Masters Degrees (Agricultural Economics)
Recent Submissions
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A demand analysis of farm labour employment in the south coast and midlands commercial sugarcane farming by labour categories : implications of the sectoral determination.
(2016)The objective of this study is to investigate the impact of changes to the regulatory environme nt governing farm labour employment since the mid-1990s on wages and employment of farm workers in the South African sugar ... -
The impact of capital endowment on smallholder farmers’ entrepreneurial drive in taking advantage of small-scale irrigation schemes : case studies from Makhathini and Ndumo B irrigation schemes in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa.
(2016)Smallholder irrigation has been taken across the developing countries as a means of poverty reduction. However, irrigation schemes have failed to meet these goals for various technical and institutional reasons. The South ... -
Comparative analysis of the impact of food prices on household food security : evidence from the North-West and KwaZulu-Natal Provinces, South Africa.
(2015)The prevalence of household food insecurity in South Africa is not a result of a shortage of food but of a lack of access to food. Contributing to this are the rising food prices that adversely affect the rural poor, as ... -
Analysis of factors determining livelihood diversification among smallholder farmers in KwaZulu-Natal.
(2016)Abstract not available. -
Measuring rural household vulnerability to food insecurity : the case of uMzimkhulu Local Municipality, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa.
The objective of this study is to examine the factors associated with vulnerability to food insecurity among rural households in Umzimkhulu Local Municipality, KwaZulu-Natal. This includes identification of the most ... -
Measuring the operational competitiveness of commercial operations in public protected areas under Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife : implications for ecotourism in the KwaZulu-Natal Province.
(2015)In many countries, most of the wildlife and biodiversity remains under state control, and the state employs conservation agencies to regulate their use and management. However, state sanctioned protection of wildlife and ... -
An analysis of the economic competitiveness of green maize production in smallholder irrigation schemes : a case of Makhathini flats irrigation scheme in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa.
(2014)Recent assessments of smallholder irrigation schemes indicate that their success has been limited. Factors that contributed to their modest performance were poor infrastructure, limited knowledge of crop production among ... -
Spatial prioritisation of conservation areas on the fringes of KwaZulu-Natal protected areas : application of the characteristics framework using tourism competitiveness.
(2014)Prioritisation of conservation areas has become a major area of study over the last few decades as a result of greatly increased rates of biodiversity loss and extinction with the rapidly expanding human population and ... -
Smallholder farmers' willingness and ability to pay for improved irrigation : a case of Msinga Local Municipality, KwaZulu-Natal Province.
(2014)Water is the essence of life for humankind. Due to water scarcity from increased population and increased demand for the resource, there is a need to allocate the water efficiently. Economists have proposed water pricing ... -
Institutions to govern wildlife in the developing regions of KwaZulu-Natal.
(2015-01-27)In practice, property rights to wild flora and fauna are determined by de facto property rights to the land on which they are found. However, access to wildlife may become open regardless of land tenure due to the growing ... -
Market reform, contestability and determinants of the Maize Board-Miller marketing margin in the South African maize industry.
(2015-01-27)The dissertation analyses market reform in the South African Maize Industry at two levels. Firstly, aspects of the theory of contestable markets are used to analyze maize grain marketing reform and identify what measures ... -
Projecting international demand for and supply of protein feed.
(2015-01-27)South African imports of protein feed (oilcake or meal) increased 210% from 1990 to 1998/1999. Over that same period local production increased by only 14% and imported protein feed now accounts for over 50% of local ... -
Grain marketing policies and food aid in Lesotho : implications for food security.
(2015-01-27)Food security is a necessary condition for the survival of every nation, household and individual. With the failure of the food self-sufficiency policy in Lesotho alternative food security objectives are suggested. Supply ... -
Implications of new labour legislation for commercial agriculture in KwaZulu-Natal.
(2015-01-27)New labour legislation was introduced to agriculture in September 1993. This study examines the effects of the new legislation on agriculture, mainly in terms of increased farmers' transaction costs when dealing with ... -
Economic evaluation of a transport development programme for small-scale cane growers.
(2015-01-05)The recent deregulation measures in the South African sugar industry have the effect of removing most of the previous restrictions to entry faced by potential small-scale cane growers. To accommodate the current and ... -
An economic analysis of irrigation water rights transfers in selected areas of South Africa.
(2014-12-24)Due to the enormous incremental construction cost of water storage and conveyance infrastructure, and because most water resources in South Africa have been fully appropriated, attention has changed from supply side ... -
Testing the efficiency of the South African futures market for white and yellow maize.
(2014-12-24)An efficient futures market should provide a forecast of the future spot price which reflects all publicly available information; ideally, for effective price discovery such forecasts would also be unbiased. The trading ... -
An economic evaluation of water treatment costs in the Umgeni catchment area.
(2014-12-24)This study has two objectives: first, to identify the main contaminants responsible for high water treatment costs in the Umgeni catchment area, and second, to predict water treatment costs from observed levels of ... -
An economic analysis of soil conservation policy for selected commercial farms in KwaZulu-Natal.
(2014-12-24)Inherent in the erosion process is a high level of uncertainty. This is associated with the inability to accurately quantify and predict the consequences of prolonged erosion for agricultural production, or estimate the ...
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