Sara Yazdan Bakhsh, Kingsley Ayisi, Reimund P. Rötter, Wayne Twine and Jan-Henning Feil
Small-scale farmers are highly heterogeneous with regard to their types of farming, levels of technology adoption, degree of commercialization and many other factors. Such…
Abstract
Purpose
Small-scale farmers are highly heterogeneous with regard to their types of farming, levels of technology adoption, degree of commercialization and many other factors. Such heterogeneous types, respectively groups of small-scale farming systems require different forms of government interventions. This paper applies a machine learning approach to analyze the typologies of small-scale farmers in South Africa based on a wide range of objective variables regarding their personal, farm and context characteristics, which support an effective, target-group-specific design and communication of policies.
Design/methodology/approach
A cluster analysis is performed based on a comprehensive quantitative and qualitative survey among 212 small-scale farmers, which was conducted in 2019 in the Limpopo Province of South Africa. An unsupervised machine learning approach, namely Partitioning Around Medoids (PAM), is applied to the survey data. Subsequently, the farmers' risk perceptions between the different clusters are analyzed and compared.
Findings
According to the results of the cluster analysis, the small-scale farmers of the investigated sample can be grouped into four types: subsistence-oriented farmers, semi-subsistence livestock-oriented farmers, semi-subsistence crop-oriented farmers and market-oriented farmers. The subsequently analyzed risk perceptions and attitudes differ considerably between these types.
Originality/value
This is the first typologisation of small-scale farmers based on a comprehensive collection of quantitative and qualitative variables, which can all be considered in the analysis through the application of an unsupervised machine learning approach, namely PAM. Such typologisation is a pre-requisite for the design of more target-group-specific and suitable policy interventions.
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Keywords
R. Lyle Skains, Jennifer A. Rudd, Carmen Casaliggi, Emma J. Hayhurst, Ruth Horry, Helen Ross and Kate Woodward
Electronics in the Service of Man. It has been estimated that the current publication of technical matter is 60 million pages annually. The task of the future research worker…
Abstract
Electronics in the Service of Man. It has been estimated that the current publication of technical matter is 60 million pages annually. The task of the future research worker, therefore, is likely to be a heavy one as 25 per cent of the total time to complete any future research project may be needed to find, correlate and assimilate past knowledge. But the research worker of the future will have one big aid—an electronic machine, now being developed by the Battelle Memorial Institute, Ohio, U.S.A., which may be able to scan up to five million published documents per hour and identify those relating to the specific information needed.
Judith Overmier and Rhonda Harris Taylor
Introduces librarians to popular culture studies and emphasizes the importance of collection development of popular culture materials, both primary and secondary. Provides…
Abstract
Introduces librarians to popular culture studies and emphasizes the importance of collection development of popular culture materials, both primary and secondary. Provides strategies and identifies resources that can facilitate such collection development.
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Keywords
A distinction must be drawn between a dismissal on the one hand, and on the other a repudiation of a contract of employment as a result of a breach of a fundamental term of that…
Abstract
A distinction must be drawn between a dismissal on the one hand, and on the other a repudiation of a contract of employment as a result of a breach of a fundamental term of that contract. When such a repudiation has been accepted by the innocent party then a termination of employment takes place. Such termination does not constitute dismissal (see London v. James Laidlaw & Sons Ltd (1974) IRLR 136 and Gannon v. J. C. Firth (1976) IRLR 415 EAT).
Rolland LeBrasseur, Huguette Blanco and John Dodge
A survey of young microfirms was conducted to investigate their growth intentions. The findings confirm the distinct profiles of four types of firms categorized on the basis of…
Abstract
A survey of young microfirms was conducted to investigate their growth intentions. The findings confirm the distinct profiles of four types of firms categorized on the basis of current and future employment: Lifestyler, Entrepreneur, Manager, and Mover. They differ in terms of the owner's perceptions of the desirability and practicality of growing their firm, and with respect to the moderating variables of industry affiliation, business location, and investment level. Research issues and service implications for business support agencies are identified.
ONE effect of sharing a common language with America is the imposition of a surfeit of books on matters like work study, in which our own literature is modest indeed. The almost…
Abstract
ONE effect of sharing a common language with America is the imposition of a surfeit of books on matters like work study, in which our own literature is modest indeed. The almost simultaneous publication of two books with a common subject is therefore very unusual. They both deal with work measurement, one in forty‐seven chapters and the other in fifteen. Since books are not judged by a quantitative standard this is no guide to their respective merits.
Aarhus Kommunes Biblioteker (Teknisk Bibliotek), Ingerslevs Plads 7, Aarhus, Denmark. Representative: V. NEDERGAARD PEDERSEN (Librarian).