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Doctoral Degrees (Agricultural Extension and Rural Resource Management)

Permanent URI for this collectionhttps://hdl.handle.net/10413/6558

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Browsing Doctoral Degrees (Agricultural Extension and Rural Resource Management) by Subject "Agricultural extension services."

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    An evaluation of the role of public agricultural extension services towards promoting sustainable agriculture in Mpumalanga Province, South Africa.
    (2019) Khwidzhili, Rendani Humphrey.; Worth, Steven Hugh.
    South Africa lacks an inclusive policy on sustainable agricultural practices. This has resulted - in the continued over-exploitation of the natural resources by farmers. This study evaluates the role played by public agricultural extension services in promoting sustainable agricultural practices in Mpumalanga province. The framework of this study was adopted from a Framework for Evaluation of Sustainable Land Management (FESLM) which was developed through collaboration among international and national institutions as a practical approach to assess whether farming systems are trending towards or away from sustainability. The framework of this study was based on the five-pillared framework: maintaining and increasing biological productivity, decreasing the level of risk to ensure larger security, protecting the quality of natural resources, and ensuring agricultural production is socially acceptable. Most literature refers to sustainability and to sustainable agriculture, citing the common three pillared framework of economic, environmental and social sustainability which falls short of key elements found within the five-pillared framework. This study argues that the promotion of sustainable agricultural practices remains the domain of public agricultural extension services. The study proposes a need for the establishment of an inclusive policy that deals specifically with sustainable agricultural practices. In order to bring closer the context of the study, the definition of agricultural extension and the role it plays in agriculture is thoroughly discussed. The study also defines sustainable agriculture and why it became imperative in the last decade to expand the focus to the five pillars as a method for measuring outcomes in the future. The study evaluates the role of agricultural extension practitioners in Mpumalanga province in promoting sustainable agricultural practices. It further evaluates the role of extension managers in supporting extension practitioners. In conclusion, the study seeks to provide guidance to policy makers in considering the five pillars of sustainable agriculture when establishing agricultural policy on sustainable agriculture in South Africa. The study supports the need for training of extension managers, extension practitioners and farmers in the discipline of sustainable agricultural practices.
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    Towards developing a pluralistic agricultural extension system: the case of Vhembe district of Limpopo province, South Africa.
    (2022) Mudzielwana, Rudzani Vhuyelwani Angel.; Mafongoya, Paramu L.; Phophi, Mutondwa Masindi.
    Agricultural extension is a crucial component of agricultural development, food security improvement and rural livelihood enhancement. However, many farmers are constrained by extension systems that are difficult to access or lack quality services that utilise modern approaches, technologies and training methods. The rationale of this study is to look at the efforts to define and disseminate good practices, strategies and approaches to establish efficient agricultural extension services. This study used a quantitative research design to collect data from 319 respondents. A multiple linear regression model analysed factors influencing smallholder farmers’ performance under pluralistic and non-pluralistic settings. The study findings indicated that credit access (p<0.05), access to public extension (p<0.1), extension feedback (p<0.01) and transparency and accountability (p<0.05) negatively influenced the performance of the smallholder farmers in the study area. A binary probit regression model was used to analyse factors influencing the perception of implementing a pluralistic extension service providers system among smallholder farmers. The findings from the study indicated that age (p<0.05) negatively influenced the probability of implementing a pluralistic extension system among smallholder farmers in the study area. The binary probit regression model was used to analyse the determinants of smallholder farmers’ willingness to pay for extension services. The study's findings indicated that marital status (p<0.1) negatively influenced the probability of smallholder farmers’ willingness to pay for extension services in the study area. The multinomial logistic regression model was used to analyse factors influencing a sustainable extension service system among smallholder farmers. The farm size (p<0.1), extension feedback length (p<0.01), and effectiveness of extension (p<0.1) negatively influenced a sustainable extension service system among smallholder farmers in the study area. Gender (p<0.1), household size (p<0.1), willing to pay for extension service (p<0.01), the difference in output (p<0.1) and annual income (p<0.01) positively influenced a sustainable extension service system among smallholder farmers in the study area. The study encourages collaborations among public and private stakeholders, researchers, extension officers and rural development agencies to implement a cost-effective pluralistic extension system that meets the end users' or clients' (smallholder farmers) agricultural/ farming needs.