School of People Environment and Planning

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    What's on the menu? : how the cuisine of large-scale, upmarket tourist resorts shapes agricultural development in Fiji : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Development Studies at Massey University, Manawatū, New Zealand
    (Massey University, 2019) Laeis, Gabriel C. M.
    Tourism is an economic backbone for many developing countries, especially small island development states (SIDS). Nevertheless, scholars have argued that tourism is a globalising and, potentially, colonising force that may not be a sustainable path for the economic and cultural development of such countries. Even though international tourist numbers are growing, economic leakages are high in developing countries. This is partly due to a significant share of food being imported for tourists, despite local food production. Research on the impediments of agriculture-tourism linkages in developing countries has so far taken mostly an economistic approach, finding a variety of supply, demand, marketing and policy related factors. To allow for a more holistic approach, this study takes a cultural perspective and investigates how the cuisine of large-scale, upmarket tourist resorts shapes agricultural development in SIDS, such as Fiji. Sahlins’ (1992) theory of cultural change is combined with the corporate community development framework (Banks, Scheyvens, McLennan, & Bebbington, 2016) to explore the agency of Fijians in negotiating the impact of Western-dominated tourism. This study employed ethnographic methods in a case study approach during a four-month field trip to Fiji. Participation and observation in a resort kitchen, field visits to other resorts, farms and food intermediaries, 38 interviews as well as document analysis enabled a rich representation of local viewpoints on food, culture and tourism. Large-scale resorts present Fijian cuisine either in the form of tokenistic ‘island night shows’, or in fusion concepts that cater to a few affluent guests. Fijian chefs rarely perceive their own cuisine as valuable, due to decades of Western-dominated tourism. The use of local produce is accordingly low and purposeful development of tourism-agriculture linkages is rare. Farmers, on the other hand, recognise resorts as a valuable market. Nevertheless, many Indo-Fijian farmers turn towards food exporters as a more reliable and predictable business partner. Indigenous food producers engage only to a degree that they deem valuable for their own socio-cultural needs and goals. Findings suggest that small-scale resorts, catering to niche markets, might be more conducive to local integration and sustainable tourism development. Policy-wise, developing the agricultural agenda of SIDS to match the requirements of Western diets might have environmentally and socially detrimental implications.
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    Multiple barriers to technology change in rural Uzbekistan : a development perspective : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Development Studies at Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand
    (Massey University, 2004) Wall, Caleb Reid Luc
    Technology transfer in rural Uzbekistan is constrained by a complex of interrelated barriers. These barriers to technology transfer include the economic, political and social dependencies created during the period of Russian Soviet rule. These created dependencies are shown to coalesce with the repressive nature of the post-Soviet regime. This thesis examines the nature of the multiple barriers to technology transfer that exist for a specific development project working in Khorezm, Uzbekistan. By adopting a dependency theory perspective, complemented by Black feminism, three interconnected facets of technology transfer are discussed. Farmer priorities and preferences are analysed in light of the unique regulatory framework of agriculture in Uzbekistan. These preferences are compared to the opinions of farmers on acute problems in Khorezm. Finally the intersection of farm decision making autonomy, negative incentive systems and the economic system are considered. This is then positioned within a model of multiple barriers to technology transfer, which tests the ability of dependency and Black feminist theories to 'travel' beyond their intended locations. The field research conducted for this thesis adopted an ethnographic approach, placing a primacy on the locally articulated views of farmers in Khorezm. It was assumed that farmers had the best understanding of the manifold challenges to affecting change in the farming systems of Uzbekistan. To access these opinions a variety of individual and group-based methodologies were used, including focus groups, decision trees, informant-structured interviews and simplified H-Forms.
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    Invasive alien species : a threat to sustainable livelihoods in the Pacific? : an assessment of the effects of Wasmannia auropunctata (little fire ant) and Achatina fulica (giant African snail) on rural livelihoods in the Solomon Islands : a dissertation presented in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Development Studies, Massey University, Manawatū, New Zealand
    (Massey University, 2016) Stronge, Dean
    Invasive alien species (IAS) are a global phenomenon and are recognised as a driver of environmental change which can affect the well-being of people in a multitude of ways. Despite this, the role of IAS in local livelihoods has received relatively little attention. Influencing all three of the sustainable development pillars (social, economic, environmental), IAS should be recognised as a significant development issue. But they are not. As such, IAS issues are new to many sectors and governments and therefore largely go unseen and un-actioned. Contemporary rural livelihoods in the Solomon Islands are heavily reliant on subsistence/semi-subsistence agriculture. Following a livelihoods’ framework developed for the Solomon Islands, this thesis explores the influence IAS have on rural livelihoods in this country. Using two qualitative case studies, Wasmannia auropunctata (little fire ant) and Achatina fulica (giant African snail), this study investigates how vulnerable/resilient rural livelihoods are to the effects of IAS and the implications IAS have for sustainable development in the Solomon Islands. The effects of IAS on rural livelihoods are complex and at times contradictory. W. auropunctata for the most part is not negatively affecting the dominant livelihood strategy (subsistence/semi-subsistence agriculture) practised in the Solomon Islands. While there are some social impacts associated with W. auropunctata, overall Solomon Island households can be considered resilient to this IAS. Achatina fulica is a different story. This species is negatively affecting the subsistence/semi-subsistence agricultural sector on which so many rural Solomon Island households depend. This has resulted in households implementing negative livelihood diversification measures as they fail to cope or adapt to the snails’ presence. Unlike for W. auropunctata, Solomon Island households have not demonstrated any resilience to A. fulica. Understanding how rural livelihoods are affected by various stressors and adverse events can help to design development policies and interventions geared towards building better lives for all people. This can only occur however, if the full range of shocks are recognised. To date, this is not the case for IAS, and as such, they are still a significant missing component of development policy.
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    Agriculture and rural development : the case of Fiji : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) in Economics, Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand
    (Massey University, 2015) Xing, Zhongwei
    Agricultural growth remains a key pillar for economic development in developing agriculture-based economies, however difficulties remained to integrate rural development, food value chains, technological and institutional innovations, environmental constraints that have changed in the context of agriculture’s role. The renewed attention on ‘new agriculture for development’ framework started to emerge to achieve several dimensions of development. This thesis empirically investigates the issues pertaining to new agriculture for development that can benefit economic growth and address the socio-economic dimensions of development in the case of Fiji. Utilising Fiji’s Household Income and Expenditure Survey 2008-09 dataset the study examines macro-micro-level role of agriculture that corresponds to new objectives and apply this approach to evaluate the agricultural efficiency-development linkages. The empirical methodologies apply appropriate time series, novel cross-sectional approaches, new agricultural indicators and its determinants that examines (1) the impact of agriculture and other sectors to enhance agriculture efficiency; (2) moving beyond farm income by assessing off-farm labour participation and supply allocation decisions in the agricultural households. To achieve desired dimensions of development beyond those driven by market competiveness, (3) the role of remittances in the agricultural production estimations provide a new direction and finding to increase income and identify the causes of success for scaling up agricultural output, followed by (4) reducing poverty and inequality in agricultural households. In addition to contributing to the broader debates about agriculture-economic development nexus, the findings are also the first on applying new agriculture for development framework in Fiji’s case. Results demonstrate that there exist sectoral linkages and to increase economic diversification developing forward linkages through innovations are crucial and advantageous for growth. Findings of double-hurdle factors indicate the push and pull factors that influence household heads’ decision to participate and allocate time in off-farm income-generating activities. This implies that demand for labour, even for low-wage workers will not increase without a dynamic rural economy. The failure of low-wage and subsistence living depends on availability of land tenure and investment in agro-based industry clusters. The effects of remittances on agricultural production and diversification show that remittances tend to encourage households to be more diversified in farming, and to grow more cash crops. Findings show that non-farm household income sources contribute significantly towards poverty reduction of the agricultural households. Policies aimed at low-wage to reduce income gaps and creating employment opportunities could exhibit higher labour productivity.
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    Market in their palms? : exploring smallholder farmers' use of mobile phone farming applications and their effect on the farmers' farming, marketing and well-being : a case study of selected counties in Kenya : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Philosophy in Development Studies at Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand
    (Massey University, 2014) Ajwang, Fredrick Odhiambo
    The role of technology in development has been discussed in wide and varied literature. Over the course of history, technology has facilitated the process of development by helping individuals transcend some of the problems they face in their daily life. In recent times, the revolution in information and communication technology has come to play a crucial role in development and poverty reduction. This study explored the use of such technology, in this case the mobile phone farming applications, by smallholder farmers in Kenya to facilitate their agricultural production and marketing. The aim of the study was to explore the use of the mobile phone farming applications by the smallholder farmers to access markets and information and to assess the effects of their use on the farmers’ farming and marketing experience as well as their well-being outcomes. The results from the study indicate that the mobile phone faming applications have facilitated the smallholder farmers to access markets and marketing information. These applications have been effective in reducing the information search costs and marketing transaction costs for the smallholder farmers leading to enhanced access to information and markets. The reduced marketing transaction costs have, in turn, led to increased market participation by the smallholder farmers. Evidence from the literature indicates that when smallholder farmers have increased access to market information, their power in the market, in terms of their ability to bargain with traders, increases. In this study, it was also found that the rural farmers had been empowered by their increased access to information and they could, therefore, engage in price negotiation with potential buyers. This, together with access to higher paying markets, led to an increase in the farmers’ income. Furthermore, the use of these applications facilitated the farmers to form networks with other farmers and traders. These networks, eventually became, an important source of marketing and production information to the farmers. In contrast, it was found that the mobile phone farming applications were not effective in providing agricultural production information to the smallholder farmers. As a result, the farmers were using other means to access agricultural production information. These included the use of the internet and the networks and linkages with other farmers to access agricultural production information. However, evidence from the study indicates that, these mobile phone farming applications have a potential of facilitating smallholder farmers’ access to information and markets in Kenya.