Doctoral Degrees (Centre for Sustainable Agriculture, Rural Development and Extension)
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Browsing Doctoral Degrees (Centre for Sustainable Agriculture, Rural Development and Extension) by Subject "Cane production"
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Item Open Access The sustainability of emerging cane growers through youth involvement: a case study of the North Coast of KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa(University of the Free State, 2016) Ntshangase, Wellington Mfanafuthi; Zwane, E. M.; Van Niekerk, J. A.𝑬𝒏𝒈𝒍𝒊𝒔𝒉 Agriculture is usually purported as one of the main solutions to the socio-economic problems besetting the rural areas. It is one of the main economic drivers in the rural areas of South Africa. The advantage of agriculture over other sectors is that it is labour-intensive and this is critical in a country such as South Africa that has a high level of unemployment. However, the main concern is that the current farmers are an ageing population and there seems to be reluctance on the part of the youth to follow agriculture as a career. There has also been a noticeable increase of youth migration to the cities in search of opportunities outside of agriculture. This study, which was conducted in the sugar industry, focused on the sustainability of cane production through youth involvement. The youth, aged between 14 and 35 years and whose parents are emerging cane growers (ECGs) were the main respondents in this study. In the follow-up focus group discussions the ECGs also participated. The ECG category refers to the cane growers who were previously disadvantaged (in the South African political and economic contexts) and includes small-scale growers and land-reform growers. According to SASA (the South African Sugar Association) there are approximately 22,500 registered sugarcane growers who annually produce on average 19 million tons of sugarcane in 14 mill-supply areas. This figure includes about 21,000 small-scale growers and 323 black emerging farmers. In the context of this study the term ECG refers to both SSGs (small-scale growers) and black emerging farmers (who are mainly referred to as LRGs – land reform growers – in the study). This study arose as a result of concerns regarding the relative lack of participation by young people in cane farming. This is not a study about youth in general but a specific study about young people whose parents or relatives are ECGs. There is a need to understand the seriousness of the challenges facing the sugar industry and strive to address them. One of these challenges is the drastic decline in cane production and there have been several efforts by the different role players aimed at remedying the situation. Millions of rands have been injected into the sugar industry to alleviate this problem. The researcher is of the view that these efforts will not lead to sustainable cane production if young people are not prepared to succeed their parents and become involved in cane farming. Contrary to popular beliefs relating to the youth’s negative perceptions and attitudes towards agriculture, the study found that young people whose parents are ECGs are prepared to succeed their parents as farmers. It showed that the youth are already involved in farming operations. They, however, would like to have their own farms instead of waiting for an inheritance. It also found a high level of involvement amongst these young people. The expected income was the main motivator for the young people to choose agriculture over other careers. The study’s recommendations focused on the need to ensure that the youth are able to own or lease land, on promotion of agriculture to youth from an early age, on access to funding for youth agripreneurs, and on providing support related to education and training for those choosing agriculture. ___________________________________________________________________