Evaluating the benefits and impact of large-scale maize production initiatives in the Amatole District Municipality, Eastern Cape

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dc.contributor.advisorKirsten, Johannen_ZA
dc.contributor.authorMfule, Zintleen_ZA
dc.contributor.otherStellenbosch University. Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences. Dept. of Agricultural Economics.en_ZA
dc.date.accessioned2023-03-06T10:34:53Z
dc.date.accessioned2023-05-18T07:11:33Z
dc.date.available2023-03-06T10:34:53Z
dc.date.available2023-05-18T07:11:33Z
dc.date.issued2023-03
dc.descriptionThesis (MScAgric)--Stellenbosch University, 2023.en_ZA
dc.description.abstractENGLISH SUMMARY: Agriculture development efforts in South Africa had various levels of success but also many failures and today many black farmers are still not part of commercial agricultural value chains. Some private initiatives by commodity organizations and private companies have now introduced programmes to deal with these failures e.g., GRAINSA’s farmer development program, and WIPHOLD/CMAI. This study investigates whether the Centane and Mbashe Agriculture Initiative (CMAI) by WIPHOLD is achieving the desired development outcomes. Therefore, the main objective was to examine project profitability and the extent to which the programme has contributed to the livelihoods of beneficiaries in terms of income generation; skills transfer, and land management systems. Data collection was mastered by using structured questionnaires and interviewing households in the target population to assess their perceptions on the benefits of the CMAI/WIPHOLD project. Furthermore, the gross margins from maize production was benchmarked against industry standards to determine whether the programme is really profitable. The results from the perception survey revealed that the beneficiaries consider them better off with the CMAI/WIPHOLD intervention than previous interventions. Almost 40% of the beneficiaries indicated that they have improved food security mainly as a result of the distribution of ten 40kg bags of maize by the project to each household. Share cropping and land usage was considerd by 60% of benefiaries to have improved as a result of the aggregator model for crop farming used by the project team. CMAI & WIPHOLD made some important contributions to broaden market access by boosting rural private sector markets, but there are still some real gaps that threaten the commercialization of agriculture. A simple gross margin analysis of the programme was performed and it shows how the cost of the intervention outweighs the value of the crops produced by the project. Judging from the financial assessment performed, the project will not be able to achive financial sustainability and incur all costs of production in the near future. It is evident that the success of the project will continue to be reliant on third party sponsorships for its continuous profitability.en_ZA
dc.description.abstractAFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Geen opsomming beskikbaar.af_ZA
dc.description.versionMasters
dc.format.extentxiii, 96 pages : illustrations (some color), maps, includes annexures
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/10019.1/127241
dc.language.isoen_ZAen_ZA
dc.publisherStellenbosch : Stellenbosch University
dc.rights.holderStellenbosch University
dc.subject.lcshAgricultural development projects -- Eastern Cape (South Africa)en_ZA
dc.subject.lcshDevelopment projects, Agricultural -- Eastern Cape (South Africa)en_ZA
dc.subject.lcshFood security – Eastern Cape (South Africa)en_ZA
dc.subject.nameUCTD
dc.titleEvaluating the benefits and impact of large-scale maize production initiatives in the Amatole District Municipality, Eastern Capeen_ZA
dc.typeThesisen_ZA
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