- Title
- Viability of government funded broiler production : lessons from Northern KwaZulu Natal, South Africa
- Creator
- Mdletshe, Sifiso Themba Clement https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2668-0193
- Subject
- Broilers (Chickens) -- Economic aspects
- Subject
- Broilers (Poultry)
- Subject
- Broilers (Chickens) -- Breeding
- Date
- 2023-04
- Type
- Doctoral theses
- Type
- text
- Identifier
- http://hdl.handle.net/10353/27843
- Identifier
- vital:69947
- Description
- Generally, rural areas continue to experience high poverty levels and low incomes, which seem to be occasioned by high unemployment rates, limited educational attainments, and devastating floods and droughts. This situation is further exacerbated by increase in crime rates, making livelihoods even more difficult. To mitigate such adverse situations, rural households employ diverse strategies, including maintaining community gardens, one-home-one-garden schemes, as well as livestock and poultry production. The most prevalent livelihood strategy in South Africa or KwaZulu-Natal is broiler production, since it needs less space and a short production cycle compared to other livestock or crop enterprises. At the same time, income is generated over a short period. Besides, the government of KwaZulu Natal has actively intervened in the sector as part of its broader poverty reduction strategy and farmer support programmes. In KwaZulu-Natal Province, the provincial government has been supporting broiler producers for many years. While substantial research work has been done in the province on livelihood strategies, including livestock production on a province-wide basis, there is no information about how successful the broiler production funded by the government has being. Broader concerns about production problems have not been assuaged based on systematic studies and evidence. It is this wise that this study was initiated. The objective is to assess the economic viability of government-funded small-scale broiler projects in the KwaZulu-Natal Province of South Africa and determine the implications for poverty reduction and food security. Data were collected from the government-funded small-scale broiler producers that are residing in Northern KwaZulu-Natal districts uThungulu, Zululand and uMkhanyakude. A total of 75 small-scale broiler projects 25 broiler projects in each district were selected by probability sampling procedure for the interviews. Questionnaires that combined both close-ended and open-ended questions were used to collect primary data, which include production and marketing, as well as the factors that influence the profitability of the small-scale broiler projects. After collection, data were captured and encoded on spreadsheets in Microsoft Excel and exported to Statistical Package for the Social Science (SPSS) software version 26 and STATA for analyses. Descriptive statistics applied include frequencies and means. In addition, a gross margin (GM) and gross profit margin (GPM) analysis were employed to assess the profitability of government-funded small-scale broiler projects. Both profitability and gross margin analyses were used as proxies for farmers’ motivation and incentives to participate in broiler production. Further analyses were conducted to determine the model that best explains the underlying relationships. Initially, the Multiple Linear Regression Model was applied to determine the factors influencing the profitability of government-funded small-scale broiler projects. The indication was that while positive profits were revealed, the system seemed to fall short of its potential. In light of that, it was decided to fit another model to estimate the technical efficiency of the system and gain an understanding of the causes of any inefficiency that might exist in the production system. In that regard, the one-step Stochastic Frontier Model was employed to show that the technical efficiency of broiler production systems in the project area was positively and significantly influenced by flock size, the quantity of feeds and labour costs, while medication played no role possibly because of weak extension coverage. An inefficiency model fitted as part of the one-step model suggested that age, gender and educational level were significant influencers of technical inefficiency, with the possibility that the older the farmers, the more technically inefficient the system possibly because of the strenuousness of commercial poultry production. In addition, it was found that the more educated the farmer, the less inefficient the farm, which conversely means that the system becomes more efficient as the farmer receives more education. The negative coefficient of the gender variable also implies that for farms managed by female farmers, the system was less inefficient, which is more technically efficient, and this can be explained by women’s propensity to be more gentle, caring and sensitive in managing the chickens than their male counterparts. Heteroskedasticity tests and corrections were conducted in the one-step estimation technique to show that variations in the inefficiency term (μ) and the stochastic error term were explained by age and educational level for the most part. Clearly, improvements in the broiler industry in KwaZulu-Natal will depend to a large extent on the knowledge and experience of the farmers and substantial enlargement of the flock size of adequately fed birds. Attention to these elements is expected to have important practical implications for sustainable broiler poultry development and food security in the project area, as well as locations possessing identical features and characteristics.
- Description
- Thesis (MSci) -- Faculty of Science and Agriculture, 2023
- Format
- computer
- Format
- online resource
- Format
- application/pdf
- Format
- 1 online resource (xiv, 214 leaves)
- Format
- Publisher
- University of Fort Hare
- Publisher
- Faculty of Science and Agriculture
- Language
- English
- Rights
- University of Fort Hare
- Rights
- All Rights Reserved
- Rights
- Open Access
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UFH Department of Agricultural Economics and Extension
| Thumbnail | File | Description | Size | Format | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| View Details | SOURCE1 | MDLETSHE STC FINAL THESIS 2023.pdf | 1 MB | Adobe Acrobat PDF | View Details |