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Agrarian Systems Diagnosis and Cooperatives' support to a divergent typology of farmers. The Case of the Riet River Irrigation Scheme

Dissertation (MScAgric)--University of Pretoria, 2014.

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Other Authors: Anseeuw, Ward, 1974-
Format: Thesis
Language:English
Published: University of Pretoria 2015
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access_status_str Open Access
author2 Anseeuw, Ward, 1974-
author_browse Anseeuw, Ward, 1974-
author_facet Anseeuw, Ward, 1974-
collection Thesis
dc_rights_str_mv © 2015 University of Pretoria. All rights reserved. The copyright in this work vests in the University of Pretoria. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the University of Pretoria.
description Dissertation (MScAgric)--University of Pretoria, 2014.
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institution University of Pretoria (South Africa)
language English
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license_str Other — see source repository
provenance_str_mv Harvested via OAI-PMH from UPSpace — University of Pretoria Institutional Repository
publishDate 2015
publishDateRange 2015
publishDateSort 2015
publisher University of Pretoria
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spelling oai:repository.up.ac.za:2263/45887 Agrarian Systems Diagnosis and Cooperatives' support to a divergent typology of farmers. The Case of the Riet River Irrigation Scheme Anseeuw, Ward, 1974- Stevens, Joseph Benjamin Makal Mwinkeu, Papy UCTD Dissertation (MScAgric)--University of Pretoria, 2014. This study highlights the many differences among the Riet River farmers, as well as the differences in the constraints they endure, including major differences in productivity (with types 1, 2, 3, 4, 7 and 14 experiencing very low levels of productivity); lack of access to new water rights (with types 5, 6, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13 and 15 being mainly affected); difficulty in accessing farming services (including lack of access to credit, inputs and product marketing services); insecure property rights (with types 1, 2, 3, 4, 7 and 14 being affected most due to their lack of collateral security to access the necessary services); poor infrastructure (for types 1, 2, 3, 4, 7 and 14 especially); low farming income (primarily for types 2, 3, 4, 7 and 14); as well as high irrigation costs, lack of fertile land of good quality, and lack of financial and technical support (mainly affecting types 1, 2, 3 and 4). GWK Limited offers a range of farming services aimed at alleviating some of the aforementioned issues. This being said, different farmers in the region are being reached and supported through these services in highly different ways. As such, the assistance provided by GWK Limited is focused mainly on improving the farming activities of a specific group of farmers (55 %) engaged in important forms of production and with high productivity rates - mostly farmers of types 5, 8, 9, 10, 12 and 13. This means that farmers of types 1, 2, 3, 4, 7 and 14, with insecure land-tenure rights, small plots of land and low production and productivity rates, are not fully benefiting from these services. For example, the company has been hesitant to provide credit to these farmers owing to the high risk associated with loans to this category of farmers. Such risk can be attributed to insufficient or absent collateral (owing to poorly defined tenure rights and low levels of capital), poor financial recordkeeping, and high transaction costs involved in granting small production loans. Moreover, the technical support and production practices offered to these farmers are of poor quality or non-existent, as the company’s services are focused primarily on farming for purposes of profitmaking. Despite having an Emerging Farmers Division under its management, GWK Limited is typically not interested in small-scale farmers. This research study relating to agrarian systems typology contributes to the understanding of the diversity of South Africa’s agriculture, farmers’ livelihood strategies, and the extent to which agriculture contributes to household income. The study is also aimed at better analysing the farming system trajectories and agrarian changes in South Africa, so as to develop divergent policy recommendations for South African agriculture. In addition, the study contributes to a better understanding of which services are (or are not) reaching which types of farmers, and as such, it enables a readjustment of service provision aimed at broad-based agricultural development in South Africa. tm2015 Agricultural Economics, Extension and Rural Development MScAgric Unrestricted 2015-07-02T11:05:51Z 2015-07-02T11:05:51Z 2015/04/14 2014 Dissertation Makal Mwinkeu, P 2014, Agrarian Systems Diagnosis and Cooperatives' support to a divergent typology of farmers. The Case of the Riet River Irrigation Scheme, MScAgric Dissertation, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, viewed yymmdd <http://hdl.handle.net/2263/45887> A2015 http://hdl.handle.net/2263/45887 en © 2015 University of Pretoria. All rights reserved. The copyright in this work vests in the University of Pretoria. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the University of Pretoria. application/pdf University of Pretoria
spellingShingle UCTD
Agrarian Systems Diagnosis and Cooperatives' support to a divergent typology of farmers. The Case of the Riet River Irrigation Scheme
title Agrarian Systems Diagnosis and Cooperatives' support to a divergent typology of farmers. The Case of the Riet River Irrigation Scheme
title_full Agrarian Systems Diagnosis and Cooperatives' support to a divergent typology of farmers. The Case of the Riet River Irrigation Scheme
title_fullStr Agrarian Systems Diagnosis and Cooperatives' support to a divergent typology of farmers. The Case of the Riet River Irrigation Scheme
title_full_unstemmed Agrarian Systems Diagnosis and Cooperatives' support to a divergent typology of farmers. The Case of the Riet River Irrigation Scheme
title_short Agrarian Systems Diagnosis and Cooperatives' support to a divergent typology of farmers. The Case of the Riet River Irrigation Scheme
title_sort agrarian systems diagnosis and cooperatives support to a divergent typology of farmers the case of the riet river irrigation scheme
topic UCTD
url http://hdl.handle.net/2263/45887