of a market-led land reform model, as advocated by the World Bank and implemented in countries such as Brazil, Colombia and Zimbabwe.
Evaluating land and agrarian reform in South Africa : Land redistribution
(Institute for Poverty Land and Agrarian Studies (PLAAS), 2003) Jacobs, Peter; Lahiff, Edward; Hall, Ruth
Land dispossession during the colonial era and the decades of apartheid rule produced a highly unequal pattern of land ownership and widespread rural poverty in South Africa. When a democratically elected government came to power in 1994, it adopted a land reform programme to address the problems inherited from the past and the challenge of development in the rural areas. The land reform programme of the South African government is conventionally described as having three legs: restitution, tenure reform and redistribution. While restitution deals specifically with historical rights in land, and tenure reform with forms of land holding, redistribution is specifically aimed at transforming the racial pattern of land ownership.
Evaluating land and agrarian reform in South Africa : Support for agricultural development
(Institute for Poverty Land and Agrarian Studies (PLAAS), 2003) Jacobs, Peter
In South Africa, land reform has to be more than securing land rights and transferring a certain number of hectares to black people. Broadly speaking, it has to take into account the uneven spatial development patterns created under colonial and apartheid rule. People who have secured land rights and access to land must be enabled to improve their livelihoods and deal with other challenges afflicting rural areas: high unemployment, poverty, HIV/Aids and dilapidated infrastructure. Land reform as a whole, particularly the redistribution and restitution programmes, have assisted poor rural people to gain access to land for a range of purposes. Most land reform beneficiaries are interested in using the land for agricultural production. Although this is an integral part of equalising access to agricultural resources and facilitating sustainable, land-based livelihood strategies and support after land transfer has been neglected by the state. Small-scale production to support multiple livelihood strategies has gained little attention in official policy circles.
Small-scale mango farmers, transaction costs and changing agro-food markets: evidence from Vhembe and Mopani districts, Limpopo Province
(University of the Western Cape, 2011) Aphane, Mogau Marvin; Jacobs, Peter; Makaudze, Ephias; Dept. of Economics
The main objective of this study was to identify ways in which transaction costs can be lowered to improve small-scale farmers’ participation in and returns from agricultural output markets, with specific reference to small-scale mango farmers in Limpopo province. This study hypothesizes that transaction costs are lower in informal spot markets and increase when small-scale farmers sell in more structured markets (formal markets). This study builds on transaction cost economics (TCE) to demonstrate how to overcome transaction cost barriers that small-scale mango farmers face in the agro-food markets. The approach to collect primary information was sequenced in two steps: first, key informant and focus group interviews were conducted and, secondly, a structured survey instrument was administered in two districts of Limpopo. A total of 235 smallscale mango farmers were interviewed. A binary logistic regression model was used to estimate the impact of transaction costs on the likelihood of households’ participation in formal (=1) and informal (=0) agro-food markets. STATA Version 10 was used to analyse the data. This study found that a larger proportion of male than female farming households reported participation in the formal markets, suggesting deep-seated gender differentiation in market participation. The average age of small farmers participating in formal markets is 52, compared to 44 for those in informal markets, implying that older farmers might have established stronger networks and acquired experience over a longer period. Farmers staying very far from the densely populated towns (more than 50 km) participate less in the formal markets than those staying closer (0 – 25 km and 26 – 49 km), which implies that the further they are from the towns, the less the likelihood of farmers selling in the formal markets. Farmers who own storage facilities and a bakkie (transportation means) participate more in formal markets compared to those who do not own these assets, which suggests that these farmers are able to store mangoes, retaining their freshness and subsequently delivering them to various agro-food markets on time. Households that participate in formal markets have high mean values of income and social grants. However, this study found that the likelihood of a household’s participation in the markets is less as income and social grants increase. This suggests that households do not invest their financial assets in order to overcome market access barriers. A large proportion of households that own larger pieces of arable land participate in the formal markets, which implies that they are able to produce marketable surplus. Households that have a high mean value (in Rand) of cattle participate more in formal markets than in informal markets. However, this study found that the likelihood of a household’s participation in the markets does not change with an increase in the value of its livestock. These findings suggest that households do not sell their cattle in order to overcome market access barriers. Reduced transaction costs for small-scale mango farmers in Limpopo should improve their participation in and returns from the agro-food markets. Policy interventions to support this need to focus on: access to storage and transportation facilities, enforcement of gender equity requirements in existing policies, and better access to information about markets.
Strategies to support South African smallholders as a contribution to government’s second economy strategy. Volume 1: Situation analysis, fieldwork findings and main conclusions
(PLAAS, University of the Western Cape, 2009) Aliber, Michael; Baiphethi, Mompati; de Satge, Rick; Denison, Jonathan; Hart, Tim; Jacobs, Peter; van Averbeke, Wim
Within the ambit of the Accelerated and Shared Growth Initiative of South Africa, government is leading a process to define a Second Economy Strategy, and has identified the agricultural sector as a site of opportunity, potentially fostering a larger number of smallholder agriculturalists. In an effort to identify an implementable program to support the smallholder sector, this study closely analyses what makes particular South African smallholdings in various settings successful and what factors contributed to their success. A broad definition of agricultural smallholding is employed including independent operators, group farmers, subsistence farmers and commercial farmers. ‘Supporting the smallholder sector’ is conceptualised as consisting of four distinct strands, namely the prospects and measures for: improving the performance of subsistence-oriented smallholders; encouraging/enabling currently subsistence-oriented smallholders to benefit from a more commercial orientation; improving the performance of commercially oriented smallholders; and increasing participation in smallholder agriculture among those (especially rural dwellers) who do not practise agriculture.
Strategies to support South African smallholders as a contribution to government’s second economy strategy: Volume 1: Situation analysis, fieldwork findings and main conclusions
(Institute for Poverty, Land and Agrarian Studies, University of the Western Cape, 2010) Aliber, Michael; Baiphethi, Mompati; de Satge, Rick; Denison, Jonathan; Hart, Tim; Jacobs, Peter; van Averbeke, Wim; Alcock, Rauri; Antwi, Mike; Belete, Abenet; Cousins, Ben; Field, Larry; Mariga, Irvine; Masika, Patrick; Materechera, Simeon; Mayson, David; Monde, Nomakhaya; Tapela, Barbara
Within the ambit of the Accelerated and Shared Growth Initiative of South Africa, government is leading a process to define a Second Economy Strategy. One of the opportunities that has been identified is the agricultural sector, in particular fostering a larger number of smallholder agriculturalists. The study seeks to identify the key elements of an implementable programme to support the smallholder sector. The core of the exercise entailed identifying successful South African smallholders active in different settings, and examining the factors that contribute to their success, whether these are personal, contextual, institutional, etc. Although the study was not designed as an evaluation of interventions as such, in the process of conducting the smallholder case studies (and in combination with an extensive literature review), the efficacy and relevance of different intervention and support strategies also came into focus.

Browsing by Author "Jacobs, Peter"

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