Progression of Women to Higher Management Positions in South African Public Sector: A Differential Effect of Employment Equity

This research examined the extend to which African women have progressed to top management positions in the public sector since the EE Act of 1998. The paper became apposite given the growing call for women inclusion in top management positions to enhance gender equity in South Africa. The paper applied a review approach coupled with a quantitative test to assess the level of difference before and after the gender equity act. Applying a t-test of difference in mean growth of progression to top positions before and after the EE Act review of 2013, results indicate that at P<0.001, a siginificant progress has been achieved African women progression to top management positions in the public sector since the enactment of the EE Act in 1998. However, it was noted that this progress has not been balanced as progress is slanting toward the sectors that are more prone to black economic empowerment (BEE) enablement. The paper recommends that in order to heighten a balanced progress, African women should strive to delve into other sectors that may not necessarily require the BEE enablement; this requires a continuous strive to acquire higher level education and technical skills to compete in all the sectors of South African industries

Is the Revitalisation of Smallholder Irrigation Schemes (RESIS) programme in South Africa a viable option for smallholder irrigation development?

Smallholder irrigation in South Africa comprises only 3% of the irrigated area. Despite this relatively small area share, Limpopo Province is using the development of smallholder irrigation as a way of developing rural areas and correcting historical imbalances. Unlike the smallholder irrigation developed in most African countries, which focuses mainly on food security through subsistence production, Limpopo Province aims to develop commercial smallholder irrigation. Plots in this model are not fragmented. Initially the farmers are paired with a strategic partner knowledgeable about both the operation of irrigation and the crops grown. After 3 years the strategic partner transfers all ownership to farmers. We use gross margin analysis from one production cycle to assess the financial viability of this model. We conclude that there is potential for the model to be financially viable if farmers can get access to cash flow support in the form of credit which they can pay off at the end of a production cycle. This could be an innovative way of smallholder agricultural water management and of transforming poor subsistence farmers to commercial producers and thereby correcting historical imbalances.Keywords: smallhoder irrigation, financial viability, gross margin, South Afric

Stereotypes Against Women Principals in Rural Communities: An Individual or Cultural Issue? A Synthesis into Indigenous Knowledge Systems

Entrenched socio-cultural stereotypes which tend to undermine women’s ability to be leaders and managers cut across the social strata. The experience that informs this article is drawn from an African perspective. Discrimination and prejudice with respect to women’s ability to lead and to manage is universal. Feminist discourse and the bill of human rights are however, beginning to impact positively on these stereotypes. The research was conducted in Limpopo Province. This investigation illuminated the challenges that are faced by women leaders in their schools as well as communities, regardless of the fact that most women are already leading in their households as their partners are based far away from their homes because of work commitments. However there is a general impression that women are not good leaders. Therefore this investigation also probes into the general impressions created about women leadership. A Northern Sotho proverb which most individuals cite in reference to women leadership is: “Tsa etwa ke ya tshadi pele di wela leopeng” which means: “if a leader is a woman, disaster is bound to happen”. Thus a question which one can ask is, does this proverb encourage women discrimination in the cultural settings and work environment?Keywords: Cultural stereotypes, women principals, leaders, rural communities

Stereotypes against women principals in rural communities: an individual or cultural issue? A synthesis into indigenous knowledge systems

Entrenched socio-cultural stereotypes which tend to undermine women’s ability to be leaders and managers cut across the social strata. The experience that informs this article is drawn from an African perspective. Discrimination and prejudice with respect to women’s ability to lead and to manage is universal. Feminist discourse and the bill of human rights are however, beginning to impact positively on these stereotypes. The research was conducted in Limpopo Province. This investigation illuminated the challenges that are faced by women leaders in their schools as well as communities, regardless of the fact that most women are already leading in their households as their partners are based far away from their homes because of work commitments. However there is a general impression that women are not good leaders. Therefore this investigation also probes into the general impressions created about women leadership. A Northern Sotho proverb which most individuals cite in reference to women leadership is: “Tsa etwa ke ya tshadi pele di wela leopeng” which means: “if a leader is a woman, disaster is bound to happen”. Thus a question which one can ask is, does this proverb encourage women discrimination in the cultural settings and work environment

Technical efficiency of rainfed and irrigated rice production in Tanzania

Tanzania produces rice from two major ecologies, namely irrigated and rainfed lowland. Currently most of the rice is produced from the rainfed lowland but the country's National Rice Development Strategy (NRDS) hopes to reverse this trend. The NRDS aims to increase the rice production area for irrigated lowland ecology from 200 000 ha in 2008 to 390 000 ha by 2018, with productivity increasing from 2.13 t ha−1 in 2008 to 3.5 t ha−1 in 2018. This study evaluated the performance of irrigated and rainfed lowland rice production using technical efficiency. This paper estimates the technical efficiency of rice production in Tanzania for the irrigated and rainfed lowland ecologies. Data were collected from an irrigated site in Bagamoyo and a lowland rainfed site, Dakawa in the Morogoro area. The study found that the average technical efficiency of the irrigating farmers is 96% compared to an average 39% for the rainfed lowland system. For the irrigated system, there are no farmers with technical efficiency less than 80%. This high technical efficiency indicates that in order to achieve the rice production targets aspired to, the opportunity for increasing production therefore lies in changing the production technology.La Tanzanie produit du riz pluvial irrigué. Actuellement, la majeure partie du riz provient des plaines pluviales, mais la stratégie nationale de développement du riz (NRDS) du pays aspire à inverser cette tendance en augmentant la superficie rizicole irriguée de 200 000 ha en 2008 à 390 000 ha d'ici 2018, pour une productivité passant de 2,13 tonnes par ha en 2008 à 3,5 tonnes par hectare en 2018. Cette étude a évalué la performance des plaines irriguées et pluviales -qui correspondent à deux écosystèmes bien distincts- en utilisant l'efficacité technique,. Les données ont été recueillies à partir d'un site irrigué à Bagamoyo et d'un site pluvial, Dakawa dans la région de Morogoro. L'étude a révélé que l'efficacité technique moyenne des agriculteurs irrigués était de 96 %, et de 39 % en moyenne pour les systèmes de la plaine pluviale. Il n'y a pas d'agriculteurs irrigants ayant une efficacité technique inférieure à 80 %. L'efficacité technique élevée indique que, pour atteindre les objectifs de production de riz, l’augmentation de la production réside donc par la modification de la technologie de production.http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/10.1002/(ISSN)1531-03612019-04-01hj2019Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS