PHD STUDENTSHIP

Title: Evaluating commercial cattle production as a resilient livelihood option for emergent smallholder farmers in Eastern Cape Province, South Africa.

Agrarian reform in South Africa faces serious challenges, many a legacy of historical policies of separate development.  Amongst these is the task of reforming a livestock production sector in which commercial production is undertaken almost exclusively by white farmers on private farms that occupy the majority of agricultural land, but exists in parallel with a relatively neglected subsistence livestock sector consisting of black smallholder farmers located on pockets of communally owned land.  Land reform policies are currently addressing this historical imbalance by transferring former white-owned private farms to black ownership but critics argue that this has led to the land becoming commercially unproductive and has the potential to undermine food security.  Others have argued that policy needs to be refocused to situate smallholder livestock production within a broader development agenda.

Focusing on Eastern Cape Province of South Africa, where land reform farms are situated in close proximity to traditional communal areas, this project aims to evaluate the potential of community-based commercial cattle production to provide a resilient livelihood option for black, smallholder farmers.  In particular it seeks to critically review the evidence for the failure of land reform to deliver commercial cattle production, identify the key barriers to smallholder farmers engaging successfully with this and develop mechanisms for more effective integration of smallholder farmers into the commercial livestock sector.  An important part of this will be understanding livelihood resilience within the context of current collective management strategies for cattle production, potential impacts on the ecological resource and how increased specialisation in cattle sales may impact on smallscale farmers within communities.  Research will involve the analysis of existing secondary data as well as primary data collected from a range of communities and relevant stakeholders during fieldwork.  In so doing it will develop an evidence base to inform both the policy and practice of current approaches to agrarian reform in South Africa.

This studentship is located within the Centre for Agroecology, Water and Resilience (CAWR) at Coventry University, UK.

The Centre for Agroecology, Water and Resilience (CAWR) is driving innovative, transdisciplinary research on the understanding and development of resilient food and water systems internationally. Food and water security is increasingly threatened by factors such as climate and environmental change, loss of biodiversity, conflict and market volatility. New knowledge, policies and technologies are needed to develop systems that are more resilient to change and which ensure the health of our food and water supplies. Through its focus on food and water, the Centre’s research develops and integrates new knowledge in social, agroecological, and environmental processes, as well as the pivotal role that communities play in developing resilience.

Candidate specification

  • a taught Masters degree in a relevant discipline, involving a dissertation of standard length written in English in the relevant subject area with a minimum of a merit profile: 60% overall module average and a minimum of a 60% dissertation mark
  • the potential to engage in innovative research and to complete the PhD within a three-year period of study
  • a minimum of English language proficiency (IELTS overall minimum score of 7.0 with a minimum of 6.5 in each component)
  • a good knowledge of smallholder livestock production systems, collective resource management, sustainable rural livelihoods, agrarian reform
  • experience of (or a willingness to quickly learn) about social methods, quantitative and qualitative data collection and relevant data analysis packages (e.g. SPSS).

 

Application: Application by application form (see Coventry University website) and covering letter on how you might develop the project, and why you are the right candidate for this Studentship (1000 words max).

Eligibility: EU/UK/International students with the required entry requirements.

PhD funding award: Bursary plus tuition fees for UK/EU/International student.

Start date: September 2015

Duration: Full time – 3 years fixed term.

Application deadline: 12/06/15.

Enquiries to be addressed to: Dr James Bennett (j.bennett@coventry.ac.uk)