Danisile Leonah Mthombeni’s research while affiliated with University of South Africa and other places

The study reviewed six selected indigenous fruit species (IFSs) of Southern Africa, namely, Strychnos Madagascariens, Vangueria infausta, Euclea divinorum hiern, Ximenia caffra, Strychnos spinosa, and Sclerocarya birrea. The research variables investigated were (1) the common uses, (2) the threats, (3) sustainability measures and (4) commercial opportunities. The study reviewed studies published between May 2024 and March 2025 from Google Scholar, Science Direct, Scopus, and Web of Science. The results revealed that S. birrea, V. infausta, X. caffra, and S. spinosa are among the top ten priority IFSs for domestication and commercialization among Southern African communities. Meanwhile, S. Madagascariens and E. divinorum hiern appeared to have fewer uses. All six IFSs showed moderate potential for commercialization. The study also identified various threats to the existence of these IFSs and their potential contribution to sustainable development goals (SDGs) No. 1-3. Thus, more research on value-added products, nutritional intake, and potential markets for E. divinorum hiern can improve species knowledge and help show market certainty for V. infausta, S. spinosa, S. Madagascariens, and E. divinorum hiern.

Electronic waste (e-waste) equipment are the fastest growing categories of municipal solid waste. This study was undertaken to assess the factors influencing community awareness on e-waste management and disposal in Collins Chabane Local Municipality, Limpopo Province of South Africa. A proportionate sampling technique was used to obtain the study sample size of 357 respondents in the four wards of the study area. A Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 29 was used to analyse data, along with descriptive statistics and a binary logistic regression model (logit). Results of the study revealed that there is less awareness on e-waste management and disposal since about 47% of respondents kept e-waste in their houses, while 7.3% disposed of it with general waste. Repairing and recycling of the e-waste had a statistical significant influence on the community's awareness on e-waste management and disposal. The study recommends that awareness on the management and disposal of e-waste should be awarded to the Collins Chabane Local Municipality community, through campaigns and information sharing sessions.

Packaging designs and materials have become increasingly important in the food sector because they assist consumers in recognising and understanding the benefits of a particular product. There seems to be scanty research on the suitable packaging materials for value-added products processed from indigenous fruits of Southern Africa. This study analysed the determinants of consumers' preferences regarding indigenous fruit product packaging (plastic containers, bottles, foam containers, and other packaging materials). The study was carried out in the Bushbuckridge Local Municipality, province of Mpumalanga, South Africa, in two malls and two retail complexes, namely: the Bushbuckridge Complex, Acornhoek Mall, Mkhuhlu Plaza, and Thulamahashe Mall. A purposive sampling technique was used to determine the sample size of each shopping mall. Furthermore, a random sampling technique was again used to sample 382 respondents within each shopping mall. A semi-structured questionnaire was used to collect data by interviewing 382 selected respondents. Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) version 29.0 was used to analyse data. Further analysis was carried out using descriptive statistics and a multinomial logistic model. The study findings revealed that 96.4% of respondents consumed indigenous fruits, with marula accounting for the most purchased and consumed indigenous fruit at (92.4%), when compared to other indigenous fruits. The multinomial logistic regression model analysis results revealed that market accessibility, colour of the packaging, consumers’ level of education, and shopping centres were significant determinants in the preferred choice of packaging, when comparing bottles and foam containers to plastic packaging. However, there were no significant factors impacting on consumers’ preferences for other packaging materials such as boxes, tins, papers, and cans, compared to plastic packaging. This implies that consumers had insignificant to no preference for other packaging materials used for the indigenous fruit in the study area. It is recommended that the indigenous fruit sellers and processors be informed by the findings of this study when choosing their packaging materials for indigenous fruit products.

Consumption of rabbit meat has not penetrated the general populace as a credible substitute for chicken, beef and pork which are the most consumed meat types and widely available in the South African supermarkets. Although rabbit meat has a high nutrition content and good health benefits, it is not yet a commonly consumed meat variety in other parts of the country. This study was undertaken to identify consumers’ perceptions towards rabbit meat consumption in Daveyton and Etwatwa area, Gauteng Province of South Africa. A proportionate sampling technique was used to determine the samples for each of the two study areas to select 382 participants from a pull sampling frame of 85000 participants. A semi-structured questionnaire was used to collect primary data by interviewing 382 selected participants. The Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS), version 28.0, was used to analyse the data. To determine the consumer perception for rabbit meat, a 5-point Likert scale was used. Furthermore, a Principal Component Analysis (PCA) was used to analyse the relationship of the initial variables by extracting significant components. The results of the study showed that 61% of consumers agreed that they do not know where to buy rabbit meat in the study area. When comparing other meat types to rabbit meat in terms of health benefits, freshness, taste, appearance, texture and flavour, 43.6% respondents were neutral. Four PCAs were extracted to be significant and loaded positively indicating that consumers had positive perceptions towards rabbit meat and were represented by: health consciousness, rabbit meat availability, and behavioural considerations; beliefs and social acceptability; social considerations and perception on affordability, and sensory appeal. It is, therefore, recommended that support to the rabbit meat market should be informed by the determinants. The local meat market should initiate more rabbit meat sales in the study area since there is less access to rabbit meat. Key words: Consumers’ perception, rabbit meat, meat consumption, Principal Component Analysis, South Africa

This study aimed to identify and analyse the determinants of managerial challenges for smallholder and emerging sheep and goat farmers in the study area by highlighting key factors in order to create an enabling environment for the farmers to improve production and income. A stratified random sampling technique was used to select 145 participants from a pull sampling frame of 251 participants. A semi-structured questionnaire was used to collect the data by interviewing 145 selected smallholder farmers. The Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS), version 28.0, was used to analyse the data. Descriptive statistics and the probit regression model were used to analyse the determinants of the managerial challenges for smallholder and emerging sheep and goat farmers. The results of the study show that only 19% of the participants had business plans, and the absence of business plans impacted farm and livestock management negatively. The probit results indicated that the age of the respondents, off-farm activities, and access to market information had a positive and significant association with managerial challenges. It is recommended that youth and women be encouraged to engage in sheep and goat farming for better management and that farmers must focus their attention on livestock farming instead of off-farm income-generating activities. The Department of Agriculture and municipalities should initiate extension programs that focus on farm and livestock management as well as access to market information.

Most rural communities use indigenous fruits as an integral part of their diets by processing them into value-added products such as alcoholic beverages, jam, juice, and nuts/dried fruits. Despite the claim that these products are rich in vitamins and energy, they are still relatively underutilised due to their low availability at mainstream retailers. The data was collected from 384 participants in Bushbuckridge in Mpumalanga Province and the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) was used to analyse the consumers’ perceptions on indigenous fruit value-added products. Principal component analysis was applied, and the study results revealed that consumers preferred buying indigenous fruit value-added products over exotic fruit value-added products. Data on indigenous fruit value-added products’ market availability and accessibility was extracted and the data showed that they were perceived as important variables by consumers. Furthermore, consumers (96.4%) indicated that they would purchase marula fruit value-added products instead of other products (wild sour plum, orange monkey and wild medlar). Regarding access to indigenous value-added products, 24.7% of the participants strongly agreed and 27.6% agreed that they do have access. Therefore, it is recommended that interventions to create awareness and promote the sale and consumption of the indigenous fruit value-added products should be prioritised at events such as indigenous festivals, as well as at local retailers.

Groundnut (Arachis hypogaea) is one of the most significant crops in South Africa and Africa due to its various health benefits and diverse uses. Groundnut production provides employment for farmers, starting from the production to the marketing phase. This study aims to analyse the determinants of commercialization and the choice of market channels (local market, urban market and farm gate) among smallholder groundnut farmers. The study was conducted in the Capricorn District of Limpopo Province, South Africa, in the three villages namely; Moletlane, Ga-Molepo and Zebediela. A purposive sampling technique was used to sample 100 smallholder farmers from a sampling frame of 405 groundnut farmers. A semi-structured questionnaire was used to collect data by interviewing 100 selected smallholder farmers and Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) version 27.0 was used to analyze the data. The binary logistic regression model was employed to analyze the factors affecting commercialization of groundnuts amongst the smallholder farmers. Furthermore, the study applied multinomial logit model to determine the choice of market channels for groundnuts amongst the smallholder farmers. The study’s results indicated that 51% of the smallholder farmers sold their groundnuts at an urban market, 35% at a local market and 14% at the farm gate. The results of the study further indicated that age, gender, level of education, household size, access to extension services, groundnut yield, and employment status had a significant influence on the groundnuts commercialisation by smallholder groundnut farmers. The variables of gender, distance to the market, vehicle ownership and employment status had significant influence on the choice of market channel of the smallholder groundnut farmers in the study area. Smallholder farmers’ access to market information is limited, therefore, the local agricultural department and municipalities should initiate an extension programme that will focus and put more emphasis on the access to market information. Policies aimed at improving commercialization among smallholder groundnut farmers should be informed by the factors and determinates found in this study. Key words: Groundnut, smallholder farmers, commercialization, market channel, multinomial logit model

Background The agricultural economy has little room for emerging farmers and there is no strong support system available for the small-scale farmers venturing in agro-processing. In this study, “access to agro-processing training” refers to any processing training rendered to small-scale crop farmers to equip them when venturing in to agro-processing. Small-scale crop farmers trained with high knowledge in processing and skills are pre-disposed to adopting processing as a strategy of making their processed products penetrate the agro-processing market. Methodology Data were collected from 307 small-scale crop farmers and STATA version 15 was used to perform fractional regression analyses to determine factors influencing access to training from the five types of agro-processing training (marketing training, processing training, record-keeping training, financial management training and business-plan training). Results The results revealed that 26% of the small-scale crop farmers had no access to agro-processing training and 74% of the small-scale crop farmers had access to training. Farming experience had significant influence on the access to agro-processing training for small-scale farmers to function efficiently in the agro-processing industry at 5% level of significance and their coefficient was positive. Conclusion Small-scale crop farmers with less farming experience should be encouraged to participate in the agro-processing sector as their participation can result in improved income and food security at the household levels. Furthermore, new agro-processing training programmes should be encouraged as trained farmers are more likely to participate in the value addition activities of agro-processing.