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1 – 10 of 558Yanga Simamkele Diniso, Leocadia Zhou and Ishmael Festus Jaja
This study aims to evaluate the knowledge and attitudes of dairy farmers about climate change in dairy farms in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa.
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to evaluate the knowledge and attitudes of dairy farmers about climate change in dairy farms in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa.
Design/methodology/approach
The study was conducted following a cross-sectional research design (Bryman, 2012). The study was conducted mainly on dairy farms located on the south-eastern part of the Eastern Cape province in five districts out of the province’s six districts (Figure 1). These districts include Amathole, Chris Hani, OR Tambo and Cacadu; these regions were not included in a recent surveying study (Galloway et al., 2018).
Findings
In all, 71.7% of dairy farm workers heard about climate change from the television, and 60.4% of participants reported that they gathered information from radio. Eighty-two out of 106 (77.4%) correctly indicated that climate change is a significant long-term change in expected weather patterns over time, and almost 10% of the study participants had no clue about climate change. Approximately 63% of the respondents incorrectly referred to climate change as a mere hotness or coldness of the day, whereas the remainder of participants correctly refuted that definition of climate change. Most of the study participants correctly mentioned that climate change has an influence on dairy production (92.5%), it limits the dairy cows’ productivity (69.8%) and that dry matter intake of dairy cows is reduced under higher temperatures (75.5%).
Research limitations/implications
The use of questionnaire to gather data limits the study, as respondents relied on recall information. Also, the sample size and study area limits use of the study as an inference for the excluded parts of the Eastern Cape Province. Also, it focused only on dairy farm workers and did not request information from beef farmers.
Practical implications
This study imply that farmers without adequate knowledge of the impact of climate change keep complaining of a poor yield/ animal productivity and changing pattern of livestock diseases. Hence, a study such as the present one helps to bridge that gap and provide relevant governing authority the needed evidence for policy changes and intervention.
Social implications
Farmers will begin to get help from the government regarding climate change.
Originality/value
This a first study in South Africa seeking to document the knowledge of dairy farm workers about climate change and its impacts on productivity.
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Ebenezer Toyin Megbowon and Abbyssinia Mushunje
The purpose of this paper is to analyze food security status and its determinants among households in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to analyze food security status and its determinants among households in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa.
Design/methodology/approach
The analysis is based on the General Household Survey which was conducted in 2014 where 3,033 households were sampled from the province. Specifically, this study examines the determinants of food security proxy by dietary diversity (24-hour recall) using descriptive statistics, Poisson regression. A frequency count of food groups consumed household dietary diversity score was used as the explained variable.
Findings
The descriptive analysis shows that, although 61.7 percent of households in the study area have a high dietary diversity score, however, food group giving micronutrients are less consumed as food groups having cereals (maize), beef, sugar and oil was mostly consumed. Results on the marginal effect of Poisson regression indicate that household head characteristics (age, gender, education, marital status, and employment status), pension receiving households and geographical location significantly influence household dietary diversity.
Originality/value
This study advocates for the intensification of rural development and food security programs, formal and informal education for household heads, female empowerment and dietary enlightenment for households in order to promote the consumption of diverse diets and more healthful food groups.
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Ngxito Bonisile, Kahilu Kajimo-Shakantu and Akintayo Opawole
Anecdotal evidence indicates that there is a backlog in the pre-tertiary school infrastructure in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa. The purpose of this paper is to assess…
Abstract
Purpose
Anecdotal evidence indicates that there is a backlog in the pre-tertiary school infrastructure in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa. The purpose of this paper is to assess the adoption of alternative building technologies (ABT) for pre-tertiary educational infrastructure delivery with a view to providing empirical evidence that could guide policy responses towards its wider adoption.
Design/methodology/approach
The study adopted a mixed methodology approach. This comprises a triangulation of a questionnaire survey and interviews. In total, 100 participants were randomly selected from 182 built environment professionals namely quantity surveyors, architects and engineers (electrical, mechanical, civil and structural) from the Department of Roads and Public Works (DRPW), who are currently involved in the Eastern Cape School Building Program (ECSBP). The questionnaire survey was supplemented by semi-structured interviews conducted with four top government officials (three from the Department of Education (DoE) and one from DRPW) who were also part of the questionnaire survey. Data collected were analyzed using descriptive statistics and phenomenological interpretation respectively.
Findings
The key findings showed that the level of adoption of ABT for pre-tertiary school infrastructure in the Eastern Cape province is primarily influenced and explained by perceptions that ABT offers inferior quality products compared to the conventional method, and limited awareness of its benefits.
Research limitations/implications
The study provides useful insights into the implications of the limited awareness of ABT as a an alternative technology for educational infrastructure delivery and policy responses towards its wider adoption and environmental sustainability.
Originality/value
Empirical evidence from this study indicates that the main motivation for the adoption of ABT is the limited government’s budget to cope with school infrastructural backlog, while environmental sustainability benefit is only secondary. Nonetheless, the realization that the backlogs in the provision of school infrastructure has resulted from sole reliance on the use of the conventional method is an indication of the potential that the adoption of ABT holds for minimizing of the backlog.
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Siphe Zantsi, Gabriele Mack and Stefan Mann
After unsuccessful attempts of South African governments to carry out a land reform that distributes farmland more justly, this study aims to undertake a stronger segmentation of…
Abstract
Purpose
After unsuccessful attempts of South African governments to carry out a land reform that distributes farmland more justly, this study aims to undertake a stronger segmentation of potential beneficiaries for a better targeting of future reforms.
Design/methodology/approach
A theoretical model has been developed along the axes of cultural innovation and aspirations that identifies the segment of current smallholders who would most likely relocate to become commercial farmers in the future. A survey among smallholders in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa confirms the approach.
Findings
A number of indicators can be identified, particularly for cultural innovation, that predict willingness to relocate to a region where commercial farms can be managed.
Originality/value
The importance of cultural innovation has been neglected both in theoretical frameworks and in practical concepts of land reform.
Peer review
The peer review history for this article is available at: https://publons.com/publon/10.1108/IJSE-05-2018-0226
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Martin Munashe Chari, Hamisai Hamandawana and Leocadia Zhou
This paper aims to present a case study-based approach to identify resource-poor communities with limited abilities to cope with the adverse effects of climate change. The study…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to present a case study-based approach to identify resource-poor communities with limited abilities to cope with the adverse effects of climate change. The study area is the Nkonkobe Local Municipality, in the Eastern Cape which is one of South Africa’s provinces ranked as being extremely vulnerable to the adverse effects of climate change because of high incidences of poverty and limited access to public services such as water and education. Although adaptive capacity and vulnerability assessments help to guide policy formulation and implementation by identifying communities with low coping capacities, policy implementers often find it difficult to fully exploit the utility of these assessments because of difficulties in identifying vulnerable communities. The paper attempts to bridge this gap by providing a user-friendly, replicable, practically implementable and adaptable methodology that can be used to cost-effectively and timeously identify vulnerable communities with low coping capacities.
Design/methodology/approach
A geostatistical approach was used to assess and evaluate adaptive capacities of resource-poor communities in the Nkonkobe Local Municipality. The geospatial component of this approach consisted of a multi-step Geographical Information Systems (GIS) based technique that was improvised to map adaptive capacities of different communities. The statistical component used demographic indicators comprising literacy levels, income levels, population age profiles and access to water to run automated summation and ranking of indicator scores in ArcGIS 10.2 to produce maps that show spatial locations of communities with varying levels of adaptive capacities on a scale ranging from low, medium to high.
Findings
The analysis identified 14 villages with low adaptive capacities from a total of 180 villages in the Nkonkobe Local Municipality. This finding is important because it suggests that our methodology can be effectively used to objectively identify communities that are vulnerable to climate change.
Social implications
The paper presents a tool that could be used for targeting assistance to climate change vulnerable communities. The methodology proposed is of general applicability in guiding public policy interventions aimed at reaching, protecting and uplifting socio-economically disadvantaged populations in both rural and urban settings.
Originality/value
The approach’s ability to identify vulnerable communities is useful because it aids the identification of resource-poor communities that deserve priority consideration when planning adaptation action plans to deliver support and assistance to those least capable of effectively coping with the adverse effects of climate change induced vulnerabilities.
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Syden Mishi and Robert Mwanyepedza
The world over is becoming urbanized, and people are migrating to cities in large numbers in search of opportunities. The increased urbanization has posed challenges such as…
Abstract
The world over is becoming urbanized, and people are migrating to cities in large numbers in search of opportunities. The increased urbanization has posed challenges such as congestion, rising crime, and growing urban poverty. The governments respond by providing amenities such as schools, hospitals, and housing to meet to increase in demand for these facilities. However, there is a need for the provision of facilities that meets the expectations of the people, particularly on the proximity of amenities and bundles of utility-bearing housing characteristics. In an attempt to address the challenge mentioned, the study estimated the hedonic characteristics influencing the willingness to accept and willingness to pay for housing facilities in the Eastern Cape Province, South Africa. Using a multiple linear regression model and artificial neural network, the study found out that properties with a bathroom, garage and large floor size have a higher value compared to properties without these facilities.When making decisions to acquire a property, buyers consider the availability of discounts and the prevailing property price. Overall, willingness to pay and accept decisions are mainly determined by location and the price at which homogeneous neighborhood properties were sold. Therefore, the study recommends that urban town planners and other housing authorities prioritize the construction of properties with larger floor areas, parking bays, and bathrooms using a cost-effective mechanism that makes the properties affordable to residents.
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Siphe Zantsi, Louw Petrus Pienaar and Jan C. Greyling
Understanding diversity amongst potential beneficiaries of land redistribution is of critical importance for both design and planning of successful land reform interventions. This…
Abstract
Purpose
Understanding diversity amongst potential beneficiaries of land redistribution is of critical importance for both design and planning of successful land reform interventions. This study seeks to add to the existing literature on farming types, with specific emphasis on understanding diversity within a sub-group of commercially oriented or emerging smallholders.
Design/methodology/approach
Using a multivariate statistical analysis – principal component and cluster analyses applied to a sample of 442 commercially-oriented smallholders – five distinct clusters of emerging farmers are identified, using variables related to farmers' characteristics, income and expenditure and farm production indicators and willingness to participate in land redistribution. The five clusters are discussed in light of a predefined selection criteria that is based on the current policies and scholarly thinking.
Findings
The results suggest that there are distinct differences in farming types, and each identified cluster of farmers requires tailored support for the effective implementation of land reform. The identified homogenous sub-groups of smallholders, allows us to understand which farmers could be a better target for a successful land redistribution policy.
Originality/value
Most of the existing typology studies in South Africa tend to focus on general smallholders and in the Eastern Cape province; this study extends the literature by focussing on specific prime beneficiaries of land reform in three provinces. This study uses a more detailed dataset than the Statistics general and agricultural household surveys.
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Eugine Tafadzwa Maziriri, Brighton Nyagadza, Brian Mabuyana, Tarisai Fritz Rukuni and Miston Mapuranga
This paper aims to examine how health consciousness, perceived nutrition of cereals, hedonic eating values and utilitarian eating values would influence consumers’ attitudes…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to examine how health consciousness, perceived nutrition of cereals, hedonic eating values and utilitarian eating values would influence consumers’ attitudes towards cereal consumption, willingness to pay for cereals, actual consumption of cereal products, cereal product consumption satisfaction and continuance of cereal consumption.
Design/methodology/approach
The research embraced a quantitative approach. The examination was completed in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa (SA). A structured questionnaire was used to collect data from 380 Generation Z consumers of cereal products. Structural equation modelling analysis was used using the smart partial least squares software to test the hypothesized model.
Findings
The results uncovered that the study variables were significantly associated, and surprisingly, the relationship between hedonic eating values and attitudes towards cereal consumption was found to be insignificant. It was also found that attitudes toward cereal consumption positively and significantly mediated the relationship between health consciousness and willingness to pay for cereals, perceived cereal nutrition and willingness to pay for cereals, hedonic eating values and willingness to pay for cereals and utilitarian eating values and willingness to pay for cereals.
Originality/value
This research adds new, fresh knowledge to the established body of knowledge on cereal consumption behaviour. This area has had little research attention in developing African countries like SA.
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Ziyanda Mpetile and Willie Chinyamurindi
The transformation of the agricultural landscape is deemed as an essential nation-building priority in post-democratic South Africa. Part of the activity of transformation is…
Abstract
Purpose
The transformation of the agricultural landscape is deemed as an essential nation-building priority in post-democratic South Africa. Part of the activity of transformation is affording disenfranchised groups opportunity to participate in careers where they were excluded. The purpose of the study is to investigate the motivational factors that influenced emerging Black farmers as entrepreneurs to choose agriculture as a career path in post-democratic South Africa.
Design/methodology/approach
This study adopted a qualitative study using a semi-structured interview technique. The sample comprised of 29 emerging Black entrepreneurs working within the agriculture context in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa.
Findings
Upon analysis, the individual stories of Black emerging farmers as entrepreneurs showed the role of personal influences; the community; the quest for financial influence through economic sustenance; and socio-economic influences as playing a part in informing career entrance into agriculture amongst the Black emerging farmers.
Research limitations/implications
A limitation, familiar with qualitative research, concerns the use of a small sample size. However, a strength of the study is the in-depth focus, especially through interviews lasting a minimum of 1 h.
Practical implications
This study answers the call for a contemporary understanding of career processes in professions such as agriculture that have not received attention. This can be a practical basis to encourage more recent entrants into occupations and entrepreneurial pursuits that have been restricted. This study thus offers a practical basis for career counselling interventions in the agricultural space. This includes farmer training and development opportunities and provision of financial support to Black farmers.
Social implications
The findings offer insight into the role of a range of socially embedded factors and how they influence occupational aspirations and individuals fulfilling their entrepreneurial pursuits.
Originality/value
This study ignites focus into an under-researched area, especially on the African continent.
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