Using the indigenous technology of organic crop farming to mediate learning in Grade 12 Agricultural Science classes
- Authors: Sheehama, Lydia Ndapandula
- Date: 2024-10-11
- Subjects: Agricultural science , Ethnoscience , Traditional knowledge , Organic farming , Pedagogical content knowledge
- Language: English
- Type: Academic theses , Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/463614 , vital:76425
- Description: The Namibian Curriculum for Basic Education states clearly that Indigenous Knowledge (IK) should be integrated into science teaching. However, the irony is that it does not give clear pedagogical guidelines on how it should be integrated. The implication is that the curriculum assumes that all teachers are aware of how to integrate IK into their teaching. This assumption has therefore led to little or no integration of IK in many classrooms in Namibia, something which could be in part a contributing factor to poor learners’ academic performance in science subjects and Agricultural Science in particular. This tension in the curriculum plus the apparent gap in the literature regarding the integration of IK has triggered my interest to conduct this interventionist qualitative case study. Essentially, this study aimed to explore affordances and/or hindrances when using the indigenous technology of organic crop farming to mediate learning in Grade 12 Agricultural Science classes in peri-urban schools in the Oshana region in Namibia. The study was underpinned by the interpretivist and Ubuntu paradigms. Vygotsky’s (1978) socio-cultural theory and Shulman’s (1986) pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) framework were used as lenses to analyse my data. Within PCK, I also used Mavhunga and Rollnick’s (2013) Topic-Specific PCK as an analytical framework. The findings of the study revealed that the integration of Indigenous knowledge in Agricultural Science education has great potential in improving both the teaching and learnng of science. It also revealed that the Agricultural Science teachers were positive towards the integration of IK in their lessons. However, they conceded that they lacked pedagogical insights on how to integrate IK as they were never trained on how to integrate it. As a result, they found the presentations by the Indigenous Knowledge Custodians (IKCs) informative and shed light on how they could integrate IK during teaching and learning. That is, they became cultural knowledge brokers making science relevant and accessible to their learners. The study thus recommends that teacher training institutions should modify the curriculum to include a pedagogy course module on IK to equip students with the essential PCK on IK integration in science teaching. , Thesis (MEd) -- Faculty of Education, Secondary and Post-School Education, 2024
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2024-10-11
- Authors: Sheehama, Lydia Ndapandula
- Date: 2024-10-11
- Subjects: Agricultural science , Ethnoscience , Traditional knowledge , Organic farming , Pedagogical content knowledge
- Language: English
- Type: Academic theses , Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/463614 , vital:76425
- Description: The Namibian Curriculum for Basic Education states clearly that Indigenous Knowledge (IK) should be integrated into science teaching. However, the irony is that it does not give clear pedagogical guidelines on how it should be integrated. The implication is that the curriculum assumes that all teachers are aware of how to integrate IK into their teaching. This assumption has therefore led to little or no integration of IK in many classrooms in Namibia, something which could be in part a contributing factor to poor learners’ academic performance in science subjects and Agricultural Science in particular. This tension in the curriculum plus the apparent gap in the literature regarding the integration of IK has triggered my interest to conduct this interventionist qualitative case study. Essentially, this study aimed to explore affordances and/or hindrances when using the indigenous technology of organic crop farming to mediate learning in Grade 12 Agricultural Science classes in peri-urban schools in the Oshana region in Namibia. The study was underpinned by the interpretivist and Ubuntu paradigms. Vygotsky’s (1978) socio-cultural theory and Shulman’s (1986) pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) framework were used as lenses to analyse my data. Within PCK, I also used Mavhunga and Rollnick’s (2013) Topic-Specific PCK as an analytical framework. The findings of the study revealed that the integration of Indigenous knowledge in Agricultural Science education has great potential in improving both the teaching and learnng of science. It also revealed that the Agricultural Science teachers were positive towards the integration of IK in their lessons. However, they conceded that they lacked pedagogical insights on how to integrate IK as they were never trained on how to integrate it. As a result, they found the presentations by the Indigenous Knowledge Custodians (IKCs) informative and shed light on how they could integrate IK during teaching and learning. That is, they became cultural knowledge brokers making science relevant and accessible to their learners. The study thus recommends that teacher training institutions should modify the curriculum to include a pedagogy course module on IK to equip students with the essential PCK on IK integration in science teaching. , Thesis (MEd) -- Faculty of Education, Secondary and Post-School Education, 2024
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2024-10-11
Profitability and technical efficiency of small-scale organic crop farmers’ in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa
- Eyinade, Gabriel A https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8851-7255
- Authors: Eyinade, Gabriel A https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8851-7255
- Date: 2019-08
- Subjects: Organic farming , Farms, Small
- Language: English
- Type: Doctoral theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10353/23633 , vital:58229
- Description: Organic farming is growing gradually in South Africa. Its contribution to economic growth and poverty mitigation is notably in the pastoral areas in terms of providing adequate and affordable food for the incessantly growing population. Organic farming is also known for provision of employment and source of livelihoods for the rural populace as well as supply of raw materials to the country’s agro-allied industrial sector. For the purposes of this research, focus was only on profitability and technical efficiency because it is an essential subject in developing agriculture where resources are limited, but high population growth is very common. As a result, increased output will rely more on efficiency enhancements which will further intensify farmers’ income. As such, evaluating the extent for such efficiency enhancements within the system is a crucial prerequisite. The objective of the study was to assess the profitability and technical efficiency; and to identify socio-economic, institutional and farm characteristics that influence profitability and the technical efficiency of the small-scale organic crop farmers in the Buffalo City Metropolitan Municipality (BCMM). A purposive sampling technique was used to collect primary data from 160 small-scale organic crop farmers in BCMM. The gross margin estimation was used to estimate profitability, while multivariate Ordinary Least Square (OLS) was used to assess socio-demographic factors influencing profitability. The stochastic frontier model was used to determine the level of technical efficiency as well as the determinants of technical inefficiency of the farmers. The results of the gross margin estimation show that the small-scale organic maize (GM= R392 417.00) and cabbage (R196 489.00) farms were profitable. Similarly, the results of the OLS showed that one out of the eight variables namely, farming experience influences organic maize producers’ profitability, while factors such as gender, household size, and educational level emerged as the major significant factors influencing organic cabbage producers’ profitability. The stochastic results revealed that small-scale organic crop farmers in the study area are technically efficient at 86percent in maize production and 93percent in cabbage production respectively; and experienced unity return to scale (1.0) in maize and increasing return to scale (1.2) in cabbage. The results suggested that an increase in the use of input, would also intensify their productivity and efficiency. The results from the inefficiecncy model of the stochastic frontier further show that age and farming experience are the major determinants of organic maize producers’ technical inefficiency, while, factors such as age, years of schooling, farming experience, and household size were the significant determinants of organic cabbage producers’ technical inefficiency. To enhance the farming potential of these farmers, it is recommended that government and other several stakeholders such as researchers, entrepreneurs should invest more in organic crop farms since it is profitable and efficient in improving farmers’ livelihoods. There is also need for government to organise on-going workshops and extension training through the help of extension officers on how farmers can improve their production which will further enhance their income. , Thesis (PhD) -- Faculty of Science and Agriculture, 2019
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2019-08
- Authors: Eyinade, Gabriel A https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8851-7255
- Date: 2019-08
- Subjects: Organic farming , Farms, Small
- Language: English
- Type: Doctoral theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10353/23633 , vital:58229
- Description: Organic farming is growing gradually in South Africa. Its contribution to economic growth and poverty mitigation is notably in the pastoral areas in terms of providing adequate and affordable food for the incessantly growing population. Organic farming is also known for provision of employment and source of livelihoods for the rural populace as well as supply of raw materials to the country’s agro-allied industrial sector. For the purposes of this research, focus was only on profitability and technical efficiency because it is an essential subject in developing agriculture where resources are limited, but high population growth is very common. As a result, increased output will rely more on efficiency enhancements which will further intensify farmers’ income. As such, evaluating the extent for such efficiency enhancements within the system is a crucial prerequisite. The objective of the study was to assess the profitability and technical efficiency; and to identify socio-economic, institutional and farm characteristics that influence profitability and the technical efficiency of the small-scale organic crop farmers in the Buffalo City Metropolitan Municipality (BCMM). A purposive sampling technique was used to collect primary data from 160 small-scale organic crop farmers in BCMM. The gross margin estimation was used to estimate profitability, while multivariate Ordinary Least Square (OLS) was used to assess socio-demographic factors influencing profitability. The stochastic frontier model was used to determine the level of technical efficiency as well as the determinants of technical inefficiency of the farmers. The results of the gross margin estimation show that the small-scale organic maize (GM= R392 417.00) and cabbage (R196 489.00) farms were profitable. Similarly, the results of the OLS showed that one out of the eight variables namely, farming experience influences organic maize producers’ profitability, while factors such as gender, household size, and educational level emerged as the major significant factors influencing organic cabbage producers’ profitability. The stochastic results revealed that small-scale organic crop farmers in the study area are technically efficient at 86percent in maize production and 93percent in cabbage production respectively; and experienced unity return to scale (1.0) in maize and increasing return to scale (1.2) in cabbage. The results suggested that an increase in the use of input, would also intensify their productivity and efficiency. The results from the inefficiecncy model of the stochastic frontier further show that age and farming experience are the major determinants of organic maize producers’ technical inefficiency, while, factors such as age, years of schooling, farming experience, and household size were the significant determinants of organic cabbage producers’ technical inefficiency. To enhance the farming potential of these farmers, it is recommended that government and other several stakeholders such as researchers, entrepreneurs should invest more in organic crop farms since it is profitable and efficient in improving farmers’ livelihoods. There is also need for government to organise on-going workshops and extension training through the help of extension officers on how farmers can improve their production which will further enhance their income. , Thesis (PhD) -- Faculty of Science and Agriculture, 2019
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2019-08
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