OIDA International Journal of Sustainable Development
Open access peer-reviewed journal
Assessment of the participation of smallholder farmers in agro-processing industries of Gauteng Province
V.M. Mmbengwa ab, T.M Khoza b, K. Rambau b, and J Rakuambo c
ab National Agricultural Marketing Council (NAMC), Pretoria, Republic of South Africa &
ab North West University, Potchefstroom Campus, Potchefstroom,
Republic of South Africa
b National Agricultural Marketing Council (NAMC), Pretoria, Republic of South Africa.
c Gauteng Department of Agriculture & Rural Development, Johannesburg, Republic of South Africa.
Volume 11, Issue 02, Pg. 11-18, 2018.
Abstract: In South Africa, smallholder farmers were known to have a limited scope of participating in the agro-processing sector. Hence, part of transformational agenda of the country is to ensure that smallholder farmers are meaningfully participating in the agro-processing industries. The aim of the study was to evaluate the participation by smallholder farmers in the agro-processing sector in Gauteng Province. The primary objective was to identify critical factors that influences smallholder participation within the agro-processing industries. Non-probability sampling technique was used to draw 78 participants from three regions of Gauteng province (that is, Westrand, Eastrand and Tshwane). A multilinear regression and quantile analysis were performed to identify factors influencing participation in agro-processing. The results indicates that market access linkages could significantly improve smallholder participation in agro-processing. Therefore, it could be concluded that market access linkages is significant to ensure that Gauteng smallholder farmers participate in the agro-processing value chain. Henceforth, Gauteng Department of Agriculture and Rural development should prioritise strengthening of market access linkages to improve the smallholder farmers’ agro-processing participation.
Keywords: agro-processing, factors, market, participation, smallholder
County Development and Sustainability in China
A Systematic Scoping of the Literature
Yang Yinghong a, Li Yan a, Siu Man (Carrie) Lui b, Irina Kinchin c,
Marion Heyeres b, Komla Tsey d
a Department of International Trade, College of Economics and Management,
Shenyang University of Chemical Technology, Shenyang, China.
b The Cairns Institute, James Cook University, Cairns, QLD, Australia
c Central Queensland University, Cairns, QLD, Australia and The Cairns Institute,
James Cook University, Cairns, QLD, Australia.
d The Cairns Institute & College of Arts Society and Education, James Cook University, Cairns, QLD, Australia,
Volume 11, Issue 02, Pg. 19-37, 2018,
Abstract: Despite the importance of research and innovation in facilitating sustainable county development in China, little evidence is available concerning the output and characteristics of that research. This scoping review assesses key features or characteristics of the research output, the extent to which researchers engage with concepts of sustainability and the potential impact of the research. Publications were identified and classified using a process consistent with Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis (PRISMA). The R programming packages igraph and wordcloud respectively were used to analyse and graphically depict the strength of authorship networks and keyword frequency. Findings revealed that this field of research is an evolving one with a widely-dispersed network of researchers increasingly using new keywords. The implications of the review findings for improving the value and impact of sustainable county development research are explored.
Keywords: county development; sustainability; research output; authorships networks; keywords; usage and impact