The Southern African poultry value chain: Regional development versus national imperatives

This paper highlights the key strategies, both regional and domestic, that have led to the current structure of the poultry value chain in Southern Africa. While large firm strategies in poultry have been found to be regional in nature, and important regional developments in soybean production, processing, and trade have emerged, the regional poultry value chain has remained largely underdeveloped. This underdevelopment is linked to a discord between national and regional policies, with non-trade barriers such as import limits and complete bans on some products playing a key role in some of the countries

A new growth path for South African industrialisation: An input-output analysis

This paper looks at the way in which the structure of the economy has been built through the economic policies of the Apartheid government and reinforced in the first sixteen years of democracy. It is argued that previous growth paths have resulted in an industrial structure that systematically excludesthe majority in engaging in economic activities, particularly in terms of waged labour. We discuss what is meant by the New Growth Path under the current consensus and relate this to Hirschman‟s (1958) theory of linkage based economic development, and the need for a change in approach to industrial policy and the need for focussed sector targeting. Having argued that the achievement of the NGP depends upon the restructuring of the economy towards increased labour intensity and greater interconnectedness between industries, we apply Hirschman‟s linkage theory through input-output analysis in order to identify potential „key‟ sectors on the basis of strong forward and backward linkages to other industries. In addition, the potential impact of sector expansion on trade and employment through the calculation of employment and export multipliers. The quantitative analysis presented in this paper constitutes a first step in a deeper study that will further take into account the implications of sectoral expansion on imported inputs. This is an extremely important issue given the size of South Africa‟s current account deficit

Identifying growth opportunities in the Southern African Development Community through regional value chains: The case of the animal feed to poultry value chain

This paper considers findings of studies analysing the development of a regional animal feed to poultry value chain in southern Africa (Botswana, South Africa, Zambia, Zimbabwe). The southern African regional poultry value chain is underdeveloped, although important changes include investments by South Africa-based multinational firms and strong growth in Zambia. Building on this growth requires coherent trade and industrial policies supporting investments across countries and practical measures to reduce barriers to intra-regional trade and transport costs. The potential to develop a regional poultry value chain is substantial, considering that the South African deep-sea trade deficit in poultry is larger in size than the Zambian industry

A new growth path for South African industrialisation: An input-output analysis

This paper looks at the way in which the structure of the economy has been built through the economic policies of the Apartheid government and reinforced in the first sixteen years of democracy. It is argued that previous growth paths have resulted in an industrial structure that systematically excludes the majority in engaging in economic activities, particularly in terms of waged labour. We discuss what is meant by the New Growth Path under the current consensus and relate this to Hirschman‟s (1958) theory of linkage based economic development, and the need for a change in approach to industrial policy and the need for focussed sector targeting. Having argued that the achievement of the NGP depends upon the restructuring of the economy towards increased labour intensity and greater interconnectedness between industries, we apply Hirschman‟s linkage theory through input-output analysis in order to identify potential „key‟ sectors on the basis of strong forward and backward linkages to other industries. In addition, the potential impact of sector expansion on trade and employment through the calculation of employment and export multipliers. The quantitative analysis presented in this paper constitutes a first step in a deeper study that will further take into account the implications of sectoral expansion on imported inputs. This is an extremely important issue given the size of South Africa‟s current account deficit

The southern African poultry value chain : corporate strategies, investments and agro-industrial policies

Abstract: Following various regional investments in the last decade, production and participation in the poultry value chain in southern Africa has increased. One of the factors that determines entry into, and success in, a global value chain is the governance structure. This paper adopts a modular approach to analyse the governance structures in the poultry value chains in Botswana, South Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe. A key finding is that various stakeholders have an influence on the regional poultry value chain in southern Africa, with the sources of influence depending on the formality of structures within the value chain

An empirical investigation of the gender wage gap in South Africa

M.Comm. (Economics)Gender wage inequality in South Africa from 2001 to 2010 is investigated in this dissertation. This is done through the decomposition of the gender wage gap and quantile regression. It is shown that the gender wage gap in South Africa is highest both at lower and higher parts of the wage distribution. Moreover, the gender wage gaps at the 50th and 75th quantiles are either not statistically significant or they are in favour of women. It is shown that the gender wage gap is largely driven by the size of the coefficients component, even in the face of a positive characteristics component indicating that there is a level of discrimination along the wage distribution. In the assessment of the gender wage gap between black females and white males, it is shown that the gender wage gap is always in favour of white males. However, since it is lowest at higher points of the wage distribution, the conclusion is that black women at lower points of the wage distribution face the most adverse effects of the intersection of race and gender in terms of the gender wage gap. Moreover, black women at higher points of the wage distribution have been the most likely beneficiaries of the employment equity policies

Essays on industrial development in Southern Africa

Abstract: Industrial development has become more of a priority for countries in the Southern African Development Community (SADC). Inconsistent growth and low structural change have led to increased calls for industrialisation, particularly through agro-processing, as a means to deal with these developmental challenges...D. Phil. (Economics

Development of the Animal Feed to Poultry Value Chain Across Botswana, South Africa, and Zimbabwe

The animal feed to poultry value chain in the southern African region has seen rapid demand growth owing to increases in urbanization. This growth has been accompanied by the increase in co-ordinated investments by large, predominantly South African, firms across the region. We examine the developments in the value chain across countries in southern Africa, paying attention to production and trade in poultry meat and its main inputs. We also consider the regional nature of the animal feed to poultry value chain. We argue that large firms play a lead role in the development of the value chain in southern Africa given their ability to make co-ordinated investments at different levels and to realize the competitive potential from the regional agricultural production of the main feed crops