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Advanced Technology Use in South African Agriculture: Insights from Selected Sub-sectors

When: Thursday, 27 February 2025 - Sunday, 16 February 2025
Where: Hybrid Event
Parktown Management Campus
SCIS Seminar Room, North Lodge Building, 2 St David's Place, Parktown Management Campus
Start time:12:30
Enquiries:

athenkosi.pono@wits.ac.za

kitso.kgaboesele@wits.ac.za

 
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Cost: Free but registration is required

SCIS invites you to a seminar titled Advanced Technology Use in South African Agriculture: Insights from Selected Sub-sectors on 27 Feb '25.

The Southern Centre for Inequality Studies warmly invites you to a seminar by Dr Phumzile Ncube on Advanced Technology Use in South African Agriculture: Insights from Selected Sub-sectors., on 27 February 2025, 12:30 - 14:00 (SAST).  

Abstract:
The use of advanced technologies in South African commercial agriculture has a long history. Digital technologies have been acknowledged as a potentially revolutionary way to boost the efficiency and sustainability of agricultural production systems. The South African agricultural sector is a significant contributor to the country’s export earnings, food security, and employment. In the era of the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) and other digital technologies, the South African agricultural sector could benefit from more intensive digitalisation, such as precision agriculture and climate-smart agri-food systems that balance the shifts in demand preferences and sustainable supply. We use the ‘technology-organisation-environment’ and the ‘technology acceptance model’ to analyse the implications of advanced technology adoption and diffusion for productivity, skills, and labour needs in selected agricultural sub-sectors, with a specific emphasis on the citrus production sub-sector. We find that factors such as perceived usefulness, economies of scale, complementary technological infrastructure, and access to finance play an important role in enabling precision agriculture technologies. Small-scale
farmers face challenges related to economies of scale and technology adoption, underscoring the importance of coordinated policy and the role of affordable complementary infrastructure in fostering inclusive technology diffusion.

About the speaker:
Dr Phumzile Ncube is a Senior Researcher at the DSI/NRF South African Research Chair in Industrial Development (SARChI-ID). She is also the co-ordinator of the Young Scholars Conference, which is co-hosted by SARChI-ID and the Young Scholars Initiative. She obtained her PhD at the University of Johannesburg in 2021. Her research interests include agroindustrialisation, regional value chains, structural transformation, and industrial development in Africa, with a specific focus on southern Africa.

To attend: register here. 

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