South Africa as a nation-state post-1994 is characterised by three main challenges: poverty, inequality, and unemployment. While scholars and policy designers appear to be in agreement with this categorisation, in reality, the challenges faced in South Africa appear to go beyond the economic and political spectrums. The United Nations has prioritised the eradication of inequality as one of its sustainable development goals, while the African Union has identified the agricultural sector as part of its Agenda 2063. This book attempt in addressing inequality in South Africa from the perspective of agricultural economists. The book title “Development of an economic empowerment framework for small-scale agro-processors in South Africa” is intended to develop an empowerment framework for small agro-processors as a tool for reducing inequality in the agricultural sector of South Africa. The content of this book to a larger extent is an extraction from a PhD thesis submitted to the North-West University Business School for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Economic and Management Sciences with Business Administration. The book has identified the critical tenets for the economic empowerment of small-scale agro-processors in South Africa. The book came as a result of over two years (2019 and 2021) of intensive review of literature, collection of data and analysis. These processes occur during the activation of national disaster management frameworks as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic in South Africa. This book is dedicated to small-scale farmers, agro-processors, academics, and policymakers for openly sharing their views, experiences, and opinions that contribute to the development of a framework. Whether you are a policy maker, scholar, researcher, political or gender activist, potential investor, government agency or student in agribusiness, the book provides knowledge and value in the understanding of the agro-processing sector and its contribution to finding solutions to sector-based inequality. I dedicate this book to the Co-authors (Prof. Victor M. Mmbengwa and Prof. Joseph N Lekunze) who also happen to be my promoters. The outcome of this project is not free from limitations even though efforts were made to ensure the book is free of errors. We apologise for any mistakes that may be found and we have also ensured that the materials used have been properly cited and referenced. Please, feel free to contact the authors or reflect on your comments to improve the book’s subsequent editions.
Benjamin Manasoe, North-West University Business School, Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences, Potchefstroom, Republic of South Africa
