Innovation in Resource-Based Technology Clusters: Investigating the Lateral Migration Thesis – The manufacture of biodegradable plastics from maize starch
by WALKER, M. & FARISANI, L., 2006Research Report, Employment Growth & Development Initiative, Human Sciences Research Council
Walker & Farisani offer a case study of the lateral migration of technology from a resource sector in South Africa. They explore the role of collaborative partnerships and linkages in the diversification process of firms, particularly those that have moved from primary resource-based activities into high-value niche applications. Their focus is on the production of…
read more >>Innovation in Resource-Based Technology Clusters: Investigating the Lateral Migration Thesis – The development of a sugar-based plastic in Brazil
by VELHO, L. & VELHO, P., 2006Research Report, Employment Growth & Development Initiative, Human Sciences Research Council
Velho & Velho offer a case study from Brazil on the lateral migration of technology from resource industries. It is about an industrial plant to manufacture biodegradable plastic from sugar. This development is closely associated with the long term activity of sugar and alcohol production in Brazil, which is based on the natural endowments of…
read more >>Tshepo Khumbane—Growing South Africa’s Women and Landscape
by HART, T and BAIPHETHI, M, 2008Agenda, 22(78), 156-162.
The South African government has made numerous attempts to integrate women into the economy using different strategies. Many of these have been unsuccessful and others are unsustainable, requiring continued expenditure. Tshepo Khumbane, a development activist for more than 40 years, argues that the strategies are poorly focused. According to her, the various attempts do not…
read more >>Women in Urban and Peri urban-Agriculture: Sustaining Livelihoods in the Cape Metropolitan Area
by JACOBS, P and XABA, T, 2008Agenda, 22:78, 186-197
Urban and peri-urban agriculture (UPA) has emerged as one of the responses to multiple livelihood challenges that poorer city dwellers face. Urban women engage in UPA to produce food for their households and increasingly also to earn an income from the sale of surplus output. This article uses evidence from a sample of farming projects…
read more >>Contribution of smallholder production to Food Security: Some approaches and evidence from sub-Saharan Africa
by MATSHE, I.,Poor households access their food from the market, subsistence production and transfers from public programmes or other households. In the past rural households produced most of their own food, but recent studies have shown an increase in dependence on market purchases by both urban and rural households, in some cases reaching 90% of the food…
read more >>Boosting Smallholder Production for Food Security: Some Approaches and Evidence from Studies in Sub-Saharan Africa
by MATSHE, I., 2009Agrekon, 48:4, 483-511
Matshe uses the sustainable livelihoods framework to explore the contribution of smallholder production to food security in some sub-Saharan African countries and relates it to the South African case. Noting that many of the world’s hungry are smallholder farmers, it is clear that food insecurity is closely linked to the livelihood strategies of these farm…
read more >>Rural Women and Rainwater Harvesting and Conservation Practices: Anecdotal Evidence from the Free State and Eastern Cape Provinces
by BAIPHETI, M,., VILJOEN, M., and KUNDHLANDE, G., 2008Agenda, 22:78, 163-171
Access to water for domestic and agricultural use is a common constraint in most arid to semi-arid areas. Rainwater harvesting and conservation (RWH&C) practices provide an opportunity for improved access and/or availability of water for both domestic and agricultural production. Since the majority of the techniques are labour-intensive, they may prove an extra burden on…
read more >>Trends and Policy Challenges in the Rural Economy: Four Provincial Case Studies
by ALIBER, M. DE SWARDT, C., DU TOIT, A., MBHELA, T. & MTHETHWA, T., 2005Cape Town: HSRC Press
“There are indications of deepening rural poverty since 1994, despite many policies and initiatives that aim to stimulate the rural economy. The trends affecting the rural economy are not understood with sufficient clarity to enable government to formulate an adequate response. National datasets alone are not sufficient to depict these trends; there is a need…
read more >>Strategies to Support South African Smallholders as a Contribution to Government’s Second Economy Strategy (2 Volumes)
by ALIBER, M, 2009HSRC research report commissioned by the Second Economy Strategy
This is Volume 2 of the study ‘Strategies to Support South African Smallholders as a Contribution to Government’s Second Economy Strategy’. It contains the accounts of the 16 case studies that comprised the main data for the analysis presented in Volume 1. These case studies are a rich repository of narratives depicting various types of…
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