Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Farming organisations'

The National Farmers Federation (NFF) is a peak producer organisation. Its executive has purported to represent all Australian farmers with a unified voice. This thesis argues that primary producers are too heterogeneous a group ever to have developed much solidarity in articulation of or action for the furtherance of common interests and that this fact is reflected in the NFF. Heterogeneity results from farm size, product specialisation, level of technology adopted, geographical location and special needs. Successive farm organisations and the National Party (and predecessors) have attempted to encompass these differences since the 1890s. Producer differences either have led to secession or to unification when political and economic circumstances have warranted it. This diversity has prevented farm groups becoming united. The lack of unity at first prevented all farmers joining in one organisation, and when they did, they kept on splitting up. The charisma of Ian McLachlan allowed farmers to get together, but the diversity meant that the getting together benefited some not only without the others, but sometimes at the expense of others. This thesis explores the heterogeneity of the agricultural sector within the political and economic context of Australian agriculture and discusses its consequences, in the constant re-forming of farm organisations and the institutional framework of the NFF in the context of politicisation of agricultural interest groups. This thesis concludes that producer differences in terms of size and product specialisation determine how effectively they are represented. Corporate farmers have fared much better than family and family-plus farmers, who would probably be better represented by a small business organisation, with which they have more in common, rather than a farming organisation.

This research contributes to the discussion surrounding New Zealand’s entrepreneurial environment and Innovation Framework and addresses the research problem of whether the New Zealand government should seek to support entrepreneurship and innovation through the various knowledge-based or regulatory organisations it owns or funds, and if so, how it should go about accomplishing this. The approach taken was to use qualitative methods to examine how the government’s support for entrepreneurship and innovation was delivered to an emerging cluster of entrepreneurs from the point of view of those entrepreneurs. The entrepreneurs were involved in the innovative industry of land-based aquaculture and fieldwork was carried out in the Gisborne Region, on the east coast of the North Island of New Zealand. This study began by reviewing relevant literature from academic, industry and government sources to identify relevant sub-themes and create a framework for analysis. Fieldwork was undertaken using ethnographic methods to explore how the entrepreneurs experienced the New Zealand entrepreneurial environment and innovation framework in their interactions with knowledge-based and regulatory organisations. Data was gathered primarily by participant observation and semi-structured interviews and transcripts were coded and analysed using NVivo® software. An ethnographic narrative was produced and the interview transcripts analysed for relevance to the sub-themes from literature and to identify patterns that emerged from the data. This research reports that four of the entrepreneurs failed in their ventures due to a combination of factors both within their operations and within the entrepreneurial environment. These factors included technical difficulties maintaining livestock health and growth within an artificial marine environment, an inability to obtain assistance from knowledge-based organisations, problems in dealing with regulatory organisations, difficulty retaining trained staff, uncertainty about the market, and high energy costs. The Māori training organisation, Turanga Ararau, formed the Gisborne Aquaculture Society in an effort to establish a Gisborne aquaculture cluster however, this initiative proved unsuccessful primarily because the society failed to attract the 12 involvement of key stakeholders. This research contributes to the policy and practice of cluster facilitation by examining the extent to which best practice was followed in this attempt to establish a cluster and presents conclusions as to how the process of establishing the cluster could have been improved. This study also reports that the entrepreneurs were cut off from access to knowledge and research resources and received little advice or support from the knowledge based organisations that might have played a role in the development of their cluster. It examines how and why New Zealand’s Innovation Framework might be failing to recognise and support the vital role of entrepreneurs in economic development and suggests how this might be improved. The methodology chapters of this thesis contribute to literature regarding the use of ethnographic methods in entrepreneurship research and a further by-product of this thesis is an ethnographic account of the participant observation and semi structured interviews with the entrepreneurs. This research also provides an insight into the obstacles and challenges faced by entrepreneurs in New Zealand, in particular those involved in the emerging recirculating aquaculture industry.

La certification volontaire offre aux consommateurs des informations détaillées sur le processus de production et/ou de fabrication des produits. Les organisations paysannes jouent un rôle important dans la gestion de certification et de l'accès des petits agriculteurs aux marchés certifiés. Les organisations de producteurs du Costa Rica ont historiquement joué un rôle important dans la participation des petits producteurs aux filières certifiées et leur motivation à accéder aux marchés certifiés. Les organisations paysannes jouent un rôle important dans la gestion de certification et de l'accès des petits agriculteurs aux marchés certifiés. Pour ces raisons, le Costa Rica offre un environnement intéressant pour étudier la façon dont les organisations de producteurs de café arrivent à gérer la certification de leurs membres.Cette recherche se concentre uniquement sur les coopératives et les consortiums de coopératives puisqu’elles sont importantes dans le processus de certification. Considérant le manque de connaissances sur le rôle des coopératives et de la certification volontaire du café, cette thèse traite les questions suivantes: Quel est le rôle des coopératives dans la gestion des certifications volontaires ? Quels sont les changements induits par la certification, au niveau des coopératives et des exploitations ?, Quels aspects sociaux uniques propres au Costa Rica influencent la gestion et l'efficacité de la certification?Les administrateurs de vingt des vingt-deux coopératives de café au Costa Rica ont été enquêtés. Quatre coopératives ont ensuite été sélectionnées pour les études de cas approfondies.Bien que les certifications soient souvent critiqués de ne pas provoquer d‘amélioration au niveau de l'exploitation en raison de la sélection des exploitations conformées uniquement, le facteur qui encourage les coopératives à choisir la certification individuelle est la structure des certifications, y compris la faible demande de café certifié, les incitations faible et variables des prix, les coûts élevés de l'audit et des exigences élevées en gestion et en formation. Au Costa Rica, la certification de café volontaire fournissent des avantages réels, bien que minimes aux coopératives ainsi qu’à leurs membres. Les coopératives prennent des décisions sur la gestion des certifications en fonction de leurs stratégies commerciales, du type de café qu'elles produisent et de leur dotation en capital social, cette qui se manifeste comme une solidarité de groupe ou une approche commerciale. La certification incite à une approche plus holistique de la production de café en nécessitant plus de formations et de services liés à la production durable. Elle encourage les coopératives à collaborer avec d'autres parties prenantes, en augmentant leur connectivité et leur capital social. Cela donne aux membres un accès à de nouvelles connaissances et services, ce qui peut potentiellement créer un cercle vertueux de production de capital social.La certification peut cependant encourager les coopératives à offrir des services supplémentaires ou des incitations financières à une partie de leurs membres seulement. Un niveau élevé de capital social est nécessaire au niveau administratif pour assurer une répartition équitable des avantages de la certification tout en offrant des incitations aux membres à poursuivre la certification
Voluntary certifications offer consumers information on the process in which products are produced. Farmers’ organizations play an important role in the management of certifications and in small-farmer access to certified markets. Costa Rican farmers’ organizations have a long history of participation in the certified value chain and in fomenting small farmers’ access to certified markets. Farmers’ organizations also make strategic decisions related to the organization’s participation in the certified value chain and how farmers are supported and incentivized to join.For these reasons Costa Rica provides an interesting milieu to study how farmers’ organizations manage certifications. Because of their importance in the certification process in Costa Rica, this research focuses on cooperatives and consortia of cooperatives. Considering the gap in knowledge regarding the role of cooperatives and voluntary coffee certifications, this thesis presents the following questions: What is the role of cooperatives in the management of voluntary coffee certifications?, What are the advantages and disadvantages of participation in voluntary certifications for cooperatives?, What changes do certifications induce at the cooperative and farm levels?, What social aspects in Costa Rica influence the management and effectiveness of certifications? Administrators from twenty of the twenty-two coffee cooperatives in Costa Rica were interviewed to obtain basic data on harvest size, membership and management and participation in certifications. Four cooperatives were selected for in-depth case studies.Certifications are often criticized for not eliciting widespread change at the farm level due to the selection of compliant farms, but it is the structure of the certifications, including low demand, weak and variable price incentives, high costs of auditing and high requirements for management and training, which incentivize cooperatives to choose individual certifications.In Costa Rica, voluntary coffee certifications promote small but real benefits to cooperatives and their members. Cooperatives make decisions about the management of certifications based on their business strategies, the type of coffee they produce and the social capital inherent in the cooperative, which is manifested as a group solidarity approach or a commercial approach.Certifications incite a more holistic approach to coffee production by requiring training and services related to sustainable production. Certifications encourage cooperatives to collaborate with other stakeholders, increasing their connectedness and organizational social capital. This gives members access to new knowledge and services and has the potential to create a virtuous cycle of the production of social capital.Certifications, however, may induce cooperatives to offer additional services or financial incentives to some members and not to others. A high level of social capital is needed at the administrative level to ensure an equitable distribution of the benefits of certifications while still offering members incentives to pursue certifications

Magister Philosophiae (Land and Agrarian Studies) - MPhil(LAS)
This study explores institutional dynamics within an organic farming organisation, the Ezemvelo Farmers' Organisation (EFO), based in uMbumbulu in KwaZulu-Natal (KZN). The main objective of the study was to identify the institutional and governance factors that impact on the sustainability of the organic production programme of the EFO. A variety of research methods were employed, including a small sample survey of 50 households, in-depth interviews with key respondents, and a critical assessment of the existing literature on the EFO. The study established that many rural households in uMbumbulu maintain their livelihoods through a diverse array of activities that include social grants. Agriculture remains an important livelihood strategy for many households. It presents opportunities for income generation, access to food, job creation and increased asset accumulation. Communal land tenure systems do not constrain agricultural development, and kinship ties and social relations determine affordable and flexible land access for farming and residential use. The EFO initiave regenerated agricultural production in uMbumbulu. Many households have rights to cropping fields and these fields were revitalised and put under productive use as the organic farming initiative gained momentum. The EFO marketed its produce to Farmwise, a packhouse that distributes produce to various retailers. The agro-food industry is dominated by large business interests and maintained exploitative relations with the EFO. Organic production and marketing to such businesses imposed high transaction costs on members of the EFO as onerous quality standards were enforced throughout the value chain. Rural development interventions that are driven by external stakeholders such as academic institutions, government departments and other agencies tend not to provide sustainable solutions to help support the development of smallholder farmers. In the case of the EFO, such support saw abuses of power, elite capture, free-rider problems, conflict and weak management systems. The thesis argues that the agrarian transformation imperative means that policy frameworks must be re-examined, and adapted to the needs and local practices of smallholder farmers such as members of the EFO. Proper extension support that provides accurate market information, effective coordination of production and transport services, and relevant infrastructure, is also required.
National Research Foundation (NRF)

Cette recherche interroge les conditions de structuration et de perduration d’un engagement séparé pour les femmes dans les organisations et au sein de mobilisations agricoles bretonnes. Majoritairement composés d’exploitantes installées en couple et situés à la frontière entre associations de défense de l’égalité, cercles de sociabilités professionnelles et groupes de parole, les espaces d’encadrement agricole féminins offrent une occasion idoine de questionner non seulement l’imbrication des identités professionnelles et conjugales dans l’engagement mais également la labilité des usages rhétoriques de l'égalité et du féminisme dans des espaces professionnels non-mixtes. L’analyse de leur position dans l’espace de la représentation agricole questionne le degré d’autonomie des revendications portées au nom des agricultrices, leur influence sur les agendas organisationnels et leur effet sur la construction des carrières militantes. L’enquête s’appuie sur un dispositif cumulant une observation de quatre années des activités formelles et informelles des groupes féminins, une étude de leur documentation professionnelle, un recensement de leurs tribunes dans la presse agricole, auxquels s’ajoutent la réalisation d’entretiens avec les actrices qui y sont engagées et la constitution de données statistiques relatives aux mandats féminins dans les organisations agricoles bretonnes depuis 1990. Sur la base d’une analyse croisant les études de genre, la sociologie du militantisme et celle de la représentation professionnelle agricole, notre thèse consiste à démontrer que les groupes et mobilisations d’agricultrices forgent les contours d’une « cause de femmes » agricole mise sous tutelle des intérêts catégoriels et chevillée à l’idéal normatif de la complémentarité des sexes. En tant que réceptacles de positions professionnelles, organisationnelles et conjugales entrecroisées, les espaces de l’engagement féminin produisent des politisations ambivalentes de ces appartenances multiples, à la fois porteuses de contestation comme de reproduction des hiérarchies sexuées et de l’ordre social et politique
This research looks into the conditions for the structuring and continuation of a separate female activism within Breton organisations and farmers mobilisations. Mainly made up of professionals living in couples and situated at the intersection between gender equality advocacy groups, professional networks and support groups, farming self-help groups are a case in point to question not only the intertwining of professional and marital identities within activism but also the lability of rhetorical uses of equality and feminism within women-only professional spaces. The analysis of their position within the farmers’ representation spaces makes it compelling to question the degree of autonomy of the claims made in the name of women farmers, their influence upon the setting of professional agendas and their impact on the development of activist careers.Evidence was collected through an apparatus which consisted in the addition of a four-year-long observation of female groups’ formal and informal activities, an analysis of their professional literature, an inventory of their opinion columns inside the farm press, to which can be added semi-structured interviews with women farmers engaged in this activism and the setting up of statistical data about female mandates within Breton farm organisations since the 1990s. Drawing on an analysis which mixes gender studies, sociology of militancy and studies of farming professional representation, this PhD aims to demonstrate that women farmers groups and mobilisations shape the features of a farming “women cause” although it is subordinated to corporatist interests and seen through the lenses of the normative ideal of complementarity between the sexes. Being a repository of interlinked professional, organisational and matrimonial standpoints, female activism spaces lead to the ambivalent politicisation of plural belongings. These multiple affiliations can be a catalyst for protest as well as a way to reproduce sexual hierarchies and social and political order

This thesis will present the results of an investigation into arable crops and farming systems of Bronze Age Ireland. Earlier studies have suggested that barley - particularly the naked variety - was the predominant crop of this period, with wheat playing a very minor role in farming economies. These studies relied heavily upon evidence from plant impressions on ceramic vessels. The research presented here will explore the production and consumption of crops in Bronze Age Ireland through the examination of an alternative dataset – the evidence from charred plant macro-remains recovered from archaeological excavations. Investigations are focused upon evidence from the Middle and Late Bronze Age in Ireland, due to a relative dearth of Early Bronze Age material. The collation and analysis of mainly unpublished data from more twenty sites provide a strong contrast to the evidence from the seed impressions record. Clear differences can also be observed when comparing data from the Middle and Late Bronze Age periods. Investigation of the types of contexts in which these remains were recorded has revealed new insights into deposition processes and activities at this time. Analysis of the arable weeds accompanying the cereals has also enabled an exploration of cultivation, harvesting and crop-processing activities. Investigation of the scale of agricultural production suggests the mobilisation of communities for agricultural work, as well as the accumulation of agricultural surpluses. The record from Bronze Age Ireland does, however, indicate that a variety of agricultural strategies could have been deployed, and a progressive or 'evolutionary' trend towards agricultural intensification is unlikely to have occurred in all areas.

Variabilité du contexte de production, pertes de colonies : les exploitations apicoles fontaujourd'hui face à différentes problématiques environnementales et socio-économiques. Enjeu majeur pourla filière, la durabilité des exploitations reste aujourd'hui difficile à caractériser en l’absence de référenceset d’un cadre d’évaluation adapté à l’apiculture. Cette thèse propose une définition de la durabilité adaptéeaux spécificités des exploitations apicoles, élaborée avec un ensemble d’acteurs de la filière apicole enFrance métropolitaine. Cette définition met notamment en lumière l’importance de la capacité d’adaptationdes exploitations, dans un contexte de fortes incertitudes sur les ressources alimentaires du cheptel commesur les pertes de colonies.En l’absence de leviers directs de gestion des ressources, la gestion du cheptel occupe une place centraledans le fonctionnement de l’exploitation. Pour assurer le maintien de ce cheptel malgré les pertes decolonies, différentes stratégies de renouvellement des colonies et des reines sont mises en place par lesapiculteurs. En s’appuyant sur des enquêtes auprès d’apiculteurs professionnels, la deuxième partie de cettethèse caractérise ces différentes stratégies et les pratiques qui les composent, ainsi que leur variabilité d’uneexploitation à l’autre. Ces stratégies de renouvellement contribuent directement à la durabilité del’exploitation par le maintien du cheptel, mais sont aussi en interaction avec d’autres aspects dufonctionnement de l’exploitation, qui sont abordés par la troisième partie de cette thèse. Les choixtechniques de gestion du renouvellement peuvent ainsi générer différentes contraintes dans le temps etl’organisation du travail, et contribuent à l’adaptabilité des pratiques et à la capacité d’adaptation del’exploitation apicole dans un contexte d’incertitudes.Cette thèse contribue à mieux cerner les enjeux actuels de la durabilité des exploitations apicoles, et lesinteractions possibles entre les stratégies de renouvellement du cheptel et cette durabilité
Floral resources availability, annual climatic conditions or colony losses: professionalbeekeepers have to cope with several economic and environmental challenges to ensure the sustainabilityof their farm. Through a collective work with French professional beekeepers and other stakeholders fromthe apicultural sector, this thesis defines the sustainability of bee farming systems. The adaptive capacity ofthe farm appears as a central issue to ensure the beekeeper’s sustainability goals, as beekeepers have toface an uncertain environment.To cope with the annual colony losses, the colony and queen replacement strategy is a key aspect in abee farming operation management, and can interact with other sustainability goals. The replacementstrategies of professional beekeepers are formalised and some of their main technical or socio-economicconsequences are studied. The beekeeper’s replacement strategy appears to affect their work organisation,as well as the flexibility of their practices, which both contribute to the adaptive capacity of the farm.This thesis provides an outlook on the current issues of bee farming system sustainability, and on themain interactions between the beekeeper’s replacement strategy and their farm sustainability

Bénéficiaires de la réforme agraire des années 1960, les communautés indigènes situées au pied du volcan Cayambe, connaissent depuis deux décennies des transformations territoriales radicales. Ces transformations se sont intensifiées principalement à cause de l’intégration verticale des petits producteurs ruraux dans les chaines de production laitières par plusieurs industries agroalimentaires du pays. Ce modèle dominant dans la zone nord Andine favorise la diminution des couts de production et des risques pour les entreprises capitalistes venues opérer sur le territoire. Mais il confronte les agricultures familiales à un processus de déterritorialisation qui s’accélère avec la consolidation du pouvoir agroindustriel.En mobilisant une approche sociologique combinée à une analyse territoriale, cette recherche propose d’étudier les transformations économico-productives et socio organisationnelles qu’a subit le territoire depuis le début du XXème siècle pour ensuite déterminer et mesurer à quelle étape du processus de déterritorialisation sont confrontées aujourd'hui les agricultures familiales de Cayambe. La mise en évidence d'un processus de différenciation sociale associé à une recomposition des rapports de forces présents sur le territoire va nous permettre de discuter de la capacité des acteurs locaux à résister à cette dynamique de déterritorialisation et, par voie de conséquence, leurs possibilités de développer des stratégies qui leur permettent de récupérer le contrôle de leur territoire
Beneficiaries of land reform, indigenous communities located at the foot of Cayambe volcano are witness for almost two decades of territorial changes caused by theexpansion of the agro-industrial activity. Indeed, contract farming which considers smalls rural producers within the dairy production lines of several food industries, is the dominant model in the region. This kind of farming also promotes the reduction of production costs and the risks for the capitalist enterprises operating on the territory. Nevertheless, family farms would face a growing process of desterritorialisation that is increasing with the consolidation of agribusiness power and threatening to Andean community traditions, which are however vital in the process of the territorial construction and reconstruction. Are there still differentiated responses levels of family farmers to face to territorial changes and production-driven strategies led by agribusiness in the Ecuadorian Andes?

The thesis explores the formation and development of agricultural production co-operativesin the context of market socialist transition. It examines how changes in the organisation ofproduction and reproduction affected gender relations. At the same time, it explores the waysin which the prevailing relationships between men and women provided incentives andcreated patterns for economic development. State socialist emancipatory rhetoric aimed atdeveloping a 'humanised' society. Humanisation was to come about through participation insocialist wage labour, while the functions of the family household were to shrink and giveway to the all-pervasive expansion of the state. These two principles were common in thestate socialist projects of agricultural collectivisation and of women's emancipation. However, the proletarianisation of the peasantry could not be accomplished due to the stubbornresistance of the peasantry. They kept alive the institution of household-based production.,Meanwhile, the state placed dual demands on women's creative forces: they were to reachparity with men in the labour force while, at the same time, they were also to nurture thecoming generations. The economy's demands for more workers mobilised the female labourreserves, but women's integration presupposed a reduction of women's reproductive responsibilities. However, rather than balancing out the burdens between men and women, reproductive rights were constructed as women's rights. Consequently, women were integrated as a 'deviant' labour force. The evolving gender segregation of labour in the collective and household sphere was explained by the changing constructions of 'masculinities' and 'femininities'. The evolving economic differentiation served as the basis for the materialisation of gender relations yet could not by itself determine the gender specific outcome of the changes in economic cycles.

Les vallées d'Imintanoute offrent un exemple des vallées montagnardes du Haut Atlas occidental en crise. Ayant longtemps été considéré par ses habitants comme un « espace refuge », le pays d'Imintanoute apparaît, aujourd?hui, comme une « zone d'émigration » par excellence. Malgré une certaine diversification des cultures, occupant l'espace irrigué (bled targa) du fond des vallées et la culture céréalière pluviale d'orge du bled bour* (espace de culture pluviale), associée à un élevage et à une arboriculture diversifiée (amandiers et oliviers) comme source de revenu complémentaire de la paysannerie, actuellement, des signes de crise apparaissent de façon évidente. L'agriculture de subsistance souffre de la sécheresse persistante, du manque d'irrigation, d'un rendement à l'hectare très faible, d'une arboriculture en cours de dégradation et d'un élevage toujours en déclin. La collectivité traditionnelle et l'espace imintanoutiens n'ont pas non plus échappé aux mutations profondes. La majorité des vieux systèmes d'irrigation (la naoura et la sania) a été laissé à l'abandon ou remplacé par la motopompe. Cette technique moderne a transformé le paysage du bled targa voire du bled bour*. Tous les villages sont touchés aujourd'hui par l'émigration sans exception. Beaucoup de jeunes quittent leurs douars pour cause de pauvreté. Aujourd'hui, de nouvelles structures socio-économiques, culturelles et politiques ont changé les comportements et les modes de vie des populations. Face aux transformations, l'espoir repose sur la nouvelle autoroute Marrakech-Agadir et sur d'autres projets encore afin de redynamiser l'économie de façon à améliorer la qualité de vie des Aït Imintanoute
Imintanoute valleys constitute an example of mountain valleys in Western Atlas undergoing severe crisis. Long considered a "place of refuge" by its inhabitants, the Imintanoute area - with its three aspects: mountain, piedmont and plain - now appears as a major "expulsion zone".Even though agriculture has diversified to some extent - based in the irrigated zones (bled targa) at the bottom of valleys and on the rainfed barley crops of the bled bour* (rainfed agricultural area), together with breeding and diversified fruit tree crops (almond and olive trees) as a source of complementary income for farmers - obvious signs of crisis appear today. Subsistence agriculture suffers from persistent draughts, lack of irrigation, a very low average yield rate per hectare, the gradual degradation of fruit tree crops and the decline of breeding. The traditional community and the area of Imintanoute have undergone profound changes. Most of the old irrigation systems (naoura and sania) have been abandoned or replaced by power pumps. That modern technology has transformed the landscape of the bled targa and possibly even of the bled bour*. All villages without exception are affected by emigration. Many young people are driven out from their douars by poverty. Today, new social, economic, cultural and political structures have changed the behaviours and the ways of life of the populations. In view of those changes, hope rests on the new motorway from Marrakech to Agadir and on still other projects to redynamize the economy and thus improve the quality of life of the Aït Imintanoute

L’agriculture biologique sort aujourd’hui des frontières des pays du Nord en se développant dans de nombreux pays dits du Sud. Cette dynamique a tout d’abord été celle d’un positionnement sur des filières d’export de produits à haute valeur ajoutée. Parallèlement à l’export, émergent dans un nombre croissant de pays en développement, et notamment au Kenya, des marchés domestiques. La thèse pose la question des dynamiques permettant l’émergence et le développement de ces nouveaux marchés. La recherche est structurée autour de quatre questions. La première porte sur les formes d’organisation des échanges de produits biologiques à Nairobi. À partir du cadre de l’économie néo-institutionnelle, nous expliquons comment, en l’absence de systèmes de certification crédibles, ces produits parviennent à être vendus avec premiums. La seconde question porte sur les conditions d’accès des producteurs à ces marchés. Il est fréquent de mettre en avant leur caractère plus rémunérateur. Or, une partie des producteurs qui pourraient effectivement vendre sur ces marchés privilégient les marchés conventionnels. À partir du concept de coûts de transaction, nous montrons le rôle de coûts de négociation et de suivi. Dans notre troisième chapitre, nous posons la question des effets de l’accès à ces marchés sur la diversification des cultures des producteurs, et par là sur la durabilité économique et environnementale de leurs exploitations. À partir des apports de la micro-économie, nos résultats confirment l’effet positif de l’accès aux marchés biologiques.Enfin, notre quatrième et dernier chapitre consiste en une analyse de l’efficacité de ces marchés et des conditions de leur pérennité. Nous proposons une grille d’analyse associant économie de l’information et analyse de la construction de la qualité. Elle nous permet de comparer les différents dispositifs de certification existant au Kenya. L’analyse montre que le dispositif le moins efficace est celui qui est amené à se développer, posant ainsi la question de la pérennité des marchés biologiques domestiques kenyans
Over the past two decades the organic agro-food system has been transformed, extending beyond Northern countries and expanding in many so-called developing countries.This dynamic was first a positioning on high added value products’ export markets. Since several years, domestic markets have emerged in a growing number of developing countries, including Kenya. This thesis attempts to shed light on the dynamics explaining these new markets’ emergence and development. The research is based on four questions. The first one concerns the way organic transactions have been organized in Nairobi. Based on neo institutional economics, we explain how, in the absence of credible certification systems, these products are able to be sold with premium. The second question deals with the conditions of producers’ access to these markets. It is common to highlight that organic domestic Kenyan markets are more profitable than conventional ones. However, some producers, who could actually sell in these markets, prefer conventionalones. Thanks to the concept of transaction costs, we show the role of negotiation and monitoring transaction costs. Chapter 3 analyses the effects of selling on organic market on crops’ diversification, as a proxy of economic and environmental sustainability .Based on microeconomics’ contributions our results confirm the positive effect of organic markets. Finally, our fourth and final chapter provides an analysis of the conditions of these markets sustainability. We propose an analysis grid combining economy of information and quality construction approach, based on Hirschman (1970) works.This grid helps us comparing different certification and verification schemes existing in Kenya. Analysis shows that the least effective scheme is the one that is bound to grow,raising the question of the sustainability of Kenyan domestic organic markets

The transformation of South Africa’s rural communal spaces into an economically viable, socially stable and harmonious sector is currently on the political agenda, the efforts of the public sector to achieve this however have fallen far short of the intended goal leaving subsistence and emerging farmers with little or no support. A current decline in agricultural activity in South Africa’s rural areas threatens to weaken even further the strength of rural economies. Calls for the return of ‘peasant’ agriculture to the political and academic agendas and a clarion call for South African farmers to rewrite their history lie within the problem of sustaining humanity with the economic, social, environmental and temporal dimensions as a driver for development. This thesis interprets the activities and behaviours that defined the innovative response of small-scale commercial farmers in KwaZulu-Natal who role model ‘farming’ as a ‘way of life’ in communal land spaces. The focus of the research was to interpret a useful meaning in the re-negotiation of power relationships between producers and their market. It conceptualised the process of individuals who had determined, and continue to define, their future. The events observed over the three years of field work, offered the possibility of generating an emergent solution to re-inventing farming as a way of life as season by season, decisions were made at the individual homestead level, collectively at community level and between internal and external decision-makers for market oriented agriculture as an additional farming strategy. A constructivist epistemology, relying on a pragmatic approach to using grounded theory methods within a participatory process, constituted the study design. The research focussed only on emic issues as the ‘culture’ or social and material priorities of the agronomic system in transition. For this reason, sensitising concepts were drawn from within the context to limit the scope and analysis of the study. Following the field work and write up, the literature of agrarian change was used to locate the study and consider the practical contribution of the study. This research identified that ‘successful’ commercial homestead agriculture was the result of changes in mind-set that allowed for new norms and behaviours for farming practice and for relationships. These shifts provided leverage points for overcoming resistance between producers and markets in accommodating a sustainable market oriented agronomy. Influencing the change was the impact of informed decision making, which brought the stakeholders together through the sharing of values and beliefs. Success was interpreted as using the market-orientated production of amadumbe to tap into the factors that sustained and created social cohesion, as well as those that stimulated agricultural activity. This emphasis encouraged the capacity for development and cultivation of sustainability. The research proposes that deliberate interdependence between producers and markets creates the incentive for development that is self-determining, sustainable and derives economic benefits from agricultural activity. This research contributes towards understanding how to re-define commercialisation as an inherent characteristic of traditional agricultural practice and, within this, a meaningful description for stakeholders of the social impact of a deliberate and mutually determined reconstruction of livelihood reality through a farmer-market researcher relationship. The research introduces the need for a new way of engaging over agriculture in communal spaces; how Discourse is defined and managed; for whom the results of evaluation and monitoring are aimed; and to whom the results of research belong. The research raises consciousness of the need for a space within which dialogue and support for sustaining social agriculture and the role that research institutions could play. The product of this research is a theory whose core variable defines successful commercial homestead agriculture as a dimension of systemic integrity between internal and external economic interactions. Systemic integrity has been defined as the process by which commercialisation of traditional agriculture has been demonstrated through tapping into the motivations that stimulate agricultural activity and nurturing social cohesion as the framework for legitimate development partnerships. The findings contribute to the discussion of how to unlock the technological and productive potential of rural communities within the images of supportiveness, solidarity, and communalism that produce food for the survival of humanity in a contemporary and dynamic world.
Thesis (Ph.D.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2012.

For many poor rural South African communities, involvement in agriculture remains one of their most secure livelihood strategies. For the majority of these people, indigenous knowledge and the use of local materials, resources and skills is often the only asset they possess. The Ezemvelo Farmers Organisation (EFO) from the community of Embo in KwaZulu-Natal is one such group of rural people befitting this description. In the absence of financial resources to purchase relatively expensive agricultural inputs, accompanied by a lack of infrastructural development in their community, EFO farmers have become organic farmers by default. EFO members produce mainly traditional organic crops. However, little has been documented about the potential value of trade in these products. The purpose of this study was to explore potential marketing opportunities for traditional organic products through the mobilisation of indigenous knowledge, skills, and natural resources to improve the livelihoods of EFO members. A research team of three postgraduate students, each involved in his/her own independent study, worked in collaboration to collect relevant research information. Five data collection tools were used to collect this information. These were a household survey, a sustainable livelihoods analysis, a forcefield analysis, a stakeholder analysis, and a workshop. Research results showed that there are five stakeholders involved in EFO activities, each with his/her own personal interests. EFO members mainly produce amadumbe, sweet potatoes, and potatoes, which they market to a packhouse, the local community, and to hawkers. Other crop varieties are produced for household consumption and small quantities are sold to the local community and hawker markets. Farmers obtained a slightly higher price for crops sold to the packhouse as compared to the other two markets. The packhouse was the farmers' largest market for the 2002 season. However, the packhouse market was unsustainable for farmers because of problems due to the delays in payments for produce, the high quantities of crops that are rejected because they did not meet the quality control standards of the packhouse, and problems due to the unreliability of transport from Embo to the packhouse. The majority of EFO members' farms were also found to be unprofitable due to the high costs of inputs and losses to production. Constraints such as a shortage of kraal manure for soil conditioning, unfenced properties, a lack of water for irrigation, and the unavailability of a tractor for ploughing were found to be contributing factors to the unprofitability of member farms. Recommendations for improving marketing and profitability were that projects involving farmers should be regularly evaluated, EFO members seek business management skills, direct contracting agreements with their suppliers, explore value added products, and for Government to play a role for rural enterprise development to take place.
Thesis (M.Sc.)-University of Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2002.

The Ezemvelo Farmers’ Organisation (EFO) is a certified organic smallholder group in KwaZulu-Natal province (South Africa) that exists as an institution to improve smallholder access to niche markets by reducing unit production and transaction costs. The study is motivated by the need to understand drivers of collective action, prevalence of internal group free-riding, and the impact of contract terms on contract performance. These three theoretical concepts are pertinent in understanding organisational and institutional issues affecting the performance of smallholder organic farming groups and in formulating policies to promote the performance of such groups. The study relies on the theoretical foundations of collective action, free-riding and contracts found within the realm of New Institutional Economics (NIE). These theories, though separate, are in fact related in certain respects. Collective action in smallholder groups, apart from being a function of a plethora of socio-economic factors, including transaction costs, could be constrained by free-riding within the group, which in turn could be influenced by flawed contractual arrangements. This study of collective action focuses on 200 farmers drawn from a sample survey of 49 non-EFO members, and a census survey of 103 partially certified and 48 fully certified EFO members. A ‘collective action’ model investigates the impact of perceived benefits and savings on production and transaction costs attributed to collective action by drawing comparisons between EFO members and non-members using a multinomial logit model. The study of free-riding uses data from 151 members of the EFO to construct an index of free-riding within the group using principal components analysis (PCA). A ‘contract model’, which also focuses on EFO members only, attempts to measure the impact of verbal contract provisions on contract performance in addition to evaluating the determinants of preferred contract terms using a combination of PCA, Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) regression, and logit models. Results indicate that continued participation in EFO is not influenced by the age or gender of the farmer, but positively influenced by growth in the net benefits of participation, and negatively by an increase in the size of the household’s cropland or on-farm earnings. With respect to production and transaction costs, the results suggest that EFO has reduced fully certified members’ concerns that crops would be damaged by livestock or constrained by inadequate technical information. However, this is not the case for other problems such as price uncertainty in conventional markets, a lack of affordable operating inputs, a lack of affordable transport, and a lack of communications infrastructure. The index of free-riding behaviour constructed using principal components analysis suggests that free-riding poses a serious threat to EFO’s collective marketing efforts. Ordinary Least Squares regression analysis of the index scores shows that members who are male, poorly educated, partially certified, aware of loopholes in the grading system, and who do not trust the buyer are more likely to free-ride. Benefits accruing to EFO members are limited and there is substantial confusion among members about the terms of EFO’s verbal contract with the pack house that purchases their organic produce. Ordinary Least Squares regression analysis of the impact that perceived contractual terms have on quantities delivered to the pack house yielded interesting findings. Perceptions that delivery calls are made by the buyer, that grading procedures are flawed and that prices are not jointly established were found to reduce quantities delivered to the pack house, after controlling for differences in farm and farmer characteristics. Logit models estimated to identify the determinants of preferred contract clauses indicate that farmers with higher levels of formal education and farm income, and lower levels of experience, favour a written contract over a verbal contract. Similarly, farmers with higher levels of formal education and lower levels of family farm labour favour a contract denominated by area rather than weight. It is concluded that EFO should recruit households that rely on farming for income and which are land constrained. EFO is more likely to survive if it continues to secure fully subsidised information, transport, fencing, and certification services for its members, and if it improves the benefits of participating by synchronising harvest and delivery dates, negotiating price discounts for organic inputs, and by maintaining an office with telephone, fax and postal services. In the longer-term, EFO should address institutionalised free-riding by issuing tradable ownership rights. In the short-term, EFO must engage with the pack house (buyer) to remove flaws in the grading process that conceal the origin of low quality produce. Transparent and mediated negotiations leading to an incentive compliant contract with the buyer may also help to build trust and reduce free-riding within EFO. It is also recommended that the terms of EFO’s contract with the pack house should be revised so that; (a) delivery calls can be made by either the pack house or by EFO during specified periods and with reasonable notice, and (b) grading procedures are fully transparent and ensure traceability so that losses caused by poor quality can be internalised to members who deliver inferior produce. In addition, it is important that prices be negotiated at the beginning of each season and that the contractual parties have recourse to pre-agreed facilitators and an arbitrator to resolve disputes on price and quality. A written contract is recommended to support these more complex terms, with the proviso that the contract is explained to current and prospective members, and that growers are fully informed of their rights and obligations.
Thesis (Ph.D.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2008.

The land-grant university system was founded in the 19th century as a public means to help improve people’s everyday lives. A century and a half later, the challenges that the public faces to live a quality life are constantly changing, creating a need for the land-grant system to respond and adapt to continue to fulfill its mission. While the literature contains a wealth of conceptual papers addressing the role and mission of land-grant universities, relatively few papers could be found that reported empirical data or proposed and tested metrics for public engagement constructs. The current study sought to address this void in the literature through the investigation of factors influencing Indiana residents’ level of interest in engaging with Purdue University. Mail survey methods were used in which up to three contacts were made with adult members of 4,500 Indiana households identified through address-based sampling. Stratified random sampling was employed to ensure adequate rural household participation for other project purposes. Usable responses were received from 1,003 households representing 87 Indiana counties for a total response rate of 26%.