Farmers' goals in complementarity with natural, physical and financial assets are crucial for efficient production and productivity especially for rural development and economic growth. Goals can be defined as aspirations for which a person has decided to undertake for improved well-being. This article examined correlates of farmers' production efficiency, and their goals and other farmer/farm characteristics. The study was carried out at Qamata and Tyefu irrigation scheme in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa, respectively. The study involved about 108 of farmers who were interviewed as source of primary data. This article assumes that farmers' goals have a greater impact on their production efficiency. The principal component analysis was employed to establish generalized perceived farmers' goals. Established principal component coefficients were regressed with generated production efficiency scores. A stochastic production frontier analysis was employed to generate the efficiency scores. Generated perceived principal component of farmers' goals included selfexpression (Farm status), business (profit) related goals, social (internal and external network and rules) related goals and independence goals (self-reliance). On average, smallholder farmers were technically inefficient in maize production with a score of about 44%. Farm and farmers' characteristics found to be significantly related to technical efficiency included household size (at 5% level of significance), years spent in school (at 5% level of significance), access to training on agronomy (at 5% level), crop incomes (at 5% level), and government social grants (at 1% level of significance). The perceived farmers' goal found to have a positive and significant impact on technical efficiency was farm status at 10% level, while farmers' goal related to business (profit maximization) had a negative relationship with technical efficiency at 5% level of significance. This study recommends that all stakeholders in smallholder agricultural sector should participate in planning and implementing policies that match farmers' goals and aspiration, and farmers' improved formal education and access to farm loans, without changing the existing technology.

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Despite the establishment and revitalization of small-scale irrigation schemes, input subsidies and tractor hire schemes in the rural Eastern Cape Province of South Africa productivity among small-scale farmers is recorded low and anticipated to decline. For survival, small-scale farmers have resorted to cultivating high value crops including vegetables. However, their vegetable productivity is far less than the estimated potential yields, and information regarding their production efficiency is limited. Therefore, this study was aimed at determining farmer’s production efficiency to generate meaningful information necessary for designing feasible pro-poor policies aimed at catalysing increased the productivity and rural household incomes. The study was carried out at Qamata and Tyefu irrigation schemes, and approximately 158 farmers were interviewed. The Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) approach was used to generate results. The findings in this article indicated that most farmers are old aged with low literacy levels. Farmers were also allocating few hectares of land for cabbage production with far less application of fertilizers and pesticides compared to the recommended amounts. Farmers at Qamata and Tyefu irrigation schemes are technically, allocatively and economically efficient at 98%, 72% and 77% level, respectively. Thus, for improving the productivity, farmers need to maintain the same technologies and adjust on the amounts of fertilizers, seeds and pesticides used for improving allocative and economic efficiency. Results suggested that this can be achieved through encouraging more youth participation in farming, improved input-agronomic and agribusiness skills, catalysing processes of land reforms, and construction of more dams.

The issue of abolishment of trade agreements preferences pose a great threat to the sugar industry in Swaziland. Using both the Relative Trade Advantage and Porter`s 1990 National Diamond concept, the major objective of the study was to examine the comparative advantage of the sugar industry in the global market with the aim of establishing the contributing factors and constraints to the competitiveness of the Swaziland sugar industry. The Relative Trade Advantage (RTA) method developed by Balassa was used to determine Swaziland global comparative advantage of the sugar industry. The study found that the Swaziland sugar industry had a relatively highly comparative advantage in the global market in terms of producing sugar. The results from the regression model indicated that global sugar market prices, exchange rate and export values had a significant influence on the Swaziland Relative Trade Advantage indices. The Porter`s (1990) National Diamond model analysis revealed factors that enhance competitiveness of the sugar industry include compensation of management, business approach to human resource, relationship and networking, telecommunication and internet service, availability of credit and availability of unskilled labour as well as production of high quality products. Some factors that have a major constraining effect on the competitiveness were the small local market size, cost of financing business, cost of transport, cost of supply of inputs, public sector effectiveness on service delivery and exchange rates. Therefore, the government in consultation with the industry representatives should consider development and implementation of an industry policy Journal of Agricultural Studies

Rural Eastern Cape Province of South Africa is still rated high in terms of