scholarly journals Identification of farmers problems for development intervention programme: a case study facilitated by the political head of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (DARD), North West Province

2021 ◽  
Vol 49 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-12
Author(s):  
M.B. Matiwane ◽  
V. Matiwane
Keyword(s):  
Social Sciences ◽  
Participatory Rural Appraisal ◽  
The Political ◽  
Intervention Programme ◽  
Department Of Agriculture ◽  
North West ◽  
Analyse Data ◽  
District Offices ◽  
Rural Appraisal

The study intended to identify the problems of the farmers and prioritise them for extension intervention. The study was facilitated by the political head of the department within a hundred days of the resumption of duty. Meetings were facilitated through district offices of both the department and municipalities. The identification of farmers’ problems focused mainly on production, financial and infrastructural projects. Data was collected through a participatory rural appraisal approach. Farmers were allowed to express problems affecting them in a meeting setup. The extension officers (E.O) captured problems expressed by farmers and classify them according to the questionnaire template developed. The Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) was used to capture and analyse data. The data was presented to extension officers and management of DARD. The major findings of the study revealed that :( 1) Water supply, (2) Availability of land, (3) Livestock theft, (4) production inputs, (5) Machinery, and (6) fencing were major problems of the farmers. The recommendation of the study was that: (a) Problems be resolved according to their importance and (b) preference for implementation of extension intervention programmes to be a bottom-up than a top-down approach.

An Intersectional Approach to the “Mobility Trap” That Ensnares Migrant Youth in China

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiaorong Gu
Keyword(s):  
Social Sciences ◽  
Social Relations ◽  
Social Institutions ◽  
Urban China ◽  
The Political ◽  
Economic Systems ◽  
Life Chances ◽  
Migrant Youth ◽  
Political Economic

This essay explores the theory of intersectionality in the study of youths’ lives and social inequality in the Global South. It begins with an overview of the concept of intersectionality and its wide applications in social sciences, followed by a proposal for regrounding the concept in the political economic systems in particular contexts (without assuming the universality of capitalist social relations in Northern societies), rather than positional identities. These systems lay material foundations, shaping the multiple forms of deprivation and precarity in which Southern youth are embedded. A case study of rural migrant youths’ ‘mobility trap’ in urban China is used to illustrate how layers of social institutions and structures in the country’s transition to a mixed economy intersect to influence migrant youths’ aspirations and life chances. The essay concludes with ruminations on the theoretical and social implications of the political-economy-grounded intersectionality approach for youth studies.

scholarly journals Shaping the Grammar of Security.

AmeriQuests ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mary Lynn De Silva
Keyword(s):  
Social Sciences ◽  
Asylum Seekers ◽  
Critical Realism ◽  
Political Identity ◽  
Critical Hermeneutics ◽  
The Political ◽  
The Core ◽  
Language Discourse ◽  
The Social

In Australia, practices of preemptive deterrence construct the political identity of asylum seekers as the ‘illegal other’, and as a threat to national security and to national identity. At the core of the state's illegality regimes lies the endorsement of exclusionary norms through the grammar of security. Who is responsible for the endorsement of these norms and how do they (re)produce illegality regimes? How are securitization moves legitimized and sustained through illegality regimes? How may they be resisted? A case study of Sweden illustrates how the securitization discourses mobilizing illegality regimes may be resisted through norm circles in the political sphere that endorse norms of egalitarianism, justice and equality. This paper focuses on the ‘critical realism’ associated with the works of Dave Elder-Vass and Roy Bhaskar. Elder-Vass draws on the philosophy of Roy Bhaskar to examine the ontology of language, discourse, culture and knowledge and their contribute to the construction of social reality, thus synthesizing aspects of realism and constructionism. Roy Bhaskar’s philosophy of the social sciences has aimed to crystallize a transcendental realist framework incorporating a form of critical naturalism and also critical hermeneutics.

scholarly journals Participatory rural appraisal to investigate constraints in reporting cattle mortalities in the Odi district of North West Province, South Africa

2005 ◽  
Vol 76 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
C.N. Makgatho ◽  
C.M.E. McCrindle ◽  
J.H. Owen
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Causes Of Death ◽  
Participatory Rural Appraisal ◽  
The State ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Veterinary Services ◽  
North West ◽  
Animal Diseases ◽  
North West Province ◽  
Rural Appraisal

Mortalities in cattle can have severe financial implications for small scale and communal farmers in South Africa. They could also be a measurable indicator for surveillance of animal diseases, such as those listed by the Office International des Epizooties (OIE), or diseases included in the regulations of the South African Animal Diseases Act, 1984 (Act 35 of 1984). In order to prevent further mortalities and for accurate surveillance and monitoring of diseases, it is important that farmers participate in the determination of causes of mortality in their cattle. This paper reports on constraints of the reporting diseases to the state veterinary services, the study area being Odi district, in the North West Province. The method that was followed was based on participatory rural appraisal. The selected cattle owners participated in every phase. They were the ones who first spoke to veterinary services about ways to decrease the diseases and mortalities of their cattle. A questionnaire to verify the facts complemented the survey. A total number of 60 farmers were randomly selected from 12 villages. One farmer withdrew, leaving 59 farmers. Most of the farmers in the study were men (n = 55). The area of study was communal and the farming system traditional and extensive. It was suspected that there was a communication problem and this was proven by the results of the research, as 23 farmers were not even aware that mortalities have to be reported by law. The real problem was that causes of death were not being diagnosed because farmers were not aware that a necropsy could give information on the causes of death. Farmers were keen to receive training in elementary necropsy techniques so as to be able to discuss the cause of death of cattle with the state veterinarian.

scholarly journals Political Narratives and "Abraham Obama"

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Molly Andrews
Keyword(s):  
Social Sciences ◽  
Barack Obama ◽  
The Political ◽  
Political World ◽  
The Social ◽  
Political Narratives ◽  
Highly Effective ◽  
Central Case ◽  
Epistemological Framework

Political narratives examine the ways in which stories, or narratives, are used to investigate the political world. Historically, stories have not been regarded as legitimate sources of data for such explorations. In recent years, however, this has changed, as “the narrative turn” hit the social sciences; still, while disciplines such as psychology, sociology, and anthropology were more amenable to this alteration—representing, as it does, not only different methodologies, but also a different epistemological framework—many political scientists continue to resist the idea that political narratives can offer a very particular, and almost unique, perspective on how individuals and groups construct the political world and are constructed by it. One of the most dramatic uses of highly effective political narratives, which blurs the boundaries between the personal and public, is that of Barack Obama, which is used as a central case study in this article.

Arendt, role theory and the ethical evaluation of action

2015 ◽  
Vol 24 (2) ◽  
pp. 200-225 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kieran Bonner
Keyword(s):  
Social Sciences ◽  
Social Theory ◽  
Social Action ◽  
Knowledge Production ◽  
Role Theory ◽  
The Political ◽  
Ethical Implications ◽  
The Social ◽  
Reflexive Sociology

In what way can social action be simultaneously inquired into and ethically evaluated by social theory? This paper explores the responsibility sociology has with regard to the political and ethical implications of its knowledge production and does so through a case study examination of the sociological concept of role. It compares and evaluates the different orientations that ground the concept of role and Arendt’s concept of action, which is then expanded to address the critique of the social sciences by theorists like Arendt and Foucault. The paper engages a particular tradition of reflexive sociology in the context of the danger of banal evil (Eichmann) and in the context of modern structures of domination that makes that danger more prevalent. Arguing that a theoretical non-empirical reflexivity is called for, and drawing on the phenomenological reflexivity of Berger and the constitutive reflexivity of Blum and McHugh, the paper seeks to demonstrate the need for a reflexive awareness of the actor’s responsibility for action and the theorist’s responsibility for formulating action that can make conceptual space for reasoned evaluation oriented by and to principle.

scholarly journals Trees, people, food and soil: A case study of participatory development in Malawi

1997 ◽  
Vol 73 (2) ◽  
pp. 221-227 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew Park
Keyword(s):  
Action Plan ◽  
Participatory Development ◽  
Participatory Rural Appraisal ◽  
Maize Production ◽  
Forestry Extension ◽  
History Of ◽  
Indigenous Trees ◽  
And Gender ◽  
Rural Appraisal

In rural Malawi, rapid population growth has contributed to deforestation, land and other chronic resource scarcities. In 1995, a team of Canadian graduate students and Malawian extension workers investigated and attempted to find solutions to specific local resource scarcities. Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA) was used to assess total resource supply, evaluate food security and gender issues, facilitate village fuelwood action plan and inquire into the non-adoption of a tree nursery scheme. This article relates the team's experiences and insights against reviews of the history of forestry in Malawi, recent initiatives in forestry extension, and the current condition of Malawi's indigenous woodlands. It is concluded that villagers are willing to plant trees provided their costs are minimized and maize production is not compromised. Key words: Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA), participatory development, refugee affected areas, deforestation; indigenous trees, fuelwood

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