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This analysis sits against the backdrop of unsuccessful attempts to reindustrialise Africa. Zambia must diversify from copper dependency to agriculture and the agro-processing sectors, and the question is whether there is enough capacity to deliver jobs or growth. This paper studied the agroprocessing sector, where mean technical efficiency was 42.5% and mean scale efficiency was 81.7%. Beverage firms fared better than food producers and, within food production, meat processing did best, while baking and milling firms did the worst. There are benefits to centralisation and being large scale, although one in five firms was too large. A reindustrialisation programme should focus on the promotion of modern technologies, capacity building and infrastructure development, as well as on improvements in the regulatory framework.

This paper provides a brief history of the conflict between South African sheep farmers and predators (and we touch also on the debate between diverse stakeholders over how best to respond to that conflict). We focus in particular on black-backed jackals and commercial sheep farmers in the Western Cape Karoo, drawing on historical sources, colonial records, early ecological thinking and observations by farmers to paint a picture of this dynamic conflict. The paper forms part of an inter-disciplinary project about sheep farming and predators in the Karoo

This paper reviews what we know about black-backed jackal ecology, drawing implications for managing human-wildlife conflict with this species. We review the research literature on the black-backed jackals in the context of other African jackal species and with regard to its diet (part 1), its breeding, territoriality and sociality (part 2), and its role as a ‘problem animal’ for small stock farmers (part 3). We argue that both the historical record (see also Nattrass et al., 2017) and the scientific research points to the need to understand the black-backed jackal as a very adaptable animal whose diet, breeding strategies and social arrangements are context-dependent. We draw implications for the management of black-backed jackal predation (part 4) and need for further research, especially on farmlands and landscapes undergoing a transformation in land use. The paper is part of an inter-disciplinary project about sheep farming and predators in the Karoo.

This study investigates the structure of farmers’ risk perceptions in an arid area where agriculture faces many difficulties. Principal component analysis identified four components of risk from amongst twenty Likert scale items, including aspects of the natural and institutional environments. Index scores were created for each of the four components of risk, which were then explained using OLS regression. The intensity of perceived risk was inversely correlated with profitability of the farm enterprise. Management experience, time spent in nature and more education corresponded to perceptions of less risk, while risk increased with farm size, the presence of heirs, the severity of the 2011/2012 drought and the threat of jackal predation. More educated and experienced farmers, who are more profitable, were found to be more likely to be moderates, while those with heirs to succeed them and those with more intense jackal problems were more likely to be in the group with greater concerns. Four important results were found: 1) risk perceptions vary even within an apparently homogenous community, 2) economic factors dominate risk perceptions, 3) climate change concerns are crowded out by more immediate issues, and 4) coming to terms with predator management is a major concern.

Ons beskik oor redelik betroubare bestuursinligting vir 48 produsente wat saam op ongeveer 50% van die landbougrond in Laingsburg se distrik boer. Die groep se gemiddelde speenpersentasie was net ‘n raps kort van 80% oor die afgelope twee jaar, maar wissel na gelang van boerderytipe. Die gemiddelde veebelading van 12.7 hektaar per groot skaap word ook deur boerderytipe bepaal. Dorpers is die hoof ras en die wolboere se vesel:vleis verhouding is die verwagte 40:60 verhouding. Daar was nie in een van die jare ‘n beduidende verskil in die winsgewindheid van die drie kommersiële skaapproduksiestelsels nie. Daar was egter wel ‘n verskil tussen die skaapboere se netto boerederyinkomste en die van die deeltydse/besproeiingsboere. In 2012 het die kommersiële boere gemiddeld R202 per skaap gemaak. Dit het in 2013 na R215 per skaap gestyg. Die deeltydse/besproeiingsboere het op dié basis in beide jare ‘n verlies gemaak, bloot omdat hulle ander bronne van inkomste nie in berekening gebring is nie.

This study presents a sequential Malmquist index for twenty members of an Eastern Cape dairy study group for the period 2010 to 2013. On average these farms were at efficiency levels of 95% and more during this period. The group’s mean technical progress was 11% per year. This resulted in productivity growth of almost 14% per year. However, these estimates are probably inflated as they were obtained with the combination of a small dataset and a large model. The group is a success because it transfers knowledge and enables innovation. We found weak support for the belief that it is beneficial to operate mixed breed herds and showed that less intensively managed or smaller herds did better than larger herds or herds managed for the maximum amount of milk per cow. Productivity growth was positively correlated with various proxies for knowledge. It increased with self-sufficiency in hay production and expenditure on concentrates, and was inversely related to the unit hay cost. Rainfall was positively correlated with self-sufficiency but not with unit hay cost or productivity. To conclude: study groups could a useful tool for driving innovation in any industry. Innovation can happen quickly but is complex, and therefore it helps to have a single metric of progress. Good data are needed to develop accurate measures of innovation, but if available could be the difference between noting a potential disaster in time and failing altogether.

This paper investigates the efficiency relationships between inputs and outputs of urban micro-farms in two of Cape Town’s townships: Nyanga and Khayelitsha. The inputs in this study were land, labour, seeds and seedlings, compost and farmer experience. Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) was applied to 33 producers supplying a social enterprise box scheme, thereby generating individual efficiency measures relative to best practice. The DEA results revealed an average level of overall, technical and scale efficiency of 72.4%, 79.7% and 90.6% respectively. Overall efficiency was negatively correlated with land holdings and the use of compost and seedlings. This is supported by the finding that the nine best-practice farms were characterised by a smaller scale of production, indicating that efficiency losses are experienced as greater quantities of inputs are used. In terms of area differences, Nyanga farms exhibit significantly higher technical efficiency, whereas farms in Khayelitsha are more scale efficient. Standardised input and output data show both the expenditure on compost and seed to be profitable, but we failed to show that mulching or operator experience increases profitability. Fully efficient farms are R2,600 per plot more profitable than inefficient farms while farms that need a windbreak earn R700 less per plot per season than more sheltered operations. These results are the first of their kind for South Africa and lay the foundation for more effective extension to the sector.

This paper discusses a community-led fencing project in the Koup, an arid, predominantly sheepfarming district in the South African Karoo. The project was managed by farmers but had a strong empowerment dimension in that fencing team leaders were drawn from the ranks of unemployed people in the town of Laingsburg. These leaders were responsible for recruitment into the project and for the day-to-day operations. By comparing information collected from participants with local census data, we show that the public works programme was appropriately targeted to the poor. This was in part because workers were required to camp on farms for two weeks at a time, thereby resulting in the project automatically selecting for those most committed to earning additional income. In explaining the success of the programme we highlight the role of supportive government officials in sourcing funding, and the importance of leadership in overcoming collective action problems amongst the participating farmers. This holds important lessons for the design of future public works programmes and for the kinds of mixed research methods that may be appropriate for evaluating such programmes.

This paper discusses a community-led fencing project in the Koup, an arid predominantly sheep farming district in the South African Karoo. It highlights the role of supportive government officials in sourcing funding and the importance of committed individuals in overcoming collective action problems amongst participating farmers. The project had a strong empowerment dimension in that fencing team leaders were drawn from the ranks of unemployed people in Laingsburg town and they were responsible for recruitment into the project and for the day to day management of the work. Comparative analysis of the socio-economic position of the fence workers with data from the 2011 population census of coloured people living in Laingsburg town suggests that the fence workers were relatively poor and that the project was appropriately targeted for a poverty alleviation programme. This was in part because workers were required to camp on farms for two weeks at a time, thereby resulting in the project automatically selecting for those most committed to earning additional income. The study revealed that the fencing workers identified themselves as general agricultural workers but had skills and experience from other sectors including construction and services. Urban-based agricultural workers have lived in Laingsburg for at least three decades i.e. before the shift of workers off farms that took place across South Africa after 1990. The study sheds light on this long-standing, but under-studied dimension of urban poverty and on the diverse strategies (including reliance on government grants) that people use to combat it in the Karoo.

Data envelopment analysis (DEA) was used to benchmark extensive sheep operations in Laingsburg in the Central Karoo, South Africa, with data from the 2012 production season. An input oriented variable returns to scale frontier identified twelve efficient firms, and nine more that are technically efficient but not scale efficient. The top third’s overall efficiency score was 0.999. For the bottom third the average efficiency score was just 0.346, which indicates that there is substantial room for improvement amongst bottom third producers in this production system. Overall efficiency was correlated with stocking density, flock size, unit production cost and profitability, cumulative family experience of farming and the use of family labour, but not with farm size, breed choice or any proxy for individual experience or ability. Predation rates in particular were uncorrelated with productivity scores and reproductive performance was only weakly correlated with it. While most farms could theoretically improve their efficiency by intensifying their operations, a closer analysis of best practice firms revealed a spectrum of optimal intensities including the possibility of restoring rangelands by deliberate understocking. Grazing strategy and the degree of labour self-sufficiency emerged as the key determinants of optimal intensity.

This paper investigated the relative financial performance of woolled and mutton sheep and the determinants of woolled sheep ownership for 34 full-time sheep farms in Laingsburg South Africa, where rainfall is only 128 millimetres per annum. A comparison of fourteen woolled sheep flocks and eight similar sized mutton flocks revealed 1) a slightly but insignificantly higher unit production cost for wool producers, 2) a 21% but insignificantly higher net farm income per breeding ewe for woolled sheep, 3) a significantly lower tagging percentage for woolled sheep and 4) a significantly lower predation percentage for woolled sheep. The percentage of woolled sheep in the flock was a logit function of farm size, size of the irrigated (crop) area, tradition and terrain ruggedness, although the latter was not significant. Farmers in extensive grazing areas should take notice of woolled sheep’s ability to compete and the wool industry should pay attention to further improving the reproductive performance of this sheep type. The finding of woolled sheep’s apparent lower susceptibility to predators deserves further study as it could become a strong argument for why farmers ought to switch (back) to woolled sheep.

This paper documents and evaluates the early progress with a project which aims to increase the resilience of poor urban households with a complete technology package consisting of a permaculture food garden and multiple renewable-energy retrofits. The project is PBO facilitated and incorporates substantial training. Beneficiary households are objectively poor, but not destitute. After six months there were still some glitches with the retrofitting, but the gardens were all thriving and were yielding some produce and substantial pride for their owners. Retrofitting accounts for 39% of project costs, the gardens for 27%, and overheads (including training) for the remaining 34%. We have estimated the unit cost of expansion to be R6 435 for the basic model and R16 381 for an unsubsidised advanced model (in 2013 prices). This initiative has been expensive, perhaps unnecessarily so, but is also successful against great odds, not least of which is the exceptionally difficult growing conditions which characterise the Cape Flats. We identified appropriate support, flexible design and on-going monitoring as important issues going forward, but we nonetheless think that the project is one of the most successful of its kind and that it could be replicated on a larger scale at modest additional cost.

This paper discusses the historical roots of, and scientific evidence for, rival 'jackal narratives' about the problems posed by black-backed jackals (canis mesomelas) for sheep farmers in the Karoo, South Africa. The jackal recolonized farms as government policy changed away from subsidising predator control and as farm employment contracted and sheep farming became less economically and politically important. The influential 'environmental jackal narrative' that lethal control is undesirable and ineffective, is rooted in the science of predator ecology but the linked recommendation that farmers learn to 'live with the jackal' is on less solid ground. The rival 'farmer jackal narrative' that jackal populations need to be suppressed on agricultural land resonates with conservation theories justifying the culling of jackals in national parks. Contestation over values remains important, but these competing plausible hypotheses about jackal control suggest that further scientific studies may be helpful in the construction of policies that are acceptable to both sides.

This paper investigates the effectiveness of predator culling as a means of reducing livestock losses using hunting club data for Cooper (outside Mossel Bay) for the period 1976 to 1981. Results showed that caracal (Caracal caracal) culling increased subsequent livestock losses when compared to farms where fewer caracals were culled. When controlling for lagged rainfall, remoteness and a proxy for other unobserved farm characteristics, a logit model indicated the marginal effect of culling to be a 17.5% increase in the likelihood of livestock losses during the next year. The corresponding negative binomial model estimated the effect of an additional caracal culled to be a 0.373 unit increase in the number of sheep lost. A lagged rainfall variable was negative and significant in both models. According to the logit results, the marginal millimetre of rain reduced subsequent losses by 1.1%. For the negative binomial model, the marginal effect of rainfall was reduced losses by 0.047 of a sheep, which was about a 5% increase in losses. The average number of livestock lost was 0.94 sheep per farm per year. Distance travelled, used to proxy remoteness, was positive in the negative binomial model and non-significant in the logit model. Lagged livestock losses were not significant in either model. This result is important because it provides support for stricter predator control regulations by showing that livestock farmers are inadvertently harming their own interests through inappropriate culling, a practice which continues to this day.

Caracals (Caracal caracal) and leopards (Panthera pardus) are perennial problems for sheep farmers on the southern fringe of the arid Karoo. In the past, farmers responded to the conflict with blanket culling of predators, a strategy which ecologists understand to be harmful. This paper investigated the ability of blanket predator culling to reduce livestock losses. It found the probability of livestock losses to be a function of the number of caracals, leopards, vagrant dogs (Canis familiaris) and other wildlife culled during the previous year, as well as the previous year’s trapper effort, the farm’s remoteness and three years’ worth of rainfall. Other unobserved farm characteristics did not systematically affect losses. Culling an additional caracal or leopard was estimated to increase future livestock losses by 5.7% and 27.2% respectively, while culling a vagrant dog was estimated to reduce the likelihood of future losses by 9.5%. Both trapper effort and remoteness increased the probability of livestock losses. The current and previous years’ rainfall decreased the likelihood of future losses, while rainfall from two years prior was positively correlated with future losses. These results are important because they describe general culling effectiveness under a variety of management conditions over a period long enough to allow for adjustment to culling.

Caracal (Caracal caracal) and leopard (Panthera pardus) are perennial problems for sheep farmers on the southern fringe of South Africa’s arid Karoo. In the past, farmers responded to the conflict with blanket culling of predators, a strategy that ecologists understand to be harmful. This paper investigates the ability of blanket predator culling to reduce livestock losses. It found the probability of livestock losses to be a function of the number of caracal, leopards, vagrant dogs (Canis familiaris) and other wildlife culled during the previous year, as well as the previous year’s trapper effort, the farm’s remoteness and three years’ worth of rainfall. Other unobserved farm characteristics did not systematically affect losses. Culling an additional caracal or leopard was estimated to increase future livestock losses by 5.7% and 27.2% respectively, while culling a vagrant dog was estimated to reduce the likelihood of future losses by 9.5%. Both trapper effort and remoteness increased the probability of livestock losses. The current and previous years’ rainfall decreased the likelihood of future losses, while rainfall from two years prior was positively correlated with future losses. These results are important because they describe general culling effectiveness under a variety of management conditions over a period long enough to allow for adjustment to culling.

The South African government has emphasised the need for ‘developing country’ solutions to climate change that simultaneously pursue GHG reductions and socioeconomic development. To encourage the transition to a low-carbon economy the National Treasury has proposed a carbon tax and offset mechanism to be introduced in 2015. The practical delivery of the offset scheme remains uncertain. This paper investigates which features and governance structure would be desirable for such a mechanism in South Africa. Primary research is conducted into the South African voluntary carbon registry; Credible Carbon. The questions asked by this paper are: Should firms be allowed to offset emissions? What is the ideal way to implement offsets in South Africa? This paper concludes that Credible Carbon provides a good model for carbon trading that can be scaled up to meet demand under the new regulations. However, government needs to ensure that projects continue to deliver acceptable social benefits and that carbon auditors are well-trained and accountable.

Urban agriculture is now a component of many countries' socioeconomic development agendas. For urban agriculture to make a meaningful contribution to development, particularly in South Africa where chronic poverty persists, it must present viable, sustainable business opportunities in addition to its established social benefits. This study, of which this paper is one part, sets forth fresh produce box schemes operated with a social enterprise business model as one such development-orientated opportunity. Focused on Cape Town, the study compared three box scheme models currently in operation; analysed a survey of box scheme consumers to explore the consumer market; and investigated poor producers' agency through cross-case analysis. This paper builds on study data presented elsewhere that evidence consumer demand, as well as demonstrate a social enterprise's ability to compete in the existing market and positively impact disadvantaged urban farmers. The discussion here delves into results around consumer motivations, satisfaction and purchasing habits, in conjunction with the application of Haldy's box scheme development model. This analysis produces suggestions for key characteristics of the 'ideal' social enterprise box scheme that is both financially sustainable and which contributes to improvements in poor producers' agency.

In 1979 and 1980 predators were under control on sheep farms in the Ceres Karoo. At the time, a subsidised hunting club assisted landowners with predator control measures. A farmlevel analysis of data from the Ceres hunting club’s logbooks reveals that four out of five farms have experienced no predator damage whatsoever. For those reporting problems, the typical loss was in the region of one per cent of the estimated turnover. Lynx (caracal), leopards and feral dogs were responsible for most of the damage. Black-backed jackals were not a serious concern, but were also more difficult to catch. Lynx and feral dogs were controlled with ease. Death of some innocent animals was also recorded. The hunting club system thus appears to be succeeding in controlling certain predators, albeit with adverse consequences to other animals. Exploratory statistical analysis establishes that livestock losses lead to increased control efforts, which in turn leads to the death of more targeted and untargeted animals. There is even some evidence that more control efforts reduce stock losses in the following year.

Both Cut to Length (CTL) and Full Tree/Tree Length (FT/TL) ground-based systems are used to harvest pine in South Africa. The fully mechanised CTL system is the most recently introduced system in South Africa. One of the reasons for the limited use of CTL harvesting systems in South Africa is the perceived inability of the harvesting head to accurately optimise tree lengths when the logs produced are high-value saw timber logs that have multiple specifications and lengths. The study showed that tree diameter, branch characteristics, and other defects such as forked trees had no significant effect on the ability of the harvester or processor to optimise tree lengths as accurately as currently used manual methods for both value and fibre recovery. The accuracy of the log lengths produced by the harvester was not influenced by the diameter of the trees.Keywords: cut to length; fibre recovery; full tree; harvester; processing; saw timber; tree length; tree optimisation; value recoverySouthern Forests 2010, 72(1): 23–30