Sicelo Dlamini - Academia.edu (original) (raw)

Papers by Sicelo Dlamini

Promoting cooperative financial efficiency through problem-solving and arresting opportunities bu... more Promoting cooperative financial efficiency through problem-solving and arresting opportunities builds cooperative resilience necessary for ameliorating rural livelihoods. Therefore, this study assessed the income-generating capacity, challenges, and opportunities available to agricultural cooperatives in Eswatini. Secondary data were sourced from government and parastatal reports, while primary data were collected through personal interviews guided by a structured questionnaire. Financial ratios, descriptive statistics, and content analysis were employed for data analysis. The results revealed that broiler, dairy, crop, animal feed and sugarcane cooperatives had strong financial efficiency, 81.75%, 65.36%, 49.61%, 40.33% and 36.37%, respectively. High production cost, free-riders, insufficient capital and lack of training on conflict resolution and administration are the major challenges encountered by cooperatives. Agribusiness opportunities exist in all subsectors. An inclusive regulatory body is recommended to establish production-marketing frameworks to enhance financial efficiency. Pragmatic training programmes are required to address intra-organisational challenges, while inter-organisational linkages are necessary to harness opportunities.

Promoting cooperative financial efficiency through problem-solving and arresting opportunities bu... more Promoting cooperative financial efficiency through problem-solving and arresting opportunities builds cooperative resilience necessary for ameliorating rural livelihoods. Therefore, this study assessed the income-generating capacity, challenges, and opportunities available to agricultural cooperatives in Eswatini. Secondary data were sourced from government and parastatal reports, while primary data were collected through personal interviews guided by a structured questionnaire. Financial ratios, descriptive statistics, and content analysis were employed for data analysis. The results revealed that broiler, dairy, crop, animal feed and sugarcane cooperatives had strong financial efficiency, 81.75%, 65.36%, 49.61%, 40.33% and 36.37%, respectively. High production cost, free-riders, insufficient capital and lack of training on conflict resolution and administration are the major challenges encountered by cooperatives. Agribusiness opportunities exist in all subsectors. An inclusive re...

Journal of Economics and Sustainable Development, 2020

Beef cattle marketing assumes a central position in the rural development discussion and economic... more Beef cattle marketing assumes a central position in the rural development discussion and economic growth in Eswatini. However, scantiness in empirical assessment on market outlet choice undercuts the establishment of propoor market systems for improved livelihoods. Therefore, this study sought to determine the drivers of beef cattle market outlet choice. The Snowball-purposive sampling technique was conducted to collect data, through personal interviews guided by a structured questionnaire, from a sample of 328 farmers. Descriptive statistics and multinomial logit regression were used for data analysis. The results indicate that 51.83%, 42.38% and 5.79% of the farmers marketed through the processor-butcher, direct and feedlotter outlets, respectively. Education and exotic breeds were associated with the feedlotter outlet. Vectors of marketing and production-related factors are the main drivers of market outlet choice. Pasture availability revealed statistical significance at p < 0.01, while off-farm employment and cooperative membership were significant at p < 0.05. The proportions of cows and oxen in the herd were significant at p < 0.1. The study recommends farmer-training and protection of pastures to advance selection of formal outlets. Cooperativism is a suggested mechanism for creating farmers' bargaining power. A conducive market framework is required for the promotion of formal market outlets.

African Journal of Agricultural Research, 2012

Maize farming in Swaziland is divided into subsistence farming on Swazi Nation Land (SNL) and com... more Maize farming in Swaziland is divided into subsistence farming on Swazi Nation Land (SNL) and commercial farming on Title Deed Land (TDL). Maize production on SNL accounts for only 10% of total agricultural output in Swaziland. While almost all households in SNL produce maize, the country has never reached self-sufficient levels in maize production. For the past 40 years, Swaziland has not been able to meet the population’s maize requirements. Currently, the domestic shortfalls of maize are covered by imports through the National Maize Corporation. Swaziland continues to experience a downward trend on maize production, while maize demand has been increasing. This study was aimed at estimating technical efficiency of maize production and determining the factors affecting technical efficiency in Swaziland. The stochastic frontier approach was used to estimate the technical efficiency of 127 farmers and the two-limit Tobit model was used to determine the factors affecting technical eff...

Sustainability

Beef cattle farmers are in an ideal position to advance their income through marketing; however, ... more Beef cattle farmers are in an ideal position to advance their income through marketing; however, the subsector is characterized by low market participation. Wealth preservation and prestige from cattle accumulation outweigh market incentives, thereby jeopardizing the integration of farmers into organized market systems. Therefore, the study was set to examine the determinants of farmers’ sales decisions in cattle marketing. Understanding determinants of sales decisions is an indispensable base for establishing sustainable development policy frameworks that maximize rural economic growth. Descriptive statistics and a double-hurdle model were applied on cross-sectional data collected from 397 farmers through personal interviews aided by a structured questionnaire. Herd size (74.1%), ecological zone (32.4%), slaughters (22.1%), pregnant cows (18.2%), experience (15.0%) and breed type (11.4%) revealed statistically significant effects on the probability of market participation. The key ...

Agriculture, Apr 1, 2020

Beef cattle farming assumes a pivotal role in economic growth, household food security, and pover... more Beef cattle farming assumes a pivotal role in economic growth, household food security, and poverty alleviation in Eswatini. However, paucity of information dissemination, and competence are drawbacks that accord a steady annual increase in beef imports and a decline in exports. Therefore, the study conducted a gender-based comparative assessment of training needs for beef cattle farmers. Primary data were collected through personal interviews, guided by a reliability-tested questionnaire, from a sample of 397 farmers. The Borich Needs Assessment Model was adopted for data analysis and inferential statistics were employed to evaluate statistically significant differences between the gender groups. On a scale of 5, farmers were found to be less proficient (M = 1.891, SD = 0.529) in cattle production and agribusiness management practices. Female farmers were significantly less proficient than males (t = −6.004, p = 0.000). Statistically significant differences in mean weighted discrepancy scores (t = 5.280, p = 0.000) revealed a strong training need for females compared to men. It is recommended that dissemination of training information should be prioritized as follows: (1) agribusiness management concepts, (2) feed and feeding concepts, (3) cattle health concepts, (4) farmer-organizational concepts, (5) farm structures, and (6) breeding and rearing concepts.

Promoting cooperative financial efficiency through problem-solving and arresting opportunities bu... more Promoting cooperative financial efficiency through problem-solving and arresting opportunities builds cooperative resilience necessary for ameliorating rural livelihoods. Therefore, this study assessed the income-generating capacity, challenges, and opportunities available to agricultural cooperatives in Eswatini. Secondary data were sourced from government and parastatal reports, while primary data were collected through personal interviews guided by a structured questionnaire. Financial ratios, descriptive statistics, and content analysis were employed for data analysis. The results revealed that broiler, dairy, crop, animal feed and sugarcane cooperatives had strong financial efficiency, 81.75%, 65.36%, 49.61%, 40.33% and 36.37%, respectively. High production cost, free-riders, insufficient capital and lack of training on conflict resolution and administration are the major challenges encountered by cooperatives. Agribusiness opportunities exist in all subsectors. An inclusive regulatory body is recommended to establish production-marketing frameworks to enhance financial efficiency. Pragmatic training programmes are required to address intra-organisational challenges, while inter-organisational linkages are necessary to harness opportunities.

Promoting cooperative financial efficiency through problem-solving and arresting opportunities bu... more Promoting cooperative financial efficiency through problem-solving and arresting opportunities builds cooperative resilience necessary for ameliorating rural livelihoods. Therefore, this study assessed the income-generating capacity, challenges, and opportunities available to agricultural cooperatives in Eswatini. Secondary data were sourced from government and parastatal reports, while primary data were collected through personal interviews guided by a structured questionnaire. Financial ratios, descriptive statistics, and content analysis were employed for data analysis. The results revealed that broiler, dairy, crop, animal feed and sugarcane cooperatives had strong financial efficiency, 81.75%, 65.36%, 49.61%, 40.33% and 36.37%, respectively. High production cost, free-riders, insufficient capital and lack of training on conflict resolution and administration are the major challenges encountered by cooperatives. Agribusiness opportunities exist in all subsectors. An inclusive re...

Journal of Economics and Sustainable Development, 2020

Beef cattle marketing assumes a central position in the rural development discussion and economic... more Beef cattle marketing assumes a central position in the rural development discussion and economic growth in Eswatini. However, scantiness in empirical assessment on market outlet choice undercuts the establishment of propoor market systems for improved livelihoods. Therefore, this study sought to determine the drivers of beef cattle market outlet choice. The Snowball-purposive sampling technique was conducted to collect data, through personal interviews guided by a structured questionnaire, from a sample of 328 farmers. Descriptive statistics and multinomial logit regression were used for data analysis. The results indicate that 51.83%, 42.38% and 5.79% of the farmers marketed through the processor-butcher, direct and feedlotter outlets, respectively. Education and exotic breeds were associated with the feedlotter outlet. Vectors of marketing and production-related factors are the main drivers of market outlet choice. Pasture availability revealed statistical significance at p < 0.01, while off-farm employment and cooperative membership were significant at p < 0.05. The proportions of cows and oxen in the herd were significant at p < 0.1. The study recommends farmer-training and protection of pastures to advance selection of formal outlets. Cooperativism is a suggested mechanism for creating farmers' bargaining power. A conducive market framework is required for the promotion of formal market outlets.

African Journal of Agricultural Research, 2012

Maize farming in Swaziland is divided into subsistence farming on Swazi Nation Land (SNL) and com... more Maize farming in Swaziland is divided into subsistence farming on Swazi Nation Land (SNL) and commercial farming on Title Deed Land (TDL). Maize production on SNL accounts for only 10% of total agricultural output in Swaziland. While almost all households in SNL produce maize, the country has never reached self-sufficient levels in maize production. For the past 40 years, Swaziland has not been able to meet the population’s maize requirements. Currently, the domestic shortfalls of maize are covered by imports through the National Maize Corporation. Swaziland continues to experience a downward trend on maize production, while maize demand has been increasing. This study was aimed at estimating technical efficiency of maize production and determining the factors affecting technical efficiency in Swaziland. The stochastic frontier approach was used to estimate the technical efficiency of 127 farmers and the two-limit Tobit model was used to determine the factors affecting technical eff...

Sustainability

Beef cattle farmers are in an ideal position to advance their income through marketing; however, ... more Beef cattle farmers are in an ideal position to advance their income through marketing; however, the subsector is characterized by low market participation. Wealth preservation and prestige from cattle accumulation outweigh market incentives, thereby jeopardizing the integration of farmers into organized market systems. Therefore, the study was set to examine the determinants of farmers’ sales decisions in cattle marketing. Understanding determinants of sales decisions is an indispensable base for establishing sustainable development policy frameworks that maximize rural economic growth. Descriptive statistics and a double-hurdle model were applied on cross-sectional data collected from 397 farmers through personal interviews aided by a structured questionnaire. Herd size (74.1%), ecological zone (32.4%), slaughters (22.1%), pregnant cows (18.2%), experience (15.0%) and breed type (11.4%) revealed statistically significant effects on the probability of market participation. The key ...

Agriculture, Apr 1, 2020

Beef cattle farming assumes a pivotal role in economic growth, household food security, and pover... more Beef cattle farming assumes a pivotal role in economic growth, household food security, and poverty alleviation in Eswatini. However, paucity of information dissemination, and competence are drawbacks that accord a steady annual increase in beef imports and a decline in exports. Therefore, the study conducted a gender-based comparative assessment of training needs for beef cattle farmers. Primary data were collected through personal interviews, guided by a reliability-tested questionnaire, from a sample of 397 farmers. The Borich Needs Assessment Model was adopted for data analysis and inferential statistics were employed to evaluate statistically significant differences between the gender groups. On a scale of 5, farmers were found to be less proficient (M = 1.891, SD = 0.529) in cattle production and agribusiness management practices. Female farmers were significantly less proficient than males (t = −6.004, p = 0.000). Statistically significant differences in mean weighted discrepancy scores (t = 5.280, p = 0.000) revealed a strong training need for females compared to men. It is recommended that dissemination of training information should be prioritized as follows: (1) agribusiness management concepts, (2) feed and feeding concepts, (3) cattle health concepts, (4) farmer-organizational concepts, (5) farm structures, and (6) breeding and rearing concepts.