Magister Artium (Development Studies) - MA (DVS)

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https://hdl.handle.net/10566/12957

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Browsing by Subject "Agriculture"

Now showing 1 - 6 of 6
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    Assessing the parliamentary contribution to the elimination of food insecurity in rural Malawi: An historical and grassroots perspective, 1998–2018
    (University of the Western Cape, 2022) Dzidekha, Gloria Kombo; Devereux, Stephen
    Although Malawi is an agriculture-based economy, the country experiences extensive food insecurity, hunger, malnutrition, low productivity, and low income. Currently, food insecurity affects 58% of the population and 50.7% of the population live below the poverty line. In Malawi, parliament is key in the legal and policy-making processes. It also has a constitutional mandate to represent the people’s interests and basic needs – in this case, food security, a fundamental human right; however, food insecurity still persists. The study assesses the parliamentary contribution to the legislation of policy that aims at reducing food insecurity. It examines the trajectory of the food security policy in the Malawi Legislature and its effectiveness, from the perspectives of citizens and Members of Parliament (MPs).
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    The effect of school feeding programmes among school-going children in Khayelitsha, Cape Town
    (University of the Western Cape, 2022) Sindi, Babalwa; Devereux, Stephen
    School feeding programmes (SFPs) are known as a significant form of social protection that seeks to address food insecurity and educational improvement worldwide. This study seeks to evaluate the school feeding programmes in Khayelitsha, Cape Town to examine the potential effects that they have on educational improvement as well as food security among school-going children. In addition, the study determines the general effects of school feeding programmes, including challenges that the programmes encounter; it then provides recommendations on how the identified challenges can be solved. This study used the theory of change to examine the effects of school feeding programmes in Khayelitsha.
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    Investigating institutions and policies shaping smallholder farming in South Africa: A case study of the Nkomazi area, Mpumalanga province
    (University of the Western Cape, 2022) Nhleko, Millicent; Bayat, Amiena
    The agricultural sector plays an important role in the economy, globally. For developing countries, particularly rural areas, smallholder farming has become an active livelihood strategy. However, poverty and household food insecurity are still prevalent among smallholder farmers. This study aimed to improve understanding of the state of smallholder farming in South Africa and the institutions and policies shaping smallholder farming in rural areas. The study took place in the Nkomazi area, of the Mpumalanga province in South Africa.
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    An investigation into farming enterprises under the land redistribution program in the Southern Cape
    (University of Western Cape, 2004) Okada, Masanori; Labiff, Edward; Catting, David
    In 1994, the first democratically elected South African government promised to redistribute 30 % of white-owned farmland to the formerly disadvantaged people in order to rectify the racially-based unequal distribution of land and to improve their socioeconomic conditions. The ANC-led government opted to promote agriculture for achieving the latter aim since agriculture is generally seen to have a strong potential for poverty alleviation and economic development in the under-resourced areas.
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    The nature and extent of participation by small scale farmers in the Development Aid from People to People Farmers' Club project in Mazowe District of Zimbabwe
    (University of the Western Cape, 2016) Mandioma, Shamiso; Penderis, Sharon
    The conventional top-down approach to development has been rendered unsustainable and is regarded as a poor strategy to achieving community empowerment and development. The past few decades have seen the promotion of bottom-up techniques whereby governments and developing agents collaborate with target beneficiaries and view them as equal partners in the development of their own communities. It is generally believed that the participation of farmers in agricultural projects improves the performance of the agricultural sector. However, despite the adoption of participatory models, agricultural societies have remained plagued by poverty. It is against this background that this research using the Mazowe District as a case study investigated the nature and extent of participation by small scale farmers in the Development Aid from People to People (DAPP) Farmers’ Club in order to document the extent to which farmers have been empowered. The study made use of both quantitative and qualitative methodologies to gather relevant data. Broadly the findings indicate that the participation of farmers in the DAPP Farmers' Club project was substantively high. The results also suggest that the project empowered farmers to farm more productively in the case study area. In light of the findings the study recommends that governments and NGOs should follow the values and principles of the people-centred development (PCD) theory when implementing agricultural projects as it has proven to be an empowering approach. This practice may transform societies as there is an opportunity to address societal needs at grassroots level. In view of this research it can be argued that capacitating farmers through training and improving their farming skills can improve their agricultural production.
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    The use of information and communication technology by emerging commercial farmers in their development in the Western Cape, South Africa
    (University of the Western Cape, 2018) Smidt, Hermanus Jacobus; Conradie, Ina
    Although many researchers have shown JCT can enable development it remains a great challenge to understand the link between ICT4D projects and the development of emerging commercial agriculture. There is a need to realize the potential of information and communication technologies (JCT) for emerging commercial farmer development in order to achieve agriculture expansion and transformation in South Africa. This is important in order for them to partake in the knowledge economy visualized in the 2030 National development plan of South Africa and achieving the Sustainable Development Goals in 2030. However in South Africa, it is not yet established which specific JCT are used, how they are used and the extent of deployment if used in the emerging commercial agricultural sector. Few studies have focused on the factors that influence the use of JCT in South African emerging agriculture. This study investigates and attempts to understand the usage of JCT by emerging commercial farmers and the issues that influence ICT use on the West Coast of the Western Cape Province in South Africa. The study investigates the different forms of JCT used, how they are being used, what they are used for, how important these technologies are as enablers of production and the factors that affect their use. The study involved a survey response of 42 emerging commercial farmers and 46 of their farm employees in the Matzikama and Cederberg municipalities. A literature review draws from studies globally. regionally and in South Africa on how ICTs have penetrated and contributed to delivering development in emerging commercial agriculture. Although most emerging commercial farmers cannot afford to adopt JCT fools that are essential in their farming activities almost all who were interviewed acknowledged !he importance of JCT to their businesses. However, among other JCT, mobile phones and television were found to be primarily used for social and entertainment reasons rather than for agricultural purposes. The general findings showed that occupation on farm and JCT Literacy influence the use of ICT by farm employees. On the other hand the gender, capacity of the farmer, off farm income and farm size influences the use of ICT by emerging commercial farmers. Our literature review established some examples from the studies of other researchers and the efforts of multi-lateral institutions such as the FAO and ITU to illustrate how we can improve policy. I recommend that the South African government develop an e-agriculture strategy to monitor development and validation of good practices on the use of ICTs in agriculture and rural development. This strategy will examine emerging trends on the role of ICTs and the challenges faced in reaching scaled, sustainable information service models. This can increase the sustainability of emerging commercial agriculture to contribute to the improvement of the lives of the poor in rural areas. Finally I present research questions for future research.