Chapters authored
The Role of Small-Scale Farmers in Ensuring Food Security in Africa
This chapter focuses on the role of African small-scale farmers in ensuring food security going into the future and the support they will need to face the projected climatic conditions. Severe climatic conditions contribute to the uncertainty in water availability for future agricultural production. Adapting to climate change and ensuring food security requires dynamic interventions that will lead to the transformation of current farming and food production patterns as well as food distribution. Nearly 95% of Africa’s agriculture is rainfed; therefore, developing and promoting rain-fed small-scale agricultural activities is a cost-effective approach for transforming rural areas in Africa and ensuring food security at local and regional levels. This is crucial in reducing vulnerability to climate change and for building sustainable livelihoods.
Part of the book: Food Security in Africa
Tea Value Chains Viability in Limpopo Province of South Africa: A Cost-Benefit Analysis
The research was conducted to investigate the production of value-added tea as part of the resuscitation of Tshivhase-Mukumbani Tea Estate. Data were mainly obtained from records kept at the Tshivhase-Mukumbani Tea Estate, through a review of literature and interviews of the selected respondents. Evaluation of economic viability of the value-adding initiative was based on Net Present Value (NPC) and the Benefit-Cost Ratio (BCR) calculated from time-series data obtained for the period 2005–2012. The quantity of value-added tea produced varied across years, geographical locations, and seasons, with production higher for wetter seasons. The NPV was consistently negative, while the BCR was below unity throughout the study period, implying that the value-adding initiative was economically not feasible. Initiatives for achieving economic sustainability of the value addition were (1) Improve the marketing of the made tea brand Midi Tea as organic and longer shelf life. (2) Good labor contracting management practices to deal with labor disputes and unrest. (3) Good supply chain and procurement management practices to reduce the cost of production (4) Monitoring the impact of climate variability and mitigate by providing irrigation (5) Intercropping tea with a suitable winter yielding crops such as avocadoes or Macadamia.
Part of the book: Sustainable Agricultural Value Chain