Helmke Sartorius von Bach

Total factor productivity in South African agriculture, 1947‐91

Indices of total factor productivity (TFP) measure aggregate output per unit of aggregate input, providing a guide to the efficiency of agricultural production. This article outlines the relationship between production functions and TFP indices. Then, an index is constructed for South African agriculture for the period 1947‐91. The index shows that TFP grew at an average rate of 1,3 per cent per annum. However, TFP growth has increased since the reforms of the early 1980s. Since capital has been more realistically priced relative to labour, greater productivity growth has gone together with increasing employment, which must have improved social welfare.

The efficiency of smallholder agriculture in South Africa

This study applies data envelopment analysis (DEA) to 1990-91 maize production data for small-holders in the Northern Transvaal homelands of KaNgwane, Lebowa and Venda. There are extremely large differences in efficiency, both between farms and between regions. Within regions, the poorest farms are less than 10 per cent efficient and comparing the homelands shows Venda to be far less productive. Decomposing the efficiency estimates shows that farm size and technical efficiency each explain about half of the total differences. Land is the most serious constraint on output, fertilizer the least binding constraint and the FSP strategy of supplying modern seeds is economically efficient.

THE EFFECTS OF INCREASED EARNINGS FROM TRADITIONAL AGRICULTURE IN LEBOWA / The effects of increased earnings from traditional agriculture in Lebowa/Die effekte van hoër inkomste vanuit tradisionele landbou in Lebowa

Abstract Effects of increased earnings from agriculture on consumption and investment on households in the Phokoane area of Lebowa are determined by utilising cross-sectional survey data. Income elasticities indicate that the demand for goods (staple food) produced by households increases less than the demand for purchased goods. A discriminant analysis of surplus versus deficit products indicates that surplus production is associated with farmers who participate in the Farmer Support Programme (FSP) (i.e., farmers using insecticides and purchase inputs on credit). Availability of labour, specifically female labour, also plays an important role in explaining the difference in production performance between surplus and deficit food-producing households.

The stage of development and agricultural performance: A causality analysis of South African traditional agriculture

The analysis of causality in rural development is difficult because some variables of the underlying developmental process are only indirectly observable. In theories of rural development, socio‐economic variables are important in linking agricultural performance variables with policy measures. Applying canonical correlation, latent variable models permit research on rural development to measure simultaneously the unobservable socio-economic variables and the observable manifest variables. In this article the stage of development of rural households and agricultural performance in South African homelands are measured indirectly. Empirical results show that the current stage of development has little impact on agricultural performance.

AN INVESTIGATION OF AVOCADO TRADING IN EUROPE

Increasing world trade opportunities led to a rapid growth of exotic fruit exports to Europe. Their population has shown increased consciousness of health and nutritional values associated with fruits and vegetables. The European market for avocados is mainly supplied by five producing countries, namely Israel, South Africa, Spain, Mexico and Kenya. It has been found that these countries export their avocados to a small number of countries. This regional concentration even increased over time. Most of the avocados designated for Europe go to France. The intra- and inter-industrial trade and trade intensities have been investigated by means of different coefficients. The investigation showes that the consumer education and promotion will play an important in the future to meet the growing expected supply.

ELASTICITIES OF SUBSTITUTION BETWEEN CARROHYDRATES IN SOUTH AFRICA / Elastisiteite van substitusie tussen koolhidrate in Suid-Afrika

Elasticities of substitution were estimated to determine how easily consumers switch from one carbohydrate product to another by using a translog function and the dual approach. Results indicate that carbohydrate pairs are substitutional in behaviour, which supports the observed interdependence between carbohydrates.

Empirical information on beef production in regions of Namibia as an aid to restructuring the livestock farming industry along equitable lines

The paper considers the regional influence of prices and access to markets on beef numbers in Namibia, given the present inequalities, by using econometric analysis of time‐series data. This is relevant because Namibia is in a process of structural adjustment following independence in 1990. and in view of the livestock industrys importance in the Namibian economy. The results accentuate the role of access to markets in beef production in Namibia. Where access is severely restricted due to lack of infrastructure, such as processing facilities and adequate transport for example in the communal regions, beef producers do not act on price incentives, or cltmatological and ecological variables. However, beef producers with limited access to markets, mainly due to high transport costs, do react to environmental changes, but not to price incentives. Only producers with easy access to markets react to both environmental changes and price incentives. The major conclusion is that the present production and marketi...

PRICE LEADERSHIP IN THE SOUTH AFRICAN CARBOHYDRATE MARKET / Prysleierskap in die Suid-Afrikaanse koolhidraatmark

Price determination is of vital concern for producers and distributors, and is an important element for the buying public. The effective functioning of the SouthAfrican carbohydrate marketing system is analysed by means of price leadership, a useful tool for reviewing price control issues. Price leadership depends on removing the deterministic nature of time-series, filtering and causality determination. The national carbohydrate market shows strong mutual dependence, with white bread the price leader. The high mutual dependence and cross-price effects show that price intervention reduce market performance.

FARMER SUPPORT AND HOUSEHOLD FOOD PRODUCTION IN SOUTH AFRICA'S DEVELOPING AREAS / NAVORSINGSNOTA: BOERE ONDERSTEUNING EN HUISHOUDINGS SE VOEDSELPRODUKSIE IN SUID-AFRIKA SE ONTWIKKELENDE GEBIEDE

This research note considers the relationship between various support services to farmers and food production as well as household food security of rural households with access to communal crop and grazing land in the former “homelands”. The Farmer Support Programme (“FSP”) was implemented in selected target areas in the developing areas (“homelands”) of South Africa since 1987, with the specific aim to address the constraints faced by farmers in these areas. A three year evaluation programme of the FSP in one area Lebowa, show that the farmer support programme has improved the food security situation in these areas and contributed to a better livelihood for thousands of households in rural Lebowa. The results also confirms that the elements of the support programme can, at least partly, be related to the increase in maize production and the improved household food security situation in Lebowa.

HUMAN CARBOHYDRATE DEMAND IN SOUTH AFRICA / Die menslike vraag na koolhidrate in Suid-Afrika

This note discusses aspects of carbohydrate consumption, prices of carbohydrates and interdependence in the carbohydrate market. Knowledge gained is used to analyse the effects of relative prices and income on the consumption of different carbohydrates in South Africa. Price and income elasticities of demand estimated by the traditional single equation approach and a systems method do not differ markedly. However, because of the interdependence between carbohydrate consumption, the systems method seems to be more appropriate than the traditional single equation approach. Relative prices of carbohydrates and income per capita play a major role in influencing the consumption of different carbohydrates.