CHAPTER ONE: GENERAL OVERVIEW
1.7 APPROACH TO THIS RESEARCH
1.7.1 Research Philosophy
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land,resulting in less access to finance by women and fewer inputs into the agricultural production process (e.g., access to fertilizer). Women also have higher entry barriers when it comes to the opening of businesses (IFAD, 2011).
It is generally agreed that the value, availability, and accessibility of natural resources (such as forests, water, and land) vary between men and women because of the gender differences that exist between them, and the way gender is often implicated in their access to and distribution of natural resources (Cotula and Cisse, 2007). Bob (1999:110) defines gender as “socially constructed relationships between men and women”. As a result of these differences, marked variations in their socio-cultural, as well as their economic needs and asset portfolios, emerge between men and women even though they may live in the same household. Perry et al. (2010) indicate that women‘s situations are often characterised by a lack of control or ownership of and access to resources, which impacts on them and their households in achieving sustainable livelihoods and food security; thus women represent the most vulnerable of the vulnerable. Sims and Kienzile (2006) emphasise that it is very important for rural development projects to thoroughly observe gender relations in this light so that the strategies they apply to any community would cater for both women and men‘s needs, especially if women are not to be further marginalised.
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2014); its philosophy aims to uncover practical knowledge in respect of a case study or situation (Biesenthal, 2014). On a theoretical level, pragmatism contributes to the development of the discourse on the design method (Dalsgaard, 2014; Stark, 2014).
Secondly, pragmatism-inspired inquiry focuses on the situation, phenomenon, or experiences to provide a more in-depth understanding (Stark, 2014). The author believes that a pragmatic philosophical worldview in this study can give meaningful explanations through subjective interpretations of events. Furthermore, for the purposes of this study, both deductive and inductive approaches and principles were followed. Although both were followed, the study tended to be more skewed towards the inductive approach as more qualitative research strategies were used. The inductive approach accords with the pragmatic philosophy, while a deductive approach usually accords with the positivist theory.
The inductive approach is usually used in social research such as this one (i.e., it is based on Human Geography) and is known to be an alternative approach that is prone to flexibility. The other advantage of this approach is the preference for a small sample to even better focus on understanding the research context. In the deductive approach, the knowledge obtained is based on painstaking observations and measurements, with the development of the numerical measure being of the utmost importance in the positivistic paradigm (Guba and Lincoln, 1994). Positivism also highlights the importance of verifying theories by collecting data that either supports or counters the theory, whereupon additional tests and revisions are done (Creswell and Creswell, 2018). Worthy of note is that the use of the positivistic approach as the quantitative component in the mixed methods approach is simply for statistical purposes. As the research assesses the opportunities, challenges, and risks experienced by small-scale forest growers, this study recognises that while quantification is essential to show the magnitude of the elements discussed, it may not necessarily be enough. Therefore, the role played by inductive techniques should not be underestimated. Based on this reasoning, inductive techniques were also considered.
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Based on the above, an understanding of the so-called participatory developmental approach was used to uncover the challenges, opportunities, and risks faced by small- scale community forest growers in the rural development context (Saunders et al.
(2008). This research study adopted a case study as a research strategy to address the above-mentioned objectives (Creswell and Creswell, 2018). The study involved four rural community forestry projects (i.e., Mkhambathi, Sinawo, Ntywenka and Mabandla) which were used to assess the objectives mentioned above. One project was selected from KwaZulu-Natal Province and the other three from the Eastern Cape Province (Figure 1.5). All four selected projects were typical of rural community forestry projects.
Figure 1.6: Map of Study Areas
Source: Author’s own compilation, using DAFF GIS DATA (2018)
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The Mkambathi project is situated in Flagstaff in the Eastern Pondoland region (Figure 1.6). This area initially fell under the former Transkei government. Currently, the Mkambathi community falls under the Ngquza Hills Local Municipality, which was formerly known as Qawukeni, an administrative area in the O.R. Tambo District of Eastern Cape Province (Eastern Cape Socio-economic Consultative Council (ECSECC), 2012). The Mkhambathi Project is a restitution project consisting of a land claim for a total of 17 000ha. It was transferred to the Mkambati Land Trust (MLT) which was formed by the Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development (DALRRD), representing seven communities, and including more than 5 000 households. The land claim includes the 6 000ha Mkambati Nature Reserve and some 650ha of the existing plantations previously established by the former Transkei Government (Zeka, 2013).
The Sinawo plantation is situated in the former Transkei, along the R61, between Bizana and Port Edward (Figure 1.6). It is situated in the Winnie Madikizela-Mandela Local Municipality (previously Mbizana Local Municipality), within the Alfred Nzo District in the Eastern Cape, and about 20km from the South Coast border of KwaZulu- Natal (Sappi, 2013). The Sinawo Project is another land restitution project consisting of the 10 000ha claimed by the community and now owned by a Community Property Association (SCPA). The SCPA represents all the communities with primary land ownership rights to the land and includes a total of three villages, namely, Greenville, Mfolozi and Hlulweni. The plantations are located on both sides of the R61, with half of the area sloping down towards the Mzamba River and the other half, towards Greenville.
Ntywenka Plantation Project is in the Elundini Local Municipality, at latitude 31°18’32″
South and longitude 28°6’16.1″ East, between the towns of Tsolo and Maclear in the Joe Gqabi District Municipality in the Eastern Cape Province (www.wikipedea;
ECRDA, 2014) (Figure 1.6). The Ntywenka Project is also called ‘The Sixhotyeni Commmunity Project’ and is managed by the Sixhotyeni Trust. The Sixhotyeni Trust was established by the members of the Sixhotyeni communities, which own and manage the forestry project. Ntywenka comprises five administrative areas which form part of the Sixhotyeni Traditional Council (STC). Two administrative areas have resolved to allocate land for the initial forestry enterprise. The land identified for
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afforestation is located along the various ridges around the DFFE Ntywenka plantation (ECRDA, 2014).
The Mabandla project is located in the southern Kwa-Zulu Natal Province and falls under the jurisdiction of the Umzimkulu Local Municipality, (latitude 30°15′45″ South and longitude 29°55′15″ East), an administrative area in the Harry Gwala District (Figure 1.6), and forms an enclave between Umzimkulu town in the east and Kokstad in the west (www.wikipedea). The Mabandla Community Trust was established by the community members to oversee the project and manage the social and community issues. The Trust established the Mabandla Development Company (Pty) Ltd, in which the trustees serve as directors, and which manages the forestry operations (Hlatshwako, 2000).
Both Mkhambathi and Sinawo projects were implemented by the Eastern Cape Rural Development Agency (ECRDA), which was formerly known as AsgiSA Eastern Cape.
During the process, ECRDA introduced Sappi to both Mkhambathi and Sinawo communities as a potential strategic partner. Sappi is the strategic partner for both these communities and the projects are flourishing (ECRDA, 2014).
Since research methods can be defined as specific techniques and procedures for collecting and analysing data, the study researching these four plantation projects was based on questionnaires, interviews, and personal observations to gather the data on which the statistical analysis for this study was based (Creswell and Creswell, 2018;
Creswell, 2014). Among the respondents from whom the necessary information could be collected were the household heads from the above-mentioned projects who completed the household questionnaires. Focus group discussions with women and the youth and interviews with key informants (Neuman, 1997; Bless and Higson-Smith, 1995; Slocum et al., 1995), such as the community forestry managers and the strategic partner managers of each of these projects, as well as personal observations that were noted by the researcher, constituted the other sources from which the information required for this research study was collected.
To collect secondary data, the research methods used in this study also included documentary research, such as information about the background to the case study
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and policies (Harris and Brown, 2010; Rubin and Babbie 2008a). Since they specifically focused on certain topics, the interviews were used as the primary data collection method. On the other hand, perceptions about the participation of the respondents in the projects; the benefits and challenges of forest plantations in their villages; and the types and causes of conflicts amongst stakeholders in the projects (if any) were less important sources of data. Owing to the strenuous schedules of the strategic partner managers, there were cases where interviews were not completed.
In such cases, telephone interviews were carried out as a follow-up on the incomplete face-face interviews where the questionnaire was used.
Furthermore, three different types of questions were used, namely, open-ended, and closed-ended questions on a 10-point Likert scale. This enabled the researcher to gain a deeper understanding of the complexity of the situation or case study. According to Harris and Brown (2010); Rubin and Babbie (2008a), quantitative data can be obtained through closed-ended questions and qualitative data through open-ended questions.
The factors affecting the outcome of each item on the questionnaire were recorded.
This detail was augmented with information issuing from the site visits to each plantation, but only after the interviews had been conducted with the household heads from each project and personal observations had been made during the interviews with some of the key informants.
The analysis of the thematic content served to categorise the qualitative data into themes and was aligned with the objectives of the study and the more important concepts identified in the literature. Some of the respondents’ more important quotes that emerged during the data analysis process were put to good use by the researcher.
They served to clarify certain important concepts, ideas, or themes that featured in the research and to analyse the main themes. As such, they revealed the main perspectives of each of the research participants (Makhubele et al., 2022; Du Plessis 2017).
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For the statistical analysis of the mixed collection of data, the researcher followed both probability and non-probability sampling techniques. In this study, respondents were selected by means of the simple random sampling design. This is a procedure whereby respondents are selected based on the pre-knowledge that the researcher and other relevant roleplayers have on the subject. The main purpose of the non- probability sampling design in this study was to avoid making generalisations when revealing the research results of a large population.
To access appropriate respondents, the interviews targeted household heads or land reform beneficiaries of small-scale communal forest projects, the community project managers of these projects, community leaders, the chief/ his induna (i.e., sub-chief), managers from strategic partnerships or government, and forestry experts. The land reform beneficiaries were identified with the help of the chief and his izinduna.
Informed by the simple random sampling design, the researcher was also able to guide the process. Ultimately, primary data were collected from 400 households. In addition, the researcher succeeded in interviewing four community project managers; two strategic partner managers; and two forestry experts.
Being the representatives of their communities, the community leaders were targeted for interviews. Of main interest were the tribal authorities (i.e., the chief and his izinduna (i.e., sub-chiefs)) as it was a tedious and complicated process to line up all the project beneficiaries and all those familiar with the history of the project, and to gain permission to interview them. The respondents from the community forestry managers and the strategic partner managers were selected on the grounds of their familiarity with the subject matter; as such, their feedback proved to be relevant to the study, and, therefore, valuable. Two strategic partner managers that were knowedgable and involved with the Mkhambathi, Sinawo and Ntywenka projects were interviewed as no strategic partner manager for Mabandla project could be accessed.
All the above-mentioned strategic partner managers that were interviewed had worked closely on the small-scale communal forest projects and were well-informed about the opportunities, challenges, risks, and the requirements for the effective and sustainable management of a plantation.
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