- Title
- Re-thinking rural development through agriculture, : the case of Amathole District in the Eastern Cape Province in South Africa
- Creator
- Matunhu, Jephias (https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8415-5867)
- Subject
- Rural development -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape
- Subject
- Agriculture -- South Africa
- Date
- 2010
- Type
- Doctoral theses
- Type
- text
- Identifier
- http://hdl.handle.net/10353/24532
- Identifier
- vital:63067
- Description
- This study addresses the problem of abject rural poverty in the post-apartheid South Africa with specific reference to the Amathole Rural District (ARD) in the Eastern Cape Province (the poorest province in the country). Abject poverty is conceptualized as inability to meet the basic human needs such as food, water, shelter and clothes. The study is premised in the revisionist trajectory of rural economic development, which regards agriculture as the ‘engine’ for rural development. The thesis addressed the following issues on rural poverty reduction in the ARD; the efficacy of rural agriculture in rural poverty reduction, value-adding to rural farm produce, support that is required and social factors that may affect the residents’ ability to fight poverty through agriculture? The thesis adopted the concurrent transformative mixed research methodology; and data were collected from a purposive sample of 138 respondents using unstructured interviews and semi-structured questionnaires. Data were collected with the help of research assistance. The study established that the ARD residents were keen to fight abject poverty through rural agriculture but were constrained by the lack of arable land, financial resources, technological support, corruption and HIV/AIDs. In view of the above findings, the thesis concluded that deep collaboration and participation of strategic partners such as government, the rural residents, NGOs and the business sector is essential in the implementation of pro-poor strategies in the ARD. The thesis also called for further research into the following areas that have a direct influence on the efficacy of rural agriculture on the ARD’s development; ICT and development, the rural residents’ attitude towards savings and on the political economy of cooperative ventures in rural agriculture. The thesis also encouraged further research to establish new linkages and roles of the following pertinent partners in ARD’s development; government, the rural residents, NGOs and the business sector.
- Description
- Thesis (PhD) -- Faculty of Management and Commerce, 2010
- Format
- computer
- Format
- online resource
- Format
- application/pdf
- Format
- 1 online resource (xiv 332 pages)
- Format
- Publisher
- University of Fort Hare
- Publisher
- Faculty of Management and Commerce
- Language
- English
- Rights
- rights holder
- Rights
- All Rights Reserved
- Rights
- Open Access
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Collections
UFH Department of Agricultural Economics and Extension
| Thumbnail | File | Description | Size | Format | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| View Details Download | SOURCE1 | Jephias Matunhu BA.pdf | 2 MB | Adobe Acrobat PDF | View Details Download |