The role of social grants on commercialization among smallholder farmers in South Africa: Evidence from a continuous treatment approach

Agribusiness ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 35 (3) ◽  
pp. 457-470
Author(s):  
Sikhulumile Sinyolo ◽  
Maxwell Mudhara ◽  
Edilegnaw Wale
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Treatment Approach ◽  
Smallholder Farmers ◽  
Continuous Treatment ◽  
Social Grants

scholarly journals The impact of social grant dependency on smallholder maize producers’ market participation in South Africa: Application of the double-hurdle model

2017 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sikhulumile Sinyolo ◽  
Maxwell Mudhara ◽  
Edilegnaw Wale
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Rural Areas ◽  
Smallholder Farmers ◽  
Hurdle Model ◽  
Market Participation ◽  
Double Hurdle Model ◽  
Social Grants ◽  
Double Hurdle ◽  
Social Grant ◽  
The Impact

Background: Social grants have become an increasingly popular means of improving the welfare of poor households in South Africa and beyond. While the goals of these transfers are to alleviate current poverty as well as to improve human capital capacity, they also have unintended effects, positive or negative, on beneficiary households. A question that has not been adequately addressed in the literature is the role that social grants play in the efforts to commercialise smallholder farming.Aim: The aim of this study was to examine the impact of social grant dependency on the incentives of smallholder maize producers to participate in the market.Setting: The study was done in the rural areas of four districts (Harry Gwala, Umzinyathi, Umkhanyakude and Uthukela) in the KwaZulu-Natal province, South Africa.Methods: The study adopted a quantitative research design. A total of 984 households were randomly selected from the four districts, of which 774 had planted maize in the previous season. The analysis was done on the 774 farmers who had planted maize. The double-hurdle model was used for statistical analysis.Results: The results show a negative association between social grant dependency and market participation, suggesting that social grant-dependent households are more subsistent, producing less marketable surplus. Moreover, households with access to social grants sold less quantities of maize in the market, indicating reduced selling incentives.Conclusion: The study indicates that social grants reduce the incentives of smallholder farmers to commercialise their production activities. The results suggest that, while policies aimed at reducing transaction costs would increase smallholder market participation, attention should be paid on how to reduce social grants’ dis-incentive effects. To reduce spill over effects to unintended household members, the study recommends offering part of the grant as ‘in-kind support’, which is specific to the intended individual beneficiary.

The Role of Indigenous Knowledge Systems in Rural Smallholder Farmers’ Response to Climate Change: Case Study of Nkomazi Local Municipality, Mpumalanga, South Africa

2019 ◽  
Vol 55 (2) ◽  
pp. 273-284
Author(s):  
Nomcebo R. Ubisi ◽  
Unathi Kolanisi ◽  
Obert Jiri
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
South Africa ◽  
Indigenous Knowledge ◽  
Smallholder Farmers ◽  
Farming Systems ◽  
Climate Indicators ◽  
Local Municipality ◽  
Droughts And Floods ◽  
Negative Impacts

Climate change and variability have direct negative impacts on rural smallholder farmers. These impacts involve extreme climatic events such as excessive temperatures, prolonged droughts and floods which affect people’s livelihoods. This study was conducted in Nkomazi Local Municipality, Mpumalanga, South Africa. The main objective of the study was to investigate indigenous weather and climate indicators used by smallholder farmers and the role of indigenous knowledge in their farming systems. The research used qualitative methods, including focus group discussions and key informant interviews. The findings indicated that farmers observed animal behaviour, plants, atmospheric indicators and human ailments to predict weather.

scholarly journals Boosting Their Stomachs’: The Role of Social Grants in South Africa

2014 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 105-119 ◽  
Author(s):  
Priscilla Gutura
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Food Prices ◽  
Economic Downturn ◽  
Eastern Cape ◽  
Group Discussions ◽  
Methodological Triangulation ◽  
Multi Stage ◽  
Social Grants ◽  
Social Grant

The findings of this paper emanates from a broader research that was conducted to examine the role of social grants on poor rural households in Ngqushwa Municipality in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa. The study adopted a methodological triangulation approach in data collection and analysis. Five hundred (500) questionnaires were distributed among social grant beneficiaries who were selected using multi-stage sampling. These yielded quantitative results which were then complemented by qualitative results obtained from 25 in-depth interviews and 2 focus group discussions conducted with 16 participants. One of the objectives of the broader study was to explore the role of social grants in tackling the vulnerability of beneficiaries to hunger. The major findings of the study point to the fact that the greatest discretion of spending is on food. This has improved food accessibility and availability among beneficiaries and has most importantly reduced both child and adult hunger in households where social grants are injected. Social grants have no doubt reduced hunger and sufferings among beneficiaries. However with the economic downturn and escalating food prices, the nutritional value is lower and beneficiaries remain in poverty as they are not food secure.

A reconnaissance of tropical resources during Revolutionary years: the role of the Paris Museum d'Histoire Naturelle

1991 ◽  
Vol 18 (3) ◽  
pp. 333-362 ◽  
Author(s):  
MADELEINE LY-TIO-FANE
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Natural History ◽  
Scientific Research ◽  
Extensive Literature ◽  
War Of Independence ◽  
Leading Role ◽  
Scientific Principles ◽  
Set Up ◽  
Joseph Ii

SUMMARY The recent extensive literature on exploration and the resulting scientific advances has failed to highlight the contribution of Austrian enterprise to the study of natural history. The leading role of Joseph II among the neutral powers which assumed the carrying trade of the belligerents during the American War of Independence, furthered the development of collections for the Schönbrunn Park and Gardens which had been set up on scientific principles by his parents. On the conclusion of peace, Joseph entrusted to Professor Maerter a world-encompassing mission in the course of which the Chief Gardener Franz Boos and his assistant Georg Scholl travelled to South Africa to collect plants and animals. Boos pursued the mission to Isle de France and Bourbon (Mauritius and Reunion), conveyed by the then unknown Nicolas Baudin. He worked at the Jardin du Roi, Pamplemousses, with Nicolas Cere, or at Palma with Joseph Francois Charpentier de Cossigny. The linkage of Austrian and French horticultural expertise created a situation fraught with opportunities which were to lead Baudin to the forefront of exploration and scientific research as the century closed in the upheaval of the Revolutionary Wars.

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