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    Start Over Subject Term extension research Journal Title South African Journal of Agricultural Extension Within Last x Years within 5 Years

    1. Information and communication technologies (ICT) towards agricultural development in rural areas: case of smallholder farmers in Umzimvubu local municipality of the Eastern Cape Province in South Africa Authors

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    Collection:
    Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
    Contributers:
    Makaula, Z. (author)
    Format:
    Journal article
    Publication Date:
    2021-05-25
    Published:
    South Africa: Academy of Science of South Africa
    Location:
    Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 203 Document Number: D12307
    Journal Title:
    South African Journal of Agricultural Extension
    Journal Title Details:
    Vol. 49 No. 1 (2021)
    Notes:
    11 pages., This paper was initiated in order to find the usage and relevance of theInformation and Communication Technologies(ICT) by the smallholder farmers of the Umzimvubu Local Municipality of the Eastern Cape Province in South Africa. A survey questionnaire was then developed to collect the relevant data from randomly selected six villages of Umzimvubu Local Municipality targeting 138 respondents. The questionnaires structure employed both closed and open-ended questions that were administered using a face to face interview, conducted on the sample population in each village. There seems to be a correlation between ICT usage and the economies of scale in agricultural development, where smallholder farmers tend to use less of highly modernized ICT, while commercial large scale farmers use more of the modernized ICT. This disparity amongst farmers is exacerbated in many areas by the differing support systems employed by the public extension services.

    2. Why do agricultural co-operatives fail to attract youth and create rural employment? Evidence from a case study of Zanokhanyo in Butterworth, Eastern Cape

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    Collection:
    Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
    Contributers:
    Zantsi, S. (author)
    Format:
    Journal article
    Publication Date:
    2021-05-25
    Published:
    South Africa: Academy of Science of South Africa
    Location:
    Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 203 Document Number: D12308
    Journal Title:
    South African Journal of Agricultural Extension
    Journal Title Details:
    Vol. 49 No. 1 (2021)
    Notes:
    15 pages., In the National Development Plan, cooperatives and agriculture development are identified as possible solutions for addressing rural poverty and unemployment, especially among the youth. However, according to most research/literature, agricultural cooperatives fail for many reasons, including but not limited to lack of capital, incompetent management and organizational deficiencies. This study applied a qualitative analysis to the qualitative data using a case study of Zanokhanyo Food Security Cooperative (ZFSC) in Ndabakazi, Butterworth. Interviews with the project members, ex-members, extension officers and youth were conducted through a semi-structured questionnaire administered in IsiXhosa. According to the results, lack of intensive production resulting in very low incomes is one of the reasons why projects such as ZFSC fail to attract young people and provide employment for rural people. Agricultural extension advisory services play a very limited role because of their generalist approach; they lack depth of knowledge about diverse agricultural subject areas. This study recommends that agricultural extension and the farmers’ support system be improved by employing or outsourcing specialists to cater to the needs of agricultural cooperatives in order to improve the productivity and income of agricultural cooperatives.