Commercial wool production in communal areas of South Africa : a case study of two communal areas of the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa
Date
2020-12
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University
Abstract
ENGLISH SUMMARY : Agricultural production is an integral livelihood strategy for households living in communal areas of South Africa where resource constraints and meagre economic conditions prevail. The commercialization of farming operations in communal areas provides a pathway through which poverty and other socioeconomic conditions may be alleviated. Agricultural commercialization achieves this by shifting production away from subsistence to commercial farming, which accelerates economic growth, creates employment opportunities and reduces rural unemployment. In 1997, the National Woolgrowers Association (NWGA) launched the LandCare initiative in previously disadvantaged communal areas of the Eastern Cape province. The LandCare initiative was implemented as an intervention strategy to eradicate endemic poverty in communal land areas through mass commercialization of wool production.
Literature has provided an in-depth account of the role of the NWGA in the evolution of wool commercialization in communal areas. The consensus is that NWGA’s LandCare intervention resulted in general improvements in the volume of wool produced and prices received by woolgrowers in communal areas. Nevertheless, little research has been done to account for factors that determine progressions in dynamics of wool production among beneficiaries of the intervention. There is a need, therefore, to establish factors that determine increased commercialization of wool production in communal areas of the Eastern Cape that are beneficiaries of the NWGA LandCare intervention. The overall objective of this study was two-fold: to investigate changes over time in wool production, wool productivity and herd size, and investigate the relationship between woolgrower’s demographic characteristics and wool production, productivity and herd size in communal areas of the Eastern Cape that are beneficiaries of the NWGA intervention.
The study uses data collected in the Allen Waters and Ensaam areas of the Eastern Cape. Both villages are constituents of the region informally referred to as the “wool belt.”
In addition, secondary data was obtained from Boere Makelaaars Beperk (BKB) (Pty) Ltd, the nationwide wool brokerage firm that is also the primary marketing outlet for wool produced in these areas.
The study used a combination of descriptive and regression techniques to establish that advancements in the commercialization of wool production by beneficiaries of NWGA’s Landcare intervention at communal areas of the Eastern Cape was a function of inherent differences in demographic characteristics. The study observed that the evolution of wool production commercialization in communal areas of the Eastern Cape was significantly prominent among households with higher total household income, whose heads had retired from the off-farm labour market, possess formal education qualifications, and engaged in wool production on a full-time basis.
AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING : Geen opsomming beskikbaar.
AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING : Geen opsomming beskikbaar.
Description
Thesis (MCom)--Stellenbosch University, 2020.
Keywords
Wood -- Commerce -- Eastern Cape (South Africa), Livestock -- Commerce -- Eastern Cape (South Africa), Wool industry -- Eastern Cape (South Africa), Commons -- Eastern Cape (South Africa), UCTD