Efficiencies of small-scale sugarcane growers in the King Cetshwayo District Municipality of KwaZulu-Natal
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Date
2019
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University of Zululand
Abstract
Low agricultural productivity remains a threat to the existence and sustainability of the small-scale production of crops. Unfavourable climatic conditions such as drought are a concern to the long-term supply of food in the context of a rapidly growing population. The continuous uncertainty surrounding access to credit, extension support and industry regulations exacerbate the dilemma faced by small-scale growers. Therefore, there is a need to develop strategies to promote agricultural efficiency and productivity.
Sugarcane is a traditional crop produced in three provinces in South Africa and it contributes to the livelihoods of many small-scale sugarcane growers operating in the rural set-up. This thesis aimed to evaluate agricultural efficiencies, productivity and efficiency change and identify barriers to technical efficiency of small-scale sugarcane growers in the sugar producing regions of the King Cetshwayo district municipality. This is a grey area as existing studies have given more attention to SFA (Stochastic Frontier Analysis) and ranked constraints faced by small-scale sugarcane growers. The thesis analyses three methodological approaches to addressing the objectives of the thesis. The first objective was to analyse the technical, cost and allocative efficiency of a sample of 300 small cane growers located in the King Cetshwayo district municipality (KCDM) of Northern KwaZulu-Natal. This objective was achieved through estimating agricultural productive efficiency using Data Envelope Analysis (DEA). The second objective was to determine the chemical-input use efficiency, which was determined using the Slack-Based Measure (SBM) approach of the sampled cane growers. The third objective was to employ the Truncated Regression model to identify key socio-economic sources of technical efficiency; this chapter relied on field survey data of 300 sugarcane growers.
The fourth objective measured input-oriented technical, cost and allocative efficiency of 160 small-scale sugarcane growers in the Felixton and Amatikulu regions. The fifth objective investigate the determinants of technical, cost and allocative efficiency in the Felixton and Amatikulu regions. Both objectives used the DEA and Truncated Regression model. The sixth objective decomposed agricultural efficiency change in small-scale sugarcane growers in the Amatikulu region using the Färe Primont Index (FPI) using farm-level data for 38 small-scale growers. Furthermore, the Bayesian Modelling Average technique (BMA) investigated policy-related sources of small-scale
Description
A thesis submitted for the Degree of Doctor of Commerce in the Department of Economics, Faculty of Commerce, Administration and Law at the University of Zululand, 2019.
Keywords
Small-scale sugarcane growers, King Cetshwayo District -- KwaZulu-Natal