An overview of agricultural and rural development problems in less developed areas of Southern Africa

The problems discussed in this paper are essentially the influence of various factors which underlie the present low levels of agricultural production and the constraints to development of the less developed rural areas of Southern Africa.

The nature, intensity and output of small‐scale farming systems are dependent upon the interactions between and within five groups of factors: physical and ecological; the agri‐milieu; institutional and operational; the human potential; and technology.

This paper discusses previous and present development trends, and reviews the interrelated problems of use of physical resources, the agri‐milieu, human resources, institutional problems and technology.

Suggestions are made for a co‐ordinated strategy at national and local level aimed at removing some of the present barriers and constraints to agricultural and rural development.     

Book briefs

G Antonelli and A Quadrio‐Curzio (eds) The agro‐technological system towards 2000 North Holland.

W J Baumol Superfairness: Applications and theory The MIT Press, Massachusetts, 1986

E Boonzaier and J Sharp (eds) South African keywords: The uses and abuses of political concepts David Philip, Cape Town and Johannesburg, 1988

C Bryant (ed) Poverty, policy, and food security in Southern Africa Lynne Rienner Publishers. Boulder, Colorado, 1988

J Butler. R Elphick and D Welsh (eds) Democratic liberalism in South Africa: Its history and prospect David Philip, Cape Town and Johannesburg. 1987

D P Chaudhri and A J Dasgupta Agriculture and the development process: a study of Punjab Croom Helm, London, 1985

R Cohen (ed) Satisfying Africa's food needs: Food production and commercialization in African agriculture Lynne Rienner Publishers. Boulder/London, 1988

J M Conrad and C W Clark Natural resource economics: Notes and problems Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1987

D E Janvry and K Subbarao Agricultural price policy and income distribution in India Oxford University Press, Delhi, 1986     

Basic socio‐economic elements of a development theory for traditional societies

Notwithstanding the existence of various ‘development paradigms’, little has been done to analyse the fundamental economic determinants of development.

Most important is the basic functioning of supply and demand which, in the traditional society, is determined by religion, customs and rules, resulting in a limited choice and volume of consumption, as well as limited production.

Stimulation of the economy can according to community development principles, be brought about by an increase in demand (needs) to serve as motivation for increased production.

Higher production though, necessitates a change in traditional values and the development of abilities and skills. This is primarily the field of community development.     

Book briefs

World food marketing systems, Butterworth & Co, London, 1986.

Faces of hunger. An essay on poverty, justice and development, Studies in applied philosophy, Allen & Unwin, London, 1986. xiii + 178, distributed in South Africa by MacMillan South Africa, Braamfontein.

Decentralization and development — Policy implementation in developing countries, Sage Publications, London, 1983, 319 pp

Soviet interests in the Third World, Sage Publications, London, 1985, xi + 329 pp

No shortcuts to progress — African development management in perspective, Heinemann Educational Books Ltd, London, 1983, xv + 223 pp.

Strategies for African Development, University of California Press, London, 1986, xii + 603 pp.

Labour and poverty In Kenya 1900‐1980, Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1986, xii + 296, £20,00     

Book briefs

Key variables in social investigation, Routledge & Kegan Paul, London, 1986, vii + 276 pp.

Reproductive change in developing countries, Insights from the World Fertility Survey, Oxford University Press, Oxford 1985, xvi + 301 pp, ISBN 0‐19‐828465‐9.

The world crisis in education, The view from the eighties, Oxford University Press, New York, 1985, vii + 353 pp ISBN 0‐19‐503503‐8

Reaching the Urban Poor, Project implementation in developing countries, Westview Press, Boulder Colorado. 1986, vii + 264 pp, ISBN 0‐8133‐7129‐5

Housing policy, An international bibliography, Mansell Publishing Limited, New York, 1986, ix ‐ 398 pp, ISBN 0‐7201‐1785‐2

Agribusiness and the small‐scale farmer: A dynamic partner for development, Westview Press, Boulder, 1985

Agriculture and employment in developing countries: Strategies for effective rural development, Westview Press, Boulder, 1985

Progress in natural resource economics, Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1985

International agricultural trade: Advanced readings in price formation, market structure and price instability 1984

The role of markets in the world food economy, Westview Press, Boulder, 1983     

Government expenditure in the independent and self‐governing national states of Southern Africa: An evaluation

Various commentators recently drew attention to the expenditure and financing of the independent and self‐governing national states in Southern Africa. The inference has been drawn that this expenditure appears wasteful and ineffective and constitutes little more than a costly political luxury.

This article makes an attempt at evaluating government expenditure in the national states in terms of the type and level of expenditure, its benefit incidence, as well as its efficiency.

Expenditure of the governments of the national states is largely on collective or social goods and services and therefore of the type widely expected to be provided by governments. Since the benefit incidence of this expenditure is not confined within the borders of the national states, but spills over into South Africa, government expenditure by these states benefits the common integrated economic system of Southern Africa.

With regard to the levels of expenditure, indications are that expenditure in many instances is too low. Increased expenditure in some categories might well show significantly increasing returns.     

The Ju/'hoan Bushman Development Foundation and basic needs in eastern Bushmanland,Namibia

The Ju/'hoan Bushman Development Foundation (JBDF) is a multi‐dimensional development foundation which has as its main objective the raising of the standard of living of the indigenous Ju/'hoan Bushmen in eastern Bushmanland, Namibia. It has a basic needs approach to development.

The development activities of the Foundation started in 1981. The Nyae Nyae Farmers’ Cooperative, through which the Foundation now directs its development activities, was established in 1986. It is funded by various international development agencies, such as Christian Aid, NORAD, SIDA, Bread for the World, Oxfam Canada, and the EEC.

The basic needs approach of the Foundation addresses the following dimensions: water, food, cash, clothing, health, literacy and education, community esteem, and problems and propositions.     

Publications

Sajogyo, Usaha Perbaikan Gizi Keluarga (ANP Evaluation Study 1973), Lembaga Penelitian Sosiologi Pedesaan, Institut Pertanian Bogor, Bogor, 1975. Rp 1000 pp. xiii + 195.

Committee on Economics Teaching Material for Asian Universities (ed.), Economic Theory and Practice in the Asian Setting, Volume 1: Macroeconomics, pp. 172.

Economic Theory and Practice in the Asian Setting, Volume 2: Microeconomics, pp. 1970.

Economic Theory and Practice in the Asian Setting, Volume 3: The Economics of Agriculture, pp. 245.

Economic Theory and Practice in the Asian Setting. Volume 4: The Economics of Development, pp. 274.

New Delhi: Wiley Eastern Ltd., 1975 (Available through the Asia Office, The Agricultural Development Council, Inc. Tanglin P.O. Box 84, Singapore 10).

Seminar Hasil Penelitian Lapangan. Pusat Latihan Penelitian Ilmu² Ujung Pandang (Seminar on Results of Fieldwork, Social Science Research Training Centre, Ujung Pandang), 8–11 December 1976, Hasanuddin University and Social Science Research Training Centre.

Seminar Hasil Penelitian Lapangan 1976, Pusat Latihan Penelitian Ilmu² Sosial, Aceh (Seminar on Results of Fieldwork, Social Science Research Training Centre, Aceh), 6-9 December 1976, Syiah Kuala University and Social Science Research Training Centre.

Werner Rutz, Indonesien: Verkehrserschliessung seiner Ausseninseln (Transport Penetration of the Outer Islands), Paderborn, Germany, 1976. Pp. 182, 15 fold-in maps. DM58.00.

C.L.M. Penders (ed. & transl.), Indonesia: Selected Documents on Colonialism and Nationalism, 1830-1942. University of Queensland Press, St. Lucia, 1977, pp. 347 + glossary and index.

J. D. Legge, Indonesia. second edition, Prentice-Hall of Australia, Sydney, 1977.

Tax Inspection For Foreign Bodies and Aliens, Indonesian Tax Guide For Foreigners, Jakarta, April 1975, pp. 75.

Drs. B. Usman, Kumpulan Karangan Pajak Sinar Harapan 1973-5, PT Sinar Agape. Press, January 1977, pp. 211 Rp 2500.

Drs. B. Boediono, Pajak Penjualan, Direktorat Jenderal Pajak, Jakarta 1975, pp. 931.

Sritua Arief, Indonesia Growth, Income Disparity and Mass Poverty. Jakarta, Sritua Arief Associates (P.O. Box 2250, Jakarta), 1977.

Indonesian language version, pp. xviii + 150, Rp 5000.

English language version, pp. ii + 207, Price on application.

Kumpulan Bacaan Sosiologi Pedessaan (Readings on Rural Sociology), Lembaga Penelitian Sosiologi Pedesaan, Institut Pertanian, Bogor. 1975.

Direktorat Jenderal Industri Tekstil, Buku Petunjuk Industri Tekstil (A Guide-book to the Textile Industry), Jakarta, 1976. Pp. ix + 410. Rp 6750.

Brian Lynch. Indonesia: Problems and Prospects. Sorrett Publishing Company, Melbourne, 1977, pp. 183. Recommended price $A11.95.

Dr Ir Herman Soewardi. Respons Musyarakat Desa Terhadap Modernisasi Produksi Pertanian, Terutama Padi, Gadjah Mada University Press, 1976, pp. 175.

Douglas Miles, Cutlass and Crescent Moon. A Case Study of Social and Political Change in Outer Indonesia. Centre for Asian Studies, University of Sydney, 1976, pp. 160.     

Development planning in the third world education in Botswana: A case study

Development planning is regarded as essential for advancement in the Third World. This article discusses planning in Botswana, specifically in the area of education. The economic and educational developments in Botswana are described.

The process of development planning is discussed under a number of headings, namely the administration of development planning Botswana; drawing up a development plan; and implementing the plan.

The hypothesis that planning, to some extent, arises from compromises that in turn result from conflicts among the planners, is discussed. Examples are given to illustrate this. The article argues that conflicts will increase as financial constraints become more important in Botswana.     

Effective extension for increased productivity and a better quality of life

Extension serves as a catalyst for development People must be helped to help themselves and should therefore be involved in their own decision‐making processes. For the participative approach to work. it is imperative that local leaders be trained.

Privatisation is a development phase and not the starting point in development Not all services can be privatised.

It is a mistake to believe that sub‐subsistence farmers are immune to change.     

Conservation of natural resources and rural development: The work of the Institute of Natural Resources

The concept of the Institute of Natural Resources, attached to the University of Natal but funded largely by the private sector, is the only one of its kind in Africa. Its services are seen as being vitally important and urgently needed. Through its endeavours greater awareness has been created that the African rural areas require urgent rehabilitation and development.

Through its various research programmes and practical rural development projects, the Institute is involved in land capability analysis in various parts of KwaZulu, and in formulating sustainable land use strategies which emphasize job creation and food production while conserving natural resources and reclaiming those areas in danger of ecological collapse.

In conjunction with this research and practical work, attention is being given to the establishment of a computer‐based geographic information system, promotion of public awareness of the socio‐economic and environmental problems facing Natal/KwaZulu, and assistance with the co‐ordination of planning in the region.     

Utilisation of indigenous workers and its relevance to human service organisations and development projects in South Africa∗

The article discusses major issues related to the employment of indigenous workers in human service organisations and development projects.

Main motives for introducing this new type of worker and the essential tasks they perform as well as their unique attributes are presented.

The discussion concludes by advocating the expansion of the efforts in the South African context.     

Public administration and development

Public Administration is the study of the activities of government. Where governments accept responsibility for development, public administration is the administration of development.

The approach of public administration to development is one of contingency: to ascertain what a situation is in terms of its environment and devise strategic, structural and procedural interventions appropriate to the situation.

A contingency approach to public administration fits into a social knowledge paradigm which posits that development happens by capacity building through social learning.     

Book briefs

Eastern Cape publication

Institute of Social and Economic Research

Development issues in the Eastern Cape: A review and assessment Working Paper 25, University of Rhodes, 1986, 96 pp. R5.

Richard N Langlois (ed)

Economics as a process ‘Essays in the New Institutional Economics’, Cambridge University Press, London, 1986, xi + 262 pp, R87,70

Paul Collier, Samir Radwan and Samuel Wangwe with Albert Wagner

Labour and poverty in rural Tanzania ‘Ujamaa and Rural Development in the United Republic of Tanzania’, Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1986, vii + 143 pp, £17,50

Allen Buchanan

Ethics, efficiency, and the market Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1985, xi + 135 pp, £15,00     

Publications

H. S. Kartadjoemena, The Politics of External Economic Relations: Indonesia's Options, Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, Singapore, 1977(?), pp. 179, $S 12.00

Ingrid Palmer, The Indonesian Economy since 1965: A Case Study of Political Economy, London, Frank Cass, 1978, pp. ix, 196, £11.00.

Gadjah Mada University, Faculty of Economics, Graduate Program in Economics, Four Papers on Employment and Income Distribution in Indonesian Agriculture, Yogyakarta, pp. 118 + ii, mimeo.

U.S. Department of Commerce, Country Market Sectoral Survey, Indonesia: A Survey of U.S. Business Opportunities, U.S. Government Printing Office, May 1977, pp. 320.

Borrowing By Developing Countries on the Euro-currency Market P. A. Wellons, OECD, Paris 1977 $20, pp. 449.

Mayling Oey and Ketut Sudhana Astika, The Social and Economic Implications of Transmigration in Indonesia: A Policy-Oriented Review and Synopsis of Existing Research. L. P. E. M., Fakultas Ekonomi, Universitas Indonesia, 1978, pp. 228.

Paul A. Meyer and Colin MacAndrews, Transmigration in Indonesia. An Annotated Bibliography. Gadjah Mada University Press, 1978, 245 pages.

Fox, James J., Harvest of the Palm: Ecological Change in Eastern Indonesia. Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts 1977.     

Publications

Juergen B. Donges, Bernd Stecher, Frank Wolter, Industrial Development Policies for Indonesia, J. C. B. Mohr (Paul Siebeck), Tubingen, 1974, pp. 178.

Pan A. Yotopoulos and Jeffrey B, nugent, Economics of Development — Empirical Investigations, Harper and Row, New York, 1976, pp. 478.

Book Reviews

The Political Economy of Agrarian Change. Keith Griffin, Harvard University Press 1974.

Changes in Rice Farming in Selected Areas of Asia: The International Rice Research Institute 1975.

Yusuf Ahmed, Patrick O'Sullivan, Sujono and DerekWilson, Road Investment Programming for Developing Countries: An Indonesian Example, The Transport Center, Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois, 1976, pp. 132 plus appendices (pp. 77).     

Publications

F. van Anrooy et al (eds), Between People and Statistics: Essays on Modern Indonesian History, The Hague: M. Nijhoff, 1979, 316 pp. tables, diagrams. Paper: DF 139.50.

Sayogyo (ed), Ekologi Pedesaan, Sebuah Bunga Rampai (Rural Ecology, A Collection) Bogor, Yayasaan Obor and Institut Pertanian Bogor, 1982, pp 342 + xix.

Anthony Reid, The Blood of the People—Revolution and the End of Traditional Rule in Northern Sumatra, Oxford University Press, 1979, pp. xx + 288. $M48.00.

Colin MacAndrews and Chia Lin Sien (eds), Southeast Asian Seas: Frontiers for Development, McGraw-Hill International Book Company, issued under the auspices of the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, Singapore, 1981, 375 pp. (no price stated).

James J. Fox (ed.), The Flow of Life: Essays on Eastern Indonesia, Harvard Studies in Cultural Anthropology, No.2, 1980 US$30.

Hazel Moir, ‘Occupational Mobility and the Informal Sector in Jakarta’ in S. V. Sethuraman (ed.) The Urban Informal Sector in Developing Countries, ILO, Geneva, 1981, pp. 109–120.

Joel S. Kahn, Minangkabau Social Formations: Indonesian Peasants and the World-Economy, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1980, pp. xvi + 228.

Tsuyoshi Kato, Matriliny and Migration: Evolving Minangkabau Traditions in Indonesia, Ithaca and London: Cornell University Press, 1982, pp. 267. $22.50.

M. C. Ricklefs, A History of Modern Indonesia, Macmillan, London, 1981, pp. xv + 335. Paper, $16.95.

J. Spryt, Indonesia, An Alternative History of the Timeless Isles, Macmillan, Melbourne, 1979, pp. 214. Paper, $10.95.

G. W. Jones and H. V. Richter (eds), Population Mobility and Development: Southeast Asia and the Pacific, Development Studies Centre Monograph No. 27, Canberra: Australian National University Press, 1981, pp. xi + 474. $A9.00.

W. A. Stoever, Renegotiations in International Business Transactions: The Process of Dispute-Resolution between Multinational Investors and Host Societies, Lexington Books, D.C. Heath and Company, Lexington, Massachusetts. 1981, pp. xiii + 381.

H. Eichberg, Sozialverhalten und Regionalentwicklungsplanung: Modernisierung in der indonesischen Relationsgesellschaft (West Sumatra); Berlin: Duncker & Humblot, 1981, pp. 283. D. M. 66.     

The promotion of maize fertiliser packages: A cause of household food insecurity and peasant impoverishment in high rainfall areas of Zimbabwe

Child malnutrition is a continuing problem in Zimbabwe's communal areas. These include some high rainfall areas, which make a contribution to the country's maize surplus during non‐drought years. A survey of farmers and extension workers in four high rainfall communal areas was carried out to investigate the effects of following recommended practices for maize production on household economy and food security.

Thirty‐two per cent of communal farmers had applied all the officially recommended fertiliser to their 1990/91 maize crop, often by obtaining these inputs on credit in lieu of grain sales receipts from the subsequent harvest. Yet. yields were so low that 48 per cent of these farmers would have been unable to retain sufficient grain to satisfy their families’ minimum requirements, if they had reimbursed the full cost of the input credit.

The majority (64 per cent) of farmers had deviatedfrom the recommended practice by adopting ‘low external input strategies’. A key feature of most of these strategies was the substitution of manure for part or all of the recommended fertiliser. In three of the four communal areas studied, this had improved the chances not only of recovering input costs, but also of achieving maize self‐sufficiency.

These results suggest that policy‐makers should shift emphasis from a dependence on costly external inputs to the integration of low levels of fertiliser with a range of more natural methods of soil improvement, in an effort to improve household food security in the communal areas.     

Book briefs

Agricultural mechanization and the evolution of farming systems in Sub‐Saharan Africa, World Bank publication, John Hopkins University Press, Baltimore and Lon‐don, 1987

Livestock development in Latin America, World Bank publication. 1986

Liberty, Market and State: Political economy in the 1980s, Wheatsheaf Books, Brighton, 1986

Law, custom and social order: The colonial experience in Malawi and Zambia, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge. 1985