Suchergebnisse

Im früheren Homeland KwaZulu wurde (erstmals in Südafrika überhaupt) anhand von anthropometrischen Indikatoren der Ernährungszustand kleinbäuerlicher ländlicher Haushalte gemessen, korreliert mit der Agrarproduktion des jeweiligen Haushalts. Gezielt festgehalten wurden Einkommensquellen, die agrare Produktion und die demographischen Charakteristika der Mitglieder des Haushalts. Ergebnis: landwirtschaftliche Aktivitäten leisten einen entscheidend positiven Beitrag zum Ernährungszustand der Bewohner. Folgerung: Programme zur Erhöhung der landwirtschaftlichen Produktivität in unterentwickelten Regionen Südafrikas haben eine potentiell positive Auswirkung auf den Ernährungszustand der Haushalte und ganz besonders auf die dort lebenden Kinder. (DÜI-Hlb)

This paper presents new evidence on the employment effects of a large increase in agricultural minimum wages in South Africa using anonymized tax data. We add to the minimum wage literature by differentiating employment effects resulting from the destruction of existing jobs and from the slower creation of new jobs. Using data from tax years 2010/11 to 2016/17 and difference-in-difference models, our results show that employment decreased by approximately 14 percentage points following the minimum wage increase. Only 5 percentage points can be ascribed to job destruction, while the rest to slower job creation. Slower creation of new jobs is, therefore, the main channel through which minimum wages affect aggregate employment. Moreover, only 37 per cent of the intended increase was actually paid to workers, suggesting partial compliance with the legislation. Together, our results also provide an explanation of the paradoxical large disemployment and large non-compliance relationship; this is because employment was affected mainly by slower job creation and not job destruction.

Addressing the multiple challenges facing global agriculture requires integrated innovation in areas such as seeds, biotechnology, crop protection, grain storage and transport. Innovations related to plant improvement and the development of new or improved plant varieties will only happen at an optimal level if plant breeders' rights (PBR) are properly protected. The objective was to analyse the evolving landscape of wheat plant breeders' rights to address the dearth of empirical evidence of the patterns and trends of wheat varietal improvements in South Africa. We compiled a detailed and novel count and attribute database of wheat varietal innovations in South Africa from 1979 to 2013 using various sources. This data set was then analysed to ascertain the main trends in, and ownership of PBRs for wheat varietal improvements in South Africa over this period. A total of 134 PBR wheat varietal innovations were lodged from 1979 to 2013, an average of 6 applications per year. The administrative delays in granting PBR applications were substantially reduced by 77 days during the post-deregulation period (after 1996), indicating increased efficiency. The main PBR applicants were Sensako (39%), the Agricultural Research Council Small Grains Institute (ARC-SGI) (25%) and Pannar (15%). The ARC-SGI contributed to some of the PBRs owned by private companies through shared genetic resources before Plant Variety Protection (PVP) was implemented. Future innovations and dissemination of wheat innovations can be stimulated by plant variety protection, together with broader variety sector legislation that encourages both public and private sector investment. ; The paper is part of the PhD research by Charity R. Nhemachena on: 'Biological innovations in South African agriculture: A study of wheat varietal change, 1950–2013'. ; The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation grant to the University of Pretoria's Department of Agricultural Economics, Extension and Rural Development. ; http://www.sajs.co.za ; am2016 ; Agricultural Economics, ...

The bulk of the South African cotton crop is produced by large scale commercial farmers. Therefore it might be misleading to present South Africa's impressive Genetically Modified Cotton (GMC) adoption figures as evidence of successful GMC use by smallholder farmers. The total South African cotton area and number of farmers decreased drastically since the introduction of GMC and this causes observers to question the so-called success story of GMC in South Africa. Nevertheless, the smallholders' commitment in using Bt-cotton has been real and still is. Several assessment studies have demonstrated how profitable the adoption of Bt-cotton could be, but they did not take into account the local context of agriculture. The study we have implemented during the 2002/03 cropping season took place in a year of erratic rainfalls and when the institutional framework of cotton production has furthermore evolved negatively. Our study hence provides additional information on the adoption of Bt-cotton when context turns to become unfavourable. In this case, the mere access to cotton production is restrained to a limited number of producers; the cotton production becomes financially more risky while the profitability of using Bt-cotton is nullified. The South African cotton sector struggles in an unstable production and market environment and smallholders, with limited resources and limited production, managerial and marketing capacity and choice, suffer most. Technology introduction on its own cannot sustainably increase production; factors like institutional arrangements play a vital role. This reminds us that rain-fed agriculture remains sensitive to climatic hazards and that new technology adoption under these conditions might increase financial risk associated with cotton production.

The bulk of the South African cotton crop is produced by large scale commercial farmers. Therefore it might be misleading to present South Africa's impressive Genetically Modified Cotton (GMC) adoption figures as evidence of successful GMC use by smallholder farmers. The total South African cotton area and number of farmers decreased drastically since the introduction of GMC and this causes observers to question the so-called success story of GMC in South Africa. Nevertheless, the smallholders' commitment in using Bt-cotton has been real and still is. Several assessment studies have demonstrated how profitable the adoption of Bt-cotton could be, but they did not take into account the local context of agriculture. The study we have implemented during the 2002/03 cropping season took place in a year of erratic rainfalls and when the institutional framework of cotton production has furthermore evolved negatively. Our study hence provides additional information on the adoption of Bt-cotton when context turns to become unfavourable. In this case, the mere access to cotton production is restrained to a limited number of producers; the cotton production becomes financially more risky while the profitability of using Bt-cotton is nullified. The South African cotton sector struggles in an unstable production and market environment and smallholders, with limited resources and limited production, managerial and marketing capacity and choice, suffer most. Technology introduction on its own cannot sustainably increase production; factors like institutional arrangements play a vital role. This reminds us that rain-fed agriculture remains sensitive to climatic hazards and that new technology adoption under these conditions might increase financial risk associated with cotton production.

National audience ; Cotton production in South Africa derives mainly from commercial farming, it is not so much correct to present the so-called success of its adoption of Genetically Modified Cotton (GMC) as an example of successful GMC use by smallholding farmers. With reference to a fluctuating if not declining cotton production, the so-called success is debatable as it is clear that a mere technology introduction cannot ensure production increase. Other factors matter, in particular the institutional ones. Focusing exclusively the debate on the GMC issue has diverted the public attention from dealing with these factors. Cotton sector has suffered from severe instability whose negative effects impacted mainly smallholders. The last stage of the institutional evolution within this sector, oriented towards further intensification secured by irrigation, encompasses a risk of debarring most smallholders from producing cotton if the new approach cannot further scale up. It seems that this questionable evolution of the agriculture in the Makhatini Flats has been concealed by the exclusive debate about GMC. The results of our research complement the existing ones by pointing out bad profitability in an unfavorable climatic and institutional context. This reminds us that rain-fed agriculture remains sensitive to climatic hazards and that adoption of new technology might increase its financial risk. Wholly speaking, the outcomes of the GMC use in South Africa are unstable at a very low yield level. Change in the production cost structure should be emphasized since expenses on seeds becomes the main cash production cost. Today, only a few countries in Francophone African countries benefit from institutional stability which is favorable to GMC introduction. Such an introduction calls for preparation notably to negotiate favorable economic conditions of biotechnology transfer and to reorganize seed distribution in compliance with farmers' interests. This preparation would not be easy and adoption of GMC should not be ...