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Towards a management database to improve the sustainability of cattle production and its contribution to food security : a case of emerging beef farmers in Limpopo Province, South Africa
Get PDFThesis (MScAgric)--Stellenbosch University, 2017.ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The main objective of the study was to assess and recommend the need for knowledge management strategies to improve sustainability of beef production and its contribution to food security in South Africa. This was achieved by administering structured questionnaires to all the 62 farmers under the Limpopo IDC-Nguni beef cattle project between August and September, 2016. Systemic challenges and constraints affecting the growth and sustainability of the farmers were identified and characterized. A quantitative research approach was used in the study. Data analysis was conducted using descriptive statistics. Farmers indicated that they were constrained with parasites and diseases (89%), feed shortages (86%), water scarcity (82%), poor cattle breeding management (74%) and stock theft (73%). The majority of farmers also reported the challenges of drought (98%), heat waves (97%), rangeland degradation (97%) and biodiversity loss (90%). Location of the farmer was associated with perception of being confronted with production challenges such as poor cattle breeding management (p=0.01), parasites (p=0.02) and diseases (p=0.02). Poor access to markets and marketing information were reported from 76% of the farmers whereas 73% and 45% reported of being confronted by high transaction costs and poor market reliability, respectively. Farmers also reported challenges such as lack of finance (94%) and poor access to extension services (81%). As a follow-up, farmers’ information sources and methods of sharing messages and intervention strategies were assessed. The majority (88%) of farmers sought for management advice when confronted with challenges and constraints. Government extension officers (53%) and other farmers (30%) were indicated as the major sources of information for the farmers. About 80% of the respondents were found to be involved in the creation of interventions and extension messages, of which 63% of them indicated that they shared with other farmers while 33% shared with government extension officials. Majority of the farmers used farm-to-farm visits (56%) when sharing their own created intervention strategies and messages. In addition, 41% of the farmers indicated that they used mobile phones when sharing the intervention messages. The study concludes that the farmers were faced with a variety of challenges and constraints. When faced with challenges, most farmers were involved in the creation of intervention strategies and messages which they shared. Therefore, an opportunity for improved sustainability and food security contribution by the farmers can be explored through development and implementation of knowledge management strategies such as a management database system.
Keywords: Sustainability, challenges and constraints, emerging farmers, management database, intervention strategies, extension messages.AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die hoofdoel van die studie was om vas te stel wat die behoefte aan kennis bestuurstrategieë rakende die volhoubaarheid van beesvleisproduksie en die bydrae tot voedselsekerheid in Suid-Afrika is, asook aanbevelings te maak oor sulke inligting bestuurstrategieë. Die studie het behels die uitstuur van gestruktureerde vraelyste, van Augustus 2016 tot September 2016, aan die 62 boere wat deel vorm van die Limpopo NOK-Nguni-bees projek. Sistemiese uitdagings en beperkings wat die groei en volhoubaarheid van die boere kon beïnvloed, is geïdentifiseer en gekenmerk. 'n Kwantitatiewe navorsingsbenadering is gebruik in die studie. Data-analise is uitgevoer met behulp van beskrywende statistiek. Boere het aangedui dat hulle vermoë beperk was deur die voorkoms van parasiete en siektes (89%), 'n tekort aan voer (85%), waterskaarste (82%), swak veeteelt bestuur (74%) en veediefstal (73%). Die meerderheid van die boere het ook berig dat uitdagings soos droogte (98%), hittegolwe (97%), agteruitgang van weiding (97%) en verlies aan biodiversiteit (90%) ʼn invloed kan speel. Die ligging van die boer het verband gehou met elkeen se persepsie oor die produksie uitdagings waarmee hulle gekonfronteer is, bv. soos swak veeteelt bestuur (p = 0.01), parasiete (p = 0.02) en siektes (p = 0.02). Swak toegang tot markte en bemarkingsinligting is gesien as beperkend deur 76% van die boere, terwyl 73% en 45% 'n hoë transaksiekoste en swak betroubaarheid van markte, onderskeidelik, as beperkend beskou het. Boere het genoem dat 'n gebrek aan finansies (94%) en swak toegang tot voorligtingsdienste (81%) as uitdagings beskou word. As 'n opvolg fase, is boere se inligtingbronne en metodes van die deel van boodskappe en intervensiestrategieë beoordeel. Die meerderheid boere (88%) het gebruik gemaak van en gesoek vir bestuursadvies wanneer met uitdagings en beperkings gekonfronteer was. Regering voorligtingsbeamptes (53%) en ander boere (30%) is aangedui as die belangrikste bronne van inligting vir dié boere. Sowat 80% van die respondente was gevind om betrokke te wees in die skepping van ingrypings en verspreiding van raad, waarvan 63% van hulle aangedui dat hulle raad met ander boere gedeel het, terwyl 33% raad met voorligtingsbeamptes gedeel het. Die meerderheid van die boere het plaas-tot-plaasbesoeke (56%) as deel van hul eie geformuleerde intervensiestrategieë en oordra van raad gebruik. Daarbenewens het 41% van die boere aangedui dat hulle selfone gebruik om raad en intervensiestrategieë te deel. Die studie kom tot die gevolgtrekking dat die boere in die studie in die gesig gestaar word met 'n verskeidenheid van uitdagings en beperkings. Wanneer boere aan uitdagings en beperkings blootgestel is, het die meeste boere betrokke geraak by die skepping van intervensiestrategieë wat hulle gedeel het. Daar is dus 'n geleentheid om by te dra tot beter volhoubaarheid en voedselsekerheid van die boere deur ontwikkeling en implementering van kennisbestuur strategieë soos ʼn bestuur databasis stelsel.
Sleutelwoorde: Volhoubaarheid, uitdagings en beperkings, opkomende boere, bestuur databasis, intervensiestrategieë, voorligting boodskappe.Master
Development of a livestock management database system towards sustainable smallholder farming systems in South Africa
Get PDFThesis (PhDAgric)--Stellenbosch University, 2022.ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The commercialisation of smallholder farmers has taken the lead on the development agenda of many
developing countries. Invariably, the majority of smallholder livestock producers are less productive than
commercial producers and lag in commercialisation. Apart from the multifaceted challenges that
smallholder farmers face, limited access to appropriate information and extension services constrains their
sustainability. Therefore, the aim of this study was to design and develop a Livestock Management
Database System (LMDS) for improving the sustainability of commercially oriented smallholder cattle
producers in the North West Province of South Africa. The system promotes the efficiency of delivering
agricultural extension services and the upscaling of smallholder livestock production through improved
access to tailored information and services. The study was guided by the pragmatic paradigm, which
accommodates positivism (quantitative) and normative (qualitative) perspectives. A partially mixed
sequential explanatory design with a dominant quantitative method was adopted. A structured questionnaire
was administered to 101 commercially oriented beneficiaries of the Nguni cattle project in North West
Province, South Africa, to collect quantitative data. Qualitative data were collected through focus group
discussions (FGDs) and key informant interviews (KIIs) with farmers and extension officers, respectively.
A double-bounded contingent evaluation method was used to estimate the farmers’ willingness to pay
(WTP) for rangeland conservation and regeneration. A binary logistic regression model was used to
evaluate the determinants of farmers’ WTP. The results show that most farmers (>80%) were willing to
pay the initial bid price of ZAR165.00, with the estimated mean WTP being ZAR244.00 ha -1 year -1 for
improving rangelands. The logistic regression findings show that the farmers' WTP responses were
influenced by education (p = 0.012), most important breed (p = 0.039), farming experience (p = 0.026),
goat ownership (p = 0.022), ecoregion (p = 0.079), and income from cattle sales (p = 0.048). The high WTP
results highlight the potential of involving the smallholder cattle farmers in implementing payment-based
programs designed to improve the ecological sustainability of rangeland ecosystems and even introduce
new interventions such as the LMDS. However, one of the complex challenges of driving the growth of
commercially oriented smallholder farmers is ensuring that farmers understand and use new technologies.
Thus, explaining their behavioural intentions before technology development is one of the most effective
ways to increase adoption and identify potential design issues. Therefore, the study investigated the
farmers’ experiences of using ICTs and their perceptions of the usefulness of the LMDS in livestock
production. Results revealed that over 75% of the farmers had smartphones and smartphone operating skills,
and nearly two-thirds were using the internet to search for agricultural information. About 80% had a strong
positive perception of the usefulness of the proposed LMDS towards their livestock production. FGDS and
KII results also observed higher positive perceptions towards the innovation. The Chi-square statistic was
used to test the association between farmers' socioeconomic characteristics and perceptions of the
usefulness of the LMDS. The results show that education level, smartphone ownership, farming experience,
cattle herd size and gender influenced farmers’ perceptions of the LMDS. Poor mobile network connectivity
(44%) and lack of digital skills (20%) were the limitations perceived to hamper the adoption of the
innovation. The deeper insights from study findings on the perceived usefulness of mobile technology can
be beneficial to policymakers, researchers, and development agents and institutions when developing
interventions for adoption by farmers. The LMDS development process involved a human-centred design
thinking process in which development activities were based on the farmers and extension officers’ needs
and expectations. Development of the LMDS has reached the prototyping phase, which involves software
development and validation in the actual operational environment.AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die kommersialisering van kleinboere het die voortou geneem op die ontwikkelingsagenda van baie
ontwikkelende lande. Die meerderheid kleinveeprodusente is sonder uitsondering minder produktief as
kommersiële produsente en is agter in kommersialisering. Afgesien van die veelsydige uitdagings waarmee
kleinboere te doen het, beperk toegang tot toepaslike inligting en voorligtingsdienste hul volhoubaarheid.
Daarom was die doel van hierdie studie om 'n Lewendehawebestuurdatabasisstelsel (LMDS) te ontwerp en
te ontwikkel vir die verbetering van die volhoubaarheid van kommersieel georiënteerde
kleinboerbeesprodusente in die Noordwes Provinsie van Suid-Afrika. Die stelsel bevorder die
doeltreffendheid van die lewering van landbouvoorligtingsdienste en die uitbreiding van veeproduksie deur
verbeterde toegang tot pasgemaakte inligting en dienste. Die studie is gelei deur die pragmatiese paradigma,
wat positivisme (kwantitatiewe) en normatiewe (kwalitatiewe) perspektiewe akkommodeer. 'n Gedeeltelik
gemengde opeenvolgende verklarende ontwerp met 'n dominante kwantitatiewe metode is aangeneem. ’n
Gestruktureerde vraelys is aan 101 kommersieel georiënteerde begunstigdes van die Nguni-beesprojek in
Noordwes Provinsie, Suid-Afrika, geadministreer om kwantitatiewe data in te samel. Kwalitatiewe data is
ingesamel deur middel van fokusgroepbesprekings (FGD'e) en sleutelinformant-onderhoude (KII's) met
onderskeidelik boere en voorligtingsbeamptes. ’n Dubbelbegrensde voorwaardelike evalueringsmetode is
gebruik om die boere se bereidwilligheid om te betaal (WTP) vir weiveldbewaring en -herlewing te skat.
’n Binêre logistiese regressiemodel is gebruik om die determinante van boere se WTP te evalueer. Die
resultate toon dat die meeste boere (>80%) bereid was om die aanvanklike bodprys van ZAR165.00 te
betaal, met die geskatte gemiddelde WTP wat ZAR244.00 ha-1 jaar-1 was vir die verbetering van weiveld.
Die logistiese regressiebevindinge toon dat die boere se WTP-reaksies beïnvloed is deur opvoeding (p =
0,012), belangrikste ras (p = 0,039), boerdery-ervaring (p = 0,026), bokeienaarskap (p = 0,022), ekostreek
(p = 0,079), en inkomste uit beesverkope (p = 0,048). Die hoë WTP-resultate beklemtoon die potensiaal
om die kleinboerbeesboere te betrek by die implementering van betalingsgebaseerde programme wat
ontwerp is om die ekologiese volhoubaarheid van weiveld-ekosisteme te verbeter en selfs nuwe intervensies
soos die LMDS in te stel. Een van die komplekse uitdagings om die groei van kommersieel georiënteerde
kleinboere aan te dryf, is egter om te verseker dat boere nuwe tegnologieë verstaan en gebruik. Die
verduideliking van hul gedragsvoornemens voor tegnologie-ontwikkeling is dus een van die doeltreffendste
maniere om aanvaarding te verhoog en potensiële ontwerpkwessies te identifiseer. Daarom het die studie
die boere se ervarings van die gebruik van IKT en hul persepsies van die bruikbaarheid van die LMDS in
veeproduksie ondersoek. Resultate het aan die lig gebring dat meer as 75% van die boere slimfone en
slimfoonbedryfsvaardighede gehad het, en byna twee derdes het die internet gebruik om na landbou-
inligting te soek. Ongeveer 80% het 'n sterk positiewe persepsie gehad van die bruikbaarheid van die
voorgestelde LMDS vir hul veeproduksie. FGDS- en KII-resultate het ook hoër positiewe persepsies
teenoor die innovasie waargeneem. Die Chi-kwadraat-statistiek is gebruik om die verband tussen boere se
sosio-ekonomiese eienskappe en persepsies van die bruikbaarheid van die LMDS te toets. Die resultate
toon dat onderwysvlak, slimfooneienaarskap, boerdery-ervaring, beeskuddegrootte en geslag boere se
persepsies van die LMDS beïnvloed het. Swak mobiele netwerkkonnektiwiteit (44%) en gebrek aan digitale
vaardighede (20%) was die beperkinge wat beskou word om die aanvaarding van die innovasie te
belemmer. Die dieper insigte uit studiebevindinge oor die waargenome bruikbaarheid van mobiele
tegnologie kan voordelig wees vir beleidmakers, navorsers en ontwikkelingsagente en -instellings wanneer
intervensies vir aanvaarding deur boere ontwikkel word. Die LMDS-ontwikkelingsproses het 'n
mensgesentreerde ontwerpdenkproses behels waarin ontwikkelingsaktiwiteite gebaseer is op die boere en
voorligtingsbeamptes se behoeftes en verwagtinge. Ontwikkeling van die LMDS het die prototiperingsfase
bereik, wat sagteware-ontwikkeling en validering in die werklike bedryfsomgewing getoets moet word.Doctora
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Get PDFThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
Variations on the Author
Get PDF“Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship
Appropriate Similarity Measures for Author Cocitation Analysis
Get PDFWe provide a number of new insights into the methodological discussion about author cocitation analysis. We first argue that the use of the Pearson correlation for measuring the similarity between authors’ cocitation profiles is not very satisfactory. We then discuss what kind of similarity measures may be used as an alternative to the Pearson correlation. We consider three similarity measures in particular. One is the well-known cosine. The other two similarity measures have not been used before in the bibliometric literature. Finally, we show by means of an example that our findings have a high practical relevance.information science;Pearson correlation;cosine;similarity measure;author cocitation analysis
Dispelling the Myths Behind First-author Citation Counts
Get PDFWe conducted a full-scale evaluative citation analysis study of scholars in the XML research field to explore just how different from each other author rankings resulting from different citation counting methods actually are, and to demonstrate the capability of emerging data and tools on the Web in supporting more realistic citation counting methods. Our results contest some common arguments for the continued
use of first-author citation counts in the evaluation of scholars, such as high correlations between author rankings by first-author citation counts and other citation
counting methods, and high costs of using more realistic citation counting methods that are not well-supported by the ISI databases. It is argued that increasingly available digital full text research papers make it possible for citation analysis studies to go beyond what the ISI databases have directly supported and to employ more
sophisticated methods
koamabayili/VECTRON-author-checklist: VECTRON author checklist
No full textWe have done our best to complete the author checklist relating to the use of animals in the hut study. Note that the objective for the hut study was to evaluate the IRS treatment applications for residual efficacy against Anopheles mosquitoes, including the local An. coluzzii mosquito population. Cows were only used to attract mosquitoes into the huts and no tests were carried out directly on the cows. The author checklist is intended for use with studies where experiments are carried out on animals, which is why we have had such difficulty in completing this for the hut study, as many of the questions do not relate to how the cows were used
Author-wise bibliometric analysis based on entropy.
No full textAuthor-wise bibliometric analysis based on entropy.</p
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