Centre for Sustainable Agriculture, Rural Development and Extension
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Browsing Centre for Sustainable Agriculture, Rural Development and Extension by Advisor "Stroebel, A."
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Item Open Access Development of a water management decision model for Limpopo Province, South Africa(University of the Free State, 2012-07) Tshikolomo, Khathutshelo Alfred; Nesamvuni, A. E.; Walker, S.; Stroebel, A.The study was conducted in the Limpopo Province with a focus on the Limpopo and Luvuvhu- Letaba Water Management Areas. The main issues investigated were (1) water resources, mainly runoff and storage capacity of the target Water Management Areas and municipalities, and the water gain and loss of the Middle Letaba Dam, (2) water management issues, mainly perceptions of municipal water managers on the water resource and its uses, and their perceptions on stakeholder participation, and (3) household water supply and requirement. A water management decision model was proposed based on the results of the investigations. The results of the investigations revealed that: (1) The Limpopo WMA has a MAR of 611.4 million m3 for possible development of new dams compared to only 365.2 million m3 for the Luvuvhu-Letaba WMA, and related results were recorded for municipalities in these WMAs. The storage volumes of the Middle Letaba Dam were very small compared to design capacity; (2) The municipal water managers lacked knowledge on water resources and were relatively more knowledgeable on water use. Water management decisions were made by government based stakeholders while community based stakeholders had little influence on water management decisions; (3) There was a lack of access to safe water sources, only half (50.1%) of households obtained water from street taps. The quantity of water fetched ranged from 25 to more than 200 litres per household per day and the amount fetched was more for households located near the water sources. As a result of scarcity, water was mostly used for basic activities such as drinking, preparing food and bathing. Half (51. 7%) of the households fetched less water than the 25 litres per capita per day supply standard which itself did not meet the average requirement of 37.5 litres per capita per day; and (4) A water management decision model was proposed based on the framework of the Congruence Model. The proposed model stated the main challenges faced by the water sector in the study area and assessed the capacity of the service organisations to address them by analysing the congruence between the challenges and the capacity. All assessed water service organisations only had moderate capacity to address the challenges. The lack of filling of some posts was the most significant constraint to the effectiveness of the organisations. It is therefore recommended that: (1) The Limpopo WMA be the focus for possible construction of new dams, especially the Mogalakwena, Lephalale and Mokoio catchments in the WMA as they showed to have more available mean annual runoff for possible development of new dams. Although the Luvuvhu-Letaba WMA was shown to be well developed in terms of storage dams, the Mutale Catchment had more available mean annual runoff for possible development of new dams. Regular investigations of runoff and dam storage capacity should be conducted as the current status will change due to changing rainfall patterns and dam siltation. Water should be transferred to the Middle Letaba Dam from other catchments in order to maintain this dam at a full level and consequently to improve the supply of the resource to planned areas; (2). Municipal water managers should be trained on water resources and to a lesser extent on resource uses for them to make relevant decisions on the management and use of the resource. Community based stakeholders should be involved in water management decisions and should be capacitated to be reliable sources of water information; (3) The Department of Water Affairs should reconsider the 25 litres per capita per day as a supply standard as it does not suffice for the average requirement of 37.5 litres per capita per day proposed in this study. (4) Guided by the proposed water management decision model, service organisations should improve their capacity to address water sector problems.Item Open Access Managing transitions in smallholder coffee agroforestry systems of Mount Kenya(University of the Free State, 2012-05) Carsan, Sammy; Stroebel, A.; Jamnadass, R.; Place, F.Coffee farming has been a major foundation of Kenya’s rural highland economy for the last four decades or so. Over 600,000 smallholder farmers organized in 579 cooperatives are engaged in the subsector. Coffee was a major source of income, employment and food security until the late 1980’s. Though Kenya produces some of the finest world coffee, the collapse of the International Commodity Agreement (ICA) on coffee and entry into the world market by major producers like Vietnam marked a near collapse of Kenya’s coffee. Exports fell by over 50% between the year 2000 and 2010. This was accompanied by significant loss of productivity (declined to a meagre 200 kg/ha from 600 kg/ha). The situation has contributed to poor living standards in coffee growing areas. Interestingly, there are no credible alternative investments to merit the allocation of constrained farm resources to replace coffee growing. In addition, there are concerns that the current resource base can no longer support enhanced productivity. This study used several research designs to investigate the performance of smallholder coffee agroforestry systems around Mount Kenya. More specifically, enterprise adoption and adaptation practices in the event of increased or decreased coffee production were researched. The evolution of coffee agroforestry systems was also evaluated and management of soil fertility determined. Using coffee yields data obtained from 180 smallholder coffee farmers by stratified random sampling techniques, coffee farm typologies were identified. These farm typologies/categories were labeled as increasing, decreasing and constant - representing their historical trends in coffee production. These farms were then used to investigate current productivity behavior. Simple descriptive statistics such as means, range, counts, enterprise scoring, diversity analysis pair wise correlations and regressions were used to compare farmer enterprise intensification strategies. Results have showed that farms that are decreasing coffee production, though had smaller land sizes are not significantly different from those in the coffee increasing category. Further results showed similarities in farmer enterprise diversification strategies. Coffee was nonetheless declining in smaller farms compared to farm sizes where it was increasing. Results also showed that farms with increasing coffee yields are associated with productive milk enterprises. These farms appear to afford and benefit from larger amounts of fertilizer and manure application. Coffee declining farms view banana and maize as likely alternatives to coffee, perhaps in a strategy to secure household food security. The study has showed that land size, coffee production (number of bushes, cherry yields/Ha), livestock units, agroforestry trees, banana, maize value and nutrient inputs (manure and fertilizer) and labour costs are important factors to assess coffee farms productivity and distinguish farm types. Results have showed the importance of creating more awareness among policy makers in order to promote enterprises that are of interest to farmers. This research also investigated tree diversity presently maintained by smallholders showing a shift in coffee cultivation practices. Trees on farm are traditionally appreciated for product benefits such as timber, fuel wood and food. They are also important for enhanced farm biodiversity and environmental services such as enhanced nutrient cycling. This study applied diversity analysis techniques such as species accumulation curves, rènyi diversity profiles and species rank abundance, to investigate farm tree diversity. At least 190 species were recorded from 180 coffee farms. For all the species enumerated, alpha diversity (H0) = 5.25 and H∞ = 0.89. Results showed that the 10 and 25 most abundant species comprise 75% and 91% of tree individuals present on farm, respectively. Results suggest that, though there is high abundance of tree individuals on farms they are of less richness and evenness. Species richness per farm was calculated at 17 species (15- 19.2, P = 0.95). Grevillea robusta was highly ranked in terms of relative density and dominance across surveyed farms at proportions of 41- 42%. Tree species basal area distribution showed that fruit trees such as, Persea americana, Mangifera indica and timber species such as, Cordia africana, Vitex keniensis and Croton macrostachyus are the most dominant but are of lower relative density. Species diversity analysis by coffee agro-ecological zones revealed that the upper-midland (UM) 3 is ranked significantly higher than UM2 and UM1. Results have implied that farmers with larger quantities of coffee (Coffea arabica L.) also retain more species diversity than farmers with stagnated production even though this evidence was inconclusive. Skewed patterns of species heterogeneity and structure among smallholder coffee plots provide indicators of divergent species cultivation. Tree species richness distribution between farms is strongly influenced by agro-ecological zones and presence of coffee cultivation. Only 22.5% of agroforestry tree abundance on farm was categorized as indigenous. Tree basal area ranking implied that fruit and native timber species are retained longer on coffee farms. Finally, this study assessed the implications of recent changes in coffee cultivation on soil fertility management. It was hypothesized that significant soil nutrient exports have occurred from coffee systems and that present nutrient prevalence are unknown and likely to be poorly managed. The purpose of this research was to inform concerns that with poor soil fertility prevalence, coffee systems face a danger to deteriorate to low production systems. Near-infrared (NIR) spectroscopy was used to analyse soil constituent properties for some 189 soil samples collected on 94 farms (within coffee plots). One third of the samples were used to build calibration models giving correlation coefficients between measured and partial least square (PLS) predicted soil properties. Correlations were strong (r > 0.70) except for P, Zn and Na demonstrating the potential of NIR to accurately predict soil constituents. Principal component analysis (PCA) was then used to develop soil nutrient indices (principal components scores) to serve as representative soil nutrient prevalence indicators. PC scores were also used as dependent variables in regression analysis. Collected data is robust to show that soil organic C, total N and probably P were most deficient across the coffee sites surveyed. Farmer nutrient application practices showed wide variability of fertilizer and manure use. Manure application is less than fertilizer and negatively correlated to farm size. Estimation of manure use per household was however challenging due to quantification and timing aspects of application. Collated evidence showed that farmers with increasing coffee production were more likely to afford larger fertilizer and manure application. Overall results point out that smallholders deliberately concentrate nutrient application on farm enterprises with good market performance. Coffee cultivation has in the past benefited from fertilizer credit facilities from farmer cooperative movements and government bilateral programmes. Declined coffee production is therefore seriously jeopardizing the amount of fertilizer that can be loaned to farmers. In conclusion, this study has identified a number of factors associated with smallholder decision making, resource use and enterprise adoption and adaptation behavior within coffee agroforestry systems of Mount Kenya. Research findings have allowed recommendations to be made on how best to promote farmer resource use, understand farmer decision making and enterprise choices that are of interest to farmers. The study has contributed to knowledge of farmer livelihood strategies when managing coffee farms in conditions of reduced profitability.Item Open Access Socio-economic impact of agricultural and agro-processing co-operatives on food security and incomes in Limpopo Province, South Africa(University of the Free State, 2016-09) Dagada, Maanda Caiphus; Nesamvuni, A. E.; Stroebel, A.; Van Rooyen, C. J.English: Food security is central to the policy of the new democratic government in South Africa. An estimated 70 percent of rural populations are classed as poor with most of them still locked into poverty and subsistence farming. However, there is a growing realization and acceptance that agricultural and processing co-operatives can be both productive and efficient at alleviating poverty through a food security strategy. Most smallholder farmers have established co-operatives to help themselves. Co-operatives‘ policies and strategies are currently being put in place to redress past neglect of smallholder farmers, who are predominately black in Limpopo Province. The rural traditional system is dependent on rural institutions for a livelihood. Agricultural and processing co-operatives are central to the supply of farm inputs, farm tillage, marketing, product value adding and provision of much needed finance. However, their sustainability beyond the period they have government funding is questionable. The co-operative enterprise plays a major role in food production. Records show that in 1993 to 1994, 180 million people were members of 330 000 agricultural co-operatives in 47 countries. Also, in developing countries co-operative membership is high. In Ivory Coast 827 000 small farmers are members, in Nicaragua 78% of maize and 59% of beans are marketed by co-operatives. Present trade, marketing, and institutional policies in South Africa make limited provision for the unique interests of emerging small-scale farmers. Furthermore, the current institutions involved in promoting market access are not well co-ordinated. Co-operatives have direct linkage with extension services. The extension services play a vital role on the development of co-operatives. It was noted that where there is strong link between co-operatives and extension, those co-operatives are still surviving and able to provide enough food in their families. Market access is another factor that determine the sustainability of the co-operative and its ability to have significant potential to contribute to the reduction of poverty and are better able to mobilise wide participation and can reduce costs, enhance incomes and improve the viability of business activities. The co-operative model which was developed and practiced by LADEP showed how co-operatives can be developed and be sustainable even in the rural province of Limpopo. As part of the model, production of market oriented crops could be encouraged via contract production, whereby processors provide financial, technical and marketing services to smallholders. To make the plan viable and to ensure beneficiation throughout the value chain, co-operatives should have a stake at all levels of the value chain. This can possibly be done by establishing primary, secondary and tertiary co-operatives. It is difficult for smallholders to penetrate the monopoly of market fraternity individually - clubbing together as co-operatives can give them enough bargaining power and solve the economics of scale challenge. This way they can enhance and improve their production which, will resulted in poverty reduction and increase income.