Civil Society Organizations and Modernization of Agriculture in Yambio County, Gbudwe State, South Sudan

ABSTRACT 

This study was done to assess the role of Civil Society Organizations in the modernization of agriculture in Yambio County and it was guided by the following research objectives; to assess the level of agricultural production in Yambio County; to examine the activities of these CSOs aimed at modernizing agriculture in Yambio County and to analyze the challenges faced by them in the process of modernizing agriculture in Yambio County. The study employed a cross-sectional Survey design, in which 203 questionnaires were given to households in Yambio Payam, and 12 key informants were interviewed. The findings revealed that there is insufficient food production in Yambio and therefore, its availability is limited. Most of the community cannot afford three meals a day because they do not cultivate large fields. A household of four members cannot produce 300 kg of maize per a year and this is a low level of productivity. The research finding exposed a mean value of 2.38 for the activities executed by CSOs for modernizing agriculture; implying activities were sub-standard and not effective enough to support modernization of agriculture. It also infers that CSOs have limited capacity and poor funding which contributed to the ineffectiveness of these organizations. Indeed the study findings revealed that many challenges faced civil society organizations in modernizing agriculture in Yambio County and this had an average mean of 3.36 which is equivalent to high on Likert Scale; such as low capacity in financial management, lack of expertise and proficiency for CSOs chores. These challenges constrained CSOs from implementing conventional agriculture. The study recommends that a household should operate a farm size of more than 1 hectare of land at least as the weighted median threshold of operated land. CSOs should support mechanization of agriculture as to increase productivity at low costs and provide improved seeds to ensure quality of produce as to commercialize agriculture. The study submits that civil society organizations in Yambio need capacity building for fundraising, finance management and expertise in service delivery- modernization of agriculture. The government should be collecting and reporting agricultural statistics and providing standards of measurement for agricultural produce that are brought for sale.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

DECLARATION .....................................II

APPROVAL............................................III

DEDICATION....................................... IV

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS .................... V

LIST OF ACRONYMS AND ABBREVIATIONS......................................... V

LIST OF TABLES ............................... VIII

ABSTRACT.............................................1

CHAPTER ONE ......................................2

INTRODUCTION ...................................2

1.0 INTRODUCTION ...................................2

1.1 BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY ...................................................2

1.1.1 HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE ...............2

1.1.2 THEORETICAL PERSPECTIVE..........................................................4

1.1.3 CONCEPTUAL PERSPECTIVE ...........................................5

1.1.4 CONTEXTUAL PERSPECTIVE ...........................6

1.2 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM...................................8

1.3 PURPOSE OF STUDY .............................9

1.4 GENERAL OBJECTIVE...........................9

1.5 SPECIFIC OBJECTIVES ..........................9

1.6 RESEARCH QUESTIONS......................10

1.7 RESEARCH SCOPE .............................10

1.7.1 GEOGRAPHICAL SCOPE...................10

1.7.2 CONTENT SCOPE.............................11

1.7.3 TIME SCOPE: ..................................11

1.8 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE RESEARCH...........................11

1.9 OPERATIONAL DEFINITIONS OF KEY CONCEPTS .........................12

CHAPTER TWO....................................13

LITERATURE REVIEW.......................13

2.1 INTRODUCTION .................................13

2.2 THEORETICAL REVIEW ......................13

2.3 CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK ..............15

2.4 RELATED STUDIES.............................16

2.4.1 ACTIVITIES OF CIVIL SOCIETY ORGANIZATIONS AIMED AT MODERNIZING AGRICULTURE IN YAMBIO COUNTY ...............16

2.4.2 MODERNIZATION OF AGRICULTURE ...............19

2.4.3 THE INTERVENING FACTORS .......................................25

2.4.4 THE CHALLENGES FACED BY CIVIL SOCIETY ORGANIZATION IN THE MODERNIZATION OF AGRICULTURE ........28

2.4.5 LITERATURE GAP............................30

CHAPTER THREE................................31

METHODOLOGY.................................31

3.0 INTRODUCTION .................................31

3.1 RESEARCH DESIGN............................31

3.2 THE STUDY POPULATION ...................31

3.3 SAMPLE SIZE .....................................31

3.4 SAMPLING TECHNIQUE ......................32

3.5 DATA COLLECTION METHODS ..................................32

3.5.1 QUESTIONNAIRE.............................32

3.5.2 INTERVIEW METHOD ......................32

3.5.3 DOCUMENTARY REVIEW METHOD...........................................33

3.6 VALIDITY OF INSTRUMENT................33

3.7 RELIABILITY OF THE INSTRUMENT ..................................34

3.8 DATA GATHERING PROCEDURE ......................................34

3.9 DATA ANALYSIS ...............................35

3.10 LIMITATION OF THE STUDY..........................................35

3.11 ETHICAL CONSIDERATION...............36

CHAPTER FOUR..................................37

PRESENTATIONS, INTERPRETATIONS AND ANALYSIS OF DATA............................................................37

4.0 INTRODUCTION .................................37

4.1 DEMOGRAPHIC CHARACTERISTICS OF RESPONDENTS .........................................................................................37

4.1.1 AGE OF THE RESPONDENTS........................................37

4.1.2 GENDER OF RESPONDENTS....................................38

4.1.3 EDUCATION LEVELS OF THE RESPONDENTS ..........................................38

4.1.4 OCCUPATION OF THE RESPONDENTS .....................................39

4.1.5 CATEGORY OF CSOS......................40

4.1.6 THE INTERVENTION AREAS THE CSO FOCUSED ON.......................................................41

4.2 THE LEVEL OF AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTION IN YAMBIO COUNTY.....................................................................42

4.3 ACTIVITIES OF CIVIL SOCIETY ORGANIZATIONS AIMED AT MODERNIZING AGRICULTURE IN YAMBIO COUNTY ..44

4.4 CHALLENGES FACED BY CIVIL SOCIETY ORGANIZATION IN MODERNIZING AGRICULTURE IN YAMBIO COUNTY .48

CHAPTER FIVE....................................53

DISCUSSION OF FINDINGS, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS..................................................53

5.0 INTRODUCTION .................................53

5.1 DISCUSSIONS.....................................53

5.1.1 THE LEVEL OF AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTION IN YAMBIO COUNTY..................................................................53

5.1.2 ACTIVITIES OF CIVIL SOCIETY ORGANIZATIONS AIMED AT MODERNIZING AGRICULTURE IN YAMBIO COUNTY 54

5.1.3 CHALLENGES FACED BY CIVIL SOCIETY ORGANIZATIONS IN MODERNIZING AGRICULTURE IN YAMBIO COUNTY ....................56

5.2 CONCLUSIONS ...................................58

5.3 RECOMMENDATIONS.........................59

5.4 AREAS OF FURTHER RESEARCH ...........................................59

5.5 CONTRIBUTION OF KNOWLEDGE .............................................60

REFERENCES.......................................61

APPENDIX I: MAP OF SOUTH SUDAN...........................................65

APPENDIX II: QUESTIONNAIRE............................................................66

APPENDIX III: INTERVIEW GUIDE FOR CSOS STAFF....................................................................................71

APPENDIX IV: INTRODUCTION LETTER ........................................................................................................72

APPENDIX V: AUTHORIZATION LETTER BY YAMBIO COUNTY ADMINISTRATION ........................73

APPENDIX VI: GLENN D. ISRAEL TABLE USED FOR DETERMINING SAMPLE SIZE..............................74

APPENDIX VII: LEGEND....................75