Investigating the Profitability of Government-Funded Small-Scale Broiler Projects in Northern KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

The topic is relevant, complex, and requires in-depth research and government support. The authors have conducted extensive research, acquired deep knowledge, and provided scientifically sound, valuable recommendations for decision makers. The research has a clear methodology, coherent description and reasonable conclusions.

Some notes:

Economic data are usually collected from the accounting records, and economic data obtained through the survey may not be very accurate and may not capture all the elements. It is understood that the authors do not always have opportunity to access accounting documents, but I would recommend mentioning it as a weak point of the study. The method of data acquisition might had an effect for the discussion thesis: “The regression results, however, suggest otherwise that male small-scale broiler producers are more profitable than female small-scale broiler producers” (lines 377-378).

Bibliography should the reference list should meet the requirements of the journal (lines 39, 41, 49, etc.).

Figure 4: Figure 4 should be Figure 3. Units of measurement are not specified (lines 240-242).

Figure 4: units of measurement are not specified (lines 247-249).

Figure 5: please specify Units of measurement (lines 268-270).

Table 3: please unify writing of numbers “Mean Total Allocable Costs            2 569.48 2,197.94”.

While few recent years brought new challenges, research could be improved by using more recent literature sources: the most recent literature source used in this research is dated 2019.

I would recommend accepting the paper after suggested corrections.

Author Response

Dear Reviewer 1

I have attended to all your comments, and it is hereby attached.

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Reviewer 2 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

1. Please clarify the contribution of this article.

2. As a suggestion, authors need to do a better job of articulating research questions in the “introduction” part.

3. This paper lacks the necessary literature review. Therefore, it is not possible for the reader to know what the current research gaps are and what the potential contribution of this paper may be.

4. This paper lacks the necessary explanation for the choice of independent variables. Is the selection criterion based on theoretical analysis or empirical research?

5. The consideration of collinearity between independent variables is also lacking in this paper. And the lack of testing for the robustness of empirical results. Moreover, endogeneity is not considered.

Author Response

Dear Reviewer 2

We have attended to all your comments and it is hereby attached.

Regards

Sufusi

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Reviewer 3 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

This paper investigates the situation and the influencing factors of government-funded broiler enterprises in the Northern KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) Province in South Africa. The marketing challenges, gross margin and gross profit margin are used for indicating the profitability.

First, the authors do not state clearly their contributions to the literature. This should be added either in the introduction section or in the literature review section

Second, there are only 75 small-scale broiler producers being analyzed in this paper. How is the representativeness of the sample?

Third, the conclusion section has to expand the discussion on the policy implications of the empirical findings.

Fourth, the paper only focuses on the Northern KwaZulu-Nata region, what are the meanings of the results for the other countries?

Comments on the Quality of English Language

Minor editing of English language required

Author Response

Dear Reviewer 3

We have attended to all your comments and hereby attached.

Regards

Sifiso

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Reviewer 4 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

This article addresses an important issue: the profitability of government-funded small-scale broiler enterprises. However, it focuses on a local (provincial) approach that does not necessarily apply to other parts of the world.

Some references to literature are incorrect, they provide both the name, year and number of the bibliographic item (e.g. lines 39, 41, 49, 55).

In the introduction, it is worth referring to the country's total poultry production and the import volume. The authors write that: "Such an insight can be crucial and helpful in the design of viable or sustainable small-scale broiler projects, and this could go a long way not only in addressing or improving the small-scale rural livelihoods in the long run but substituting large volumes of imports of poultry products into South Africa and other countries with similar predicament.” So what does the country's trade balance look like when it comes to poultry? Moreover, perhaps the authors would write something more about the financial support of the surveyed entities involved in poultry production.

The authors summarize the variables selected for the regression model in Table 1. However, the choice of these variables was not justified. This should be followed up with an explanation of why these variables were selected for analysis.

Please indicate the added value of the research conducted, what new things it brings to the research already available. Perhaps it would also be possible to provide specific recommendations for agricultural policy.

Author Response

Dear Reviewer 4

We have atteneded to all of your comments and hereby attached.

Regards

Sifiso

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Round 2

Reviewer 2 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

Lines 249-290. It seems that the author's understanding of instrumental variable method is not quite correct. First, the author has not made clear which variable is used as an instrumental variable. Second, only later will the corresponding tests be carried out. Verify the validity of instrumental variables and verify identification problems.

The author's expression of the formula is not very appropriate.The author does not seem to have to list the simplest, most basic formula.

Author Response

Dear Reviewer, 2

Please find attached report

Regards

Sifiso

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf