Importance of Sustainability on Agriculture in Southern Africa

This paper seeks to describe and discuss the impact that climate changes, and other challenges in terms of sustainability, have had on Africa and particularly on South Africa. It seeks to discuss the extent to which these changes directly and indirectly impact agriculture and the measures that are currently underway, with particular reference to South Africa, as well as suggest other strategies that could be implemented to attenuate the effects of climate change, thereby advancing the global shift towards sustainability. The paper discusses environmental and other changes that have taken place in Africa and asserts that the continent is in a particularly difficult situation in light of the debate on sustainability versus productivity. The fact that most of the world’s rural poor depend on agriculture and that climatic changes have created new complications makes it more difficult to meet the MDGs and impedes economic development. This is especially relevant in light of the financial crisis and the drop in aid from the developed world. However, although more still needs to be done, it should be noted that significant progress has been made and projects and strategies are currently underway to utilize the region’s natural advantages.sustainability, agriculture, South Africa, climate change, Environmental Economics and Policy, Farm Management,

'Transforming' South African professional sport: Some observations on recent developments

No Abstrac

Determinants of small scale farmers' participation in restructured food markets in South Africa: The case of the Tomato sector

This paper discusses the effects of markets restructuring on small-scale farmers in South Africa by analysing the determinants of small-scale farmers’ market choices in the tomato sector in two Provinces. South Africa has a very dualistic agricultural sector with a highly performing large-scale capital intensive agriculture on one hand and a traditional, semi subsistence small-scale communal sector on the other. Small farmers’ participation in modern markets (i.e. supermarkets, agro-processors and national fresh produce markets) is thus very low. Furthermore, results from our survey indicate that small-scale tomato growers in Limpopo and Mpumalanga provinces prefer supplying informal markets than modern markets. The econometric analysis of household level data indicates that access to land is a key determinant of their participation in modern markets. As confirmed by our survey, small-scale farming systems in South Africa are still very poorly capitalised. While still not being widely used, the key non-land asset variable is whether they can produce under greenhouses, thus supplying consistent quality demanded by the modern local channels. Other factors such as education and location in a good tomato producing area are also significant determinants of participation in modern markets. Interestingly, ownership of a cell phone as well as the number of market channels to which the farmers are connected are significant in determining market choices but they are negatively related to modern markets choice, which is to be related to the different natures of the transactions. Modern markets propose fixed prices or at least very stable prices under some forms of contractual arrangements while informal markets offer relatively flexible prices, price discovery and price risk management (through multiple marketing strategies) thus being much more important. The econometric analysis also shows that supplying modern markets does not improve small-scale farmers’ income whereas the access to a cell phone does, which supports the importance of the cell phone in price management as well as the preference for informal markets.Marketing, Restructuring markets, small-scale farmers, market channel choice,

Is geographic diversification sufficient to limit contract grower risk?

Lending and financial institutions have looked for a variety of ways to expand their portfolios into agriculture, but because of the risks associated with lending to farmers who lack traditional forms of collateral, they face price and yield risks, causing these inroads to be limited. Market-based instruments are readily available for price risk. Organised exchanges offering the most basic of these instruments, futures and options, have operated for a long time, providing transparency to the market and low-cost risk transfer tools for those able to access them. While the use of price risk management instruments is an incomplete solution, it has sufficient merits on its own and will make the overall burden of risk more bearable. The use of these instruments and multi-peril crop insurance products is expensive and does not provide full protection for financial lending institutions to limit their credit risk exposure. This article determines whether geographic diversification would be sufficient as a risk management tool for lending institutions to limit their credit risk.Geographic diversification, Contract grower, Risk, Lending, Rainfall, Yield, Agricultural Finance,

INCREASING DOMESTIC CONSUMPTION OF SOUTH AFRICAN WINES: IDENTIFYING THE KEY MARKET SEGMENTS OF THE “BLACK DIAMONDS”

Although South Africans are not predominantly wine drinkers, the industry is looking for ways to develop the local market to balance exports. The black middle class, increasingly referred to as the Black Diamonds are the most powerful marketing trend in the last 10 years as they have emerged as the strongest buying influence in the economy and making inroads in understanding this market presents a good opportunity. The study asserts that the key factors influencing the South African consumers’ behavior are age, gender, income, race and wine drinking history. The study also asserts that not only are the black middle class are different from the white middle class but within the Black Diamonds different segments exist. The industry should particularly focus on marketing to the women and the “Start me up” age group in the group as there is limited consumer knowledge about wines, but a high willingness to experiment. The study also suggests various new brand communication platforms that can be explored to reach this market as well as co-opetition between industry stakeholders.Black Diamonds, wine consumer behavior, alcoholic beverages, Agribusiness, Demand and Price Analysis,

DIE ROL VAN DIE LANDBOU-EKONOOM IN DIE FINANSIËLE SEKTOR - 'N UITNODIGING VIR DIE BEROEP

Agricultural Finance,

"The Common Law is … not what it used to be"*: Revisiting Recognition of a Constitutionally-Inspired Implied Duty of Fair Dealing in the Common Law Contract of Employment (Part 3)

This piece, which is in three parts, will revisit the importation of fairness into the employment contract (outside and independent of the fairness-based provisions of our labour legislation) by a line of Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) judgments during the 2000s. This process culminated in the recognition of an "implied duty of fair dealing" in the common-law employment contract. This piece will discuss such developments, will argue that such an implied duty still forms part of our law (despite the apparent consensus in the literature that the SCA turned its back on such earlier judgments), will critically examine some of the arguments for and against the recognition of such a duty, and will then consider the issue within the broader context of the role of good faith and fairness in our general law of contract.   &nbsp

Redefining BOP : in pursuit of sustainable opportunity at the base of the economic pyramid

The 2002 publication of “The Fortune at the Bottom of the Pyramid” by Prahalad and Hart posed a proposition to multinational companies (MNCs) stating that huge profits can be made whilst simultaneously eradicating poverty by selling to the poor at the base of the economic pyramid (BOP) which is an untapped market consisting of more than four billion potential customers that earn less than $2 per day. Although very few researchers and authors actually dispute the reality of the opportunity presented by the BOP proposition, most are quick to point out discrepancies in some of the arguments, discussions, assumptions and conclusions made from the early publications. Most of these differences of opinion can be clarified by refining the definition of the BOP proposition. This study reviews previous literature to identify key attributes of BOP before utilising a meta-analysis of 43 cited BOP case studies to identify and describe two distinctly different market segments within BOP. BOP1 was defined as the bottom part of the BOP with a total population 2.8 billion customers earning less than$2 per day while BOP2 would be the reminder of the BOP market segment. Finally the BOP1 and the BOP2 segments of BOP are compared and contrasted with a South African case to draw conclusions on BOP in SA and Africa. CopyrightDissertation (MBA)--University of Pretoria, 2010.Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS)unrestricte

Investigating the benefits of using selected lean techniques at a South African exhaust manufacturer-a case study

This study investigates the implementation of supermarket-based scheduling of parts at a South African exhaust manufacturing plant. The study firstly investigates the requirements the manufacturer had to contend with in ensuring a valuable contract was won. The nature of the contract is such that it warrants building of a new facility. The design of the facility and the manufacturing processes is of importance as some Lean techniques are employed during these early stages. The research takes the form of a case study and data is collected mainly through interviews with staff, but also from direct observations on the shop-floor. Interviews were conducted with: - key project leaders responsible for the original design and commissioning of the facility; - production managers and technical staff currently operating the plant; and - shop-floor personnel involved in daily production and logistics operations within the plant. The as-built facility and procedures are compared with literature found on the topic of Lean manufacturing. Various findings are recorded, both on conforming to and not conforming to typical Lean theory. Potential changes are suggested in the following areas: - a Pull strategy is proposed to coincide with the appointment of a so-called pacemaker station; - a pacemaker would need to be further supported by a production leveling strategy; - although quality delivered to the customer is reported as very high, potential improvements are still possible by introducing an "at source" approach to reduce rework; and - finally, a Total Productive Maintenance (TPM) program will serve to reduce downtime even further

"The Common Law is … not what it used to be"*: Revisiting Recognition of a Constitutionally-Inspired Implied Duty of Fair Dealing in the Common Law Contract of Employment (Part 1)

This piece, which is in three parts, will revisit the importation of fairness into the employment contract (outside and independent of the fairness-based provisions of our labour legislation) by a line of Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) judgments during the 2000s. This process culminated in the recognition of an "implied duty of fair dealing" in the common-law employment contract. This piece will discuss such developments, will argue that such an implied duty still forms part of our law (despite apparent consensus in the literature that the SCA turned its back on such earlier judgments), will critically examine some of the arguments for and against the recognition of such a duty, and will then consider the issue within the broader context of the role of good faith and fairness in our general law of contract.   &nbsp