Magister Economicae - MEcon / Livelihoods are essential for poverty alleviation. A poor person’s life cannot be transformed at all if the person has no means of earning a substantial income to sustain daily living. In today’s world many people rely on human capital for livelihoods. This is usually in the form of skills or educational qualifications that permit an individual to find employment. However, not every person is able to get meaningful employment which can generate an income to allow the person to live above the poverty lines. Generating an income from employment is not a livelihoods strategy that is available to many South Africans as the country has high unemployment rates and an economy that is performing poorly. In addition the overspill of institutionalised inequality from the apartheid era has many South Africans living in poverty. The South African government is promoting Small Micro and Medium Scale Enterprises (SMMEs) as a key strategy for job creation, economic growth for poverty alleviation and a reduction in inequalities. Many poor people in urban areas adopt micro enterprises as a livelihoods strategy. The research assessed the impact of micro enterprises on the livelihoods of low income households in Khayelitsha. The objectives of the research were; (a) to determine the impact that micro enterprises have on the livelihoods of low income households; (b) to ascertain how low income households identify micro enterprises as a livelihoods strategy; (c) to identify how household assets were allocated to livelihoods strategies; (d) to determine how low income households operate micro enterprises; and (e) to identify challenges faced by low income households in earning a livelihood through micro enterprises. A qualitative research design was used for the study because the aims of the research were to get an insight as to how people’s lives had transformed by adopting micro enterprises as a livelihoods strategy. To this end, in-depth interviews and observation data collection methods were employed. A study sample of 22 participants was drawn using non-probability sampling. Grounded theory was used for data analysis. Coded data was entered into an Excel spreadsheet which was used to generate graphs and tables. The findings indicate that micro enterprises as a livelihoods strategy have a positive impact on the livelihoods of many households in Khayelitsha. The impact is more significant because many households who engage in micro enterprises do not have other options for livelihoods strategies. Furthermore, many households reported to be better off operating a micro enterprise rather than being employed. Some households reported dissatisfaction with micro enterprises because they could not determine beforehand how much income would be generated making it difficult to plan monthly household expenditure. None the less micro enterprises enabled households to provide shelter, food, education for children and family members, health care and provision of household furniture. The results also indicate that for many micro enterprise owners the lack of financial capital was the biggest challenge because it prevented capital investment. High competition was also a challenge that a few owners were not able to overcome. On the whole the study concluded that micro enterprises are a good livelihoods strategy for the poor and could keep many South Africans above the poverty line.

The most commonly attributed causes of failure of smoking cessation are non-adherence to treatment, experiencing severe nicotine withdrawal symptoms and post-cessation weight gain. However, there is a lack of information regarding these factors among smokers who attempt to quit in low-income country settings. The main objective of this study was to identify predictors of: 1) adherence to cessation treatment; 2) severity of withdrawal symptoms: and 3) post-cessation changes in body mass index among 269 smokers who attempted to quit in a randomized smoking cessation trial in a low-income country setting (Aleppo, Syria). All participants received behavioral counseling and were randomized to receive either 6 weeks of nicotine or placebo patch and were followed for one year. Findings from logistic regression showed that lower adherence to cessation treatment was associated with higher daily smoking, greater withdrawal symptoms, waterpipe use, being on placebo patch and the perception of receiving placebo patch. Generalized estimating equation (GEE) analyses indicated that throughout the study, lower total withdrawal score was associated with greater education, older age of smoking initiation, higher confidence in ability to quit, higher adherence to patch, lower nicotine dependence, lower reported depression, waterpipe use and the perception of receiving nicotine patches rather than placebo. Further, smoking abstainers gained 1.8 BMI units (approximately 4.8kg) greater than non-abstainers over one year post quitting. In addition, greater BMI was associated with being female, smoking to control weight and having previously failed to quit due to weight gain. In conclusion, nicotine dependence, waterpipe use and expectancies regarding cessation treatment are important factors that influence adherence to cessation treatment and severity of nicotine withdrawal symptoms. Moreover, targeted interventions that take into consideration the prevailing local and cultural influences on diet and levels of physical activity are recommended especially for females and smokers with weight concerns prior to quitting. Collectively, these findings will help in conducting future tailored effective cessation programs in Syria and other low-income countries with similar levels of developments and tobacco use patterns.

The study of the Walmer Links Finance Linked Individual Subsidy (FLISP) is the response to the housing backlogs that have been experienced by the Port Elizabeth area. The ownership programme is the first of its kind in the area and has been met with scepticism, revolt and acceptance as the neighbouring township of Walmer and the nearby suburbs had mixed feelings about the project. The overall feeling and experience of the new FLISP owners far exceeds the scepticism around the project. The project also brought racial integration and improved the quality of life for the poor. It also seems as though the success of the project will be the determinant factor of whether it can rolled out to other provinces as an approach to development and poverty alleviation.

Cette étude se focalise sur les mobilités quotidiennes des populations à faibles revenus habitant les quartiers périphériques Nord et Est de Libreville, éloignés des services et des lieux d’emplois. En croisant les outils de la géographie des transports qui éclairent les enjeux sociaux, spatiaux et environnementaux des transports avec ceux de la géographie sociale, qui concernent les représentations de l’espace et leur appropriation par les populations, ce travail tente de renouveler les connaissances sur la manière dont les populations pauvres se déplacent. Il relativise la place importante très souvent accordée à la marche à pied dans les travaux portant sur les villes subsahariennes. Il se dégage de cette étude que les mobilités des plus démunis reposent davantage sur l’usage des modes motorisés, particulièrement les transports dit « suburbains », plus disponibles et moins onéreux pour ces usagers. / This study focuses on the daily mobility of low-income populations, particularly those living in suburbs of the north and east of Libreville, far from remote services and places of employment. By using the tools of geographical transport, which sheds light on the social, spatial and environmental issues of transport, and mobilizing at the same time the concepts of social geography on the representations of space and ownership by the people, this work attempts to renew the knowledge on how poor people are moving. It put into perspective the importance often given to pedestrian mobility within Sub-Saharan cities. It emerges from this study that mobility of poor people rely more on the use of motorized transport especially, so called “suburban transports”, which are more available and less expensive for those users.

This research study investigates the requirements or factors that will influence the acceptance and impact of mobile phone advertising to the urban Bottom of Pyramid (BoP). The framework incorporated awareness, availability, acceptability and convenience as factors for effective mobile phone advertising. Mobile phones have received unprecedented penetration rates across all markets, including LSM 1-4. This presents companies targeting this market with an excellent advertising medium with which to communicate to consumers. Companies have begun advertising via mobile phone and this research investigates the impact of this advertising, in relation to other more established mediums, as well as the most optimal mobile phone service to be used in delivery of the advertising message. The type of advertising being sent to BoP via mobile phone advertising is analysed, along with the type of advertising the urban BoP market would like to receive and possible differences identified. The research examines the recall of advertising message across various advertising media and comparisons are drawn. The research found that all aspects of the framework were applicable. Convenience and acceptability were seen as the highest drivers for effective mobile phone advertising to the South African urban BoP. / Dissertation (MBA)--University of Pretoria, 2012. / Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) / unrestricted

Magister Artium - MA / Access to adequate housing is one of the most debated issues in democratic South Africa. The government continues to battle with existing backlogs in the provision of housing and a seemingly increasing demand. At the same time, urban populations take to the streets to register their anger and frustration at the slow progress of service delivery as a whole, including housing and other basic services. Clearly this is an important issue in the country, one that has inspired great public debate and further engagement between the state and the people. Notably, this dissatisfaction endures despite the fact that South Africa’s post-apartheid government discourse on state-society relations has centred on greater participation, especially at local government level, as reflected in the commitment to participatory democracy in the South African constitution. Despite this, in general government housing policy has focused on ensuring the delivery of houses to the people rather than the participatory processes in the provision of housing. The 1994 Housing White Paper took an ‘incremental’ or ‘progressive’ approach to housing, which is a developer driven approach that limits the participation of ordinary citizens in the provision of housing, despite the government’s commitment to enabling participation. The introduction of the People’s Housing Process (PHP) in 1998 (later revised and became the Enhanced People’s Housing Process) was a breakthrough in government’s efforts for the involvement of communities in the housing process. However, even this initiative was criticised for its lack of any meaningful participation, as the contribution of individual residents and communities was limited to the implementation process, while the policy decisions were still in government hands. The revision of this policy and the broadening of the housing policy through Breaking New Ground were meant to encourage community ownership of housing provision and empower them beyond the limitations of the PHP. Notably, the meaning of participation encoded in housing programmes, particularly those such as the PHP, is taken for granted. It is assumed that participation will occur in a straight forward process. However, as this demonstrates, effective participatory processes necessitate particular forms of representation for beneficiaries. Designing an effective participatory mechanism thus requires paying attention to new practices of representation as well as new practices of participation. In the participatory housing processes in particular such representation is essential as the direct participation of communities in decision making might not be feasible at some points in the process, hence, community residents need people that will communicate and make decisions on their behalf in engaging with government. The South African literature on state-society relations is largely silent on the relationship between representation and participatory processes, thus there is limited analysis on local level leaders that become part of these participatory processes. This is the gap that this study explores in relation to housing through a case-study of the role of local community leaders in a People’s Housing Process housing project in Imizamo Yethu, Hout Bay. It aims to understand the significance of the representative role played by local leaders who are not part of the formal democratic system of representation in development participatory processes. In exploring the Niall Mellon Housing Project as a case study, the research illustrates three main points: first, local leaders played a crucial role in the housing project. They initiated and implemented the programme and contributed to the overall success of the project. Indeed it is sensible to assume that organised and legitimate local leaders are essential to development projects as they are able to provide an effective link between government and the community. Second, since these local leaders are not part of the established democratic system of representation, their status is vulnerable to contestation. Local leaders lack the formal authority that usually occurs in representation modes that require explicit authorisation or those formalised as part of the state system of representation. Their position can easily be challenged and their legitimacy questioned. Third, development projects such as the one under investigation also create these kinds of legitimacy crisis. This is due to the competition for scarce government resources introduced by the development projects. Thus, those who feel excluded from the project may retaliate and question the actions of the local leaders. Hence, even though community leaders are useful in this participatory process, the state of their position is vulnerable and their legitimacy can be undermined by the very process that needs their participation.

Scholars have long explored the lack of diversity in gifted-and-talented education and specifically the role that gifted-and-talented test performance plays as a barrier to access. However, there is limited work, particularly quantitative work, examining the ways in which policies perpetuate racial/ethnic and socioeconomic inequalities within the education system.I build upon the extant research by examining each stage of the admissions process, employing quantitative methods, and using a comprehensive sample of longitudinal admissions and enrollment data from New York City. This dissertation explores the diversity of gifted-and-talented programs by addressing two research questions: 1) Do families who request testing, test, apply, and enroll their children in gifted-and-talented programs reflect diverse backgrounds? and 2) Do gifted-and-talented admissions criteria and priorities, specifically test score criteria and sibling priority, advantage certain students? My results suggest that from the onset, families engaging with the first step of the gifted-and-talented admission process are not representative of the student population at large. While a more diverse group of families request testing and test, as families progress further along in navigating the admissions process, at each stage the families look more like one another. The filtering nature of the admissions process leaves far lower proportions of low-income, Black, and Hispanic families enrolling in gifted-and-talented programs. I also find that admissions rules advantage certain students to varying degrees. My findings reveal that test score cutoffs severely exacerbate the lack of diversity in gifted programs, giving the already advantaged families a further advantage. Contrastingly, I find that sibling priority does not exacerbate the lack of diversity to the same extent. Overall, the likelihood of receiving an offer does not vary by most sociodemographic characteristics. However, once a child meets the test score criteria, the score plays a far less important role in determining offers to a top choice program, and sibling preferences give families a strong advantage in receiving an offer to their first choice gifted-and-talented program.

The Black population in the United States is undergoing a significant transformation. Over the last four decades, the African immigrant population has increased from 130,000 to 2 million, making them one of the fastest growing groups in the United States. Yet, notably absent from much of the discourse on how immigration is changing our society is a serious engagement with the dynamic changes happening within the country’s Black population. This dissertation examines how these demographic realities are experienced in young people’s daily lives. I use the case of low-income, adolescent children of West African immigrants to understand how processes of immigrant integration and racialization unfold generationally across racial and ethnic lines. I focus specifically on their identity-work and acculturation in the context of families, local institutions, and transnational social fields. Methodologically, I draw on ethnographic observations and interviews with 71 second-generation West African teenagers in three New York City public high schools. The dissertation consists of five substantive chapters. Chapters 1 and 2 examine the ethnic and racial identifications of second-generation West Africans, some of the meanings they make around these identities, and begins to delve into the contextual mechanisms shaping these identities, namely their families, neighborhoods and law enforcement. Chapters 3 and 4 respectively analyze the role of transnational visits to parent home countries and religion on acculturation and understandings of Blackness and Africanness, among other identities. The final chapter, Chapter 5, explores three mechanisms shaping the selective acculturation of African immigrant youth: adoption of American cultural features, maintenance of ethnically distinct features, and the introduction of African cultural forms. My research makes three contributions. First, by placing adolescent children at the center of my analysis, I show how these young people are both making and made by a unique sociohistorical and political context that has significant consequences for their racial and ethnic identity-work. Second, it contributes to understandings about the relationship between socioeconomic status and second-generation immigrant integration. Contrary to arguments that second-generation identification and acculturation are patterned by class, I find that low-income African immigrant youth selectively acculturate into American society and maintain strong ethnic identities similar to their middle-class counterparts. The third contribution provides evidence that as immigrants, their children and their host communities continually interact through institutions like schools and neighborhoods, a mutual cultural reconstitution process occurs that fundamentally transforms both immigrants and the cultural landscape from which communities in the host society fashion an “American” identity. Taken together, in shedding light on second-generation Black immigrant racialization processes, this dissertation challenges assumptions about low-income Black youth and offers a dynamic, agentic and relational understanding of immigrant integration. It also highlights how broader meanings of immigrant integration and Blackness in the United States are fundamentally changing.

This research focuses on injuries from all mechanisms, with particular focus on road traffic injuries in urban Gambia. Data from trauma registries established in two major trauma hospitals were used to address three aims: 1) examine the general characteristics of injured individuals and their injuries, and identify factors associated with discharge status from the hospital emergency room; 2) identify differences in road-user, collision, vehicle, and driver factors, among individuals hospitalized with a road traffic injury; and 3) examine personal, crash, and injury factors associated with transfer status among road traffic injured (RTI) patients, and identify limitations of the current trauma systems that might be improved for more efficient use of resources. Data used for this dissertation were from trauma registries established in two major trauma hospitals in The Gambia: Edward Francis Small Teaching Hospital (EFSTH) and Serrekunda General Hospital (SGH). At intake, the treating physicians and nurses completed an accident and emergency ward survey form for injuries from all mechanisms. For admitted road traffic injured patients (admission more than 24 hours), the road traffic injured admission form is completed. Data about risk factors contributing to crashes and injuries were collected from the patients. At hospital discharge, treating physicians used a 19-item questionnaire to collect data on the discharge status and disability at discharge of road traffic injured patients. Using the trauma registry data from March 1, 2014 to March 31, 2016, we found the leading mechanism of injury was road traffic. For place of occurrence, injuries mostly occur at home and on the road. Assault was higher among young females (19 to 44 years) than males. Males have increased odds for admission and disability due to road traffic injuries. We also found that among admitted road traffic injured patients, injuries to pedestrians, bicyclists, and motorcyclists were higher than other road users. Crashes involved risk factors at person, crash, and environment levels. Head/skull injuries were common, and concussions/brain injuries were higher among pedestrians, bicyclists, and motorcyclists than vehicle occupants. Finally, our results also suggest that vehicle occupants, and professionals/skilled personnel had increased odds of being transferred than directly admitted RTI patients. Fractures/dislocations, and concussions/brain injuries were frequent among transfers. Intravenous fluid was the most frequent treatment administered to patients transferred to the definitive-care hospitals. This project shows that injuries, especially road traffic, create a large burden of injury in The Gambia and the many contributing factors. It also provides evidence that there are many opportunities to intervene at personal, crash, and environment levels. Additionally, creating trauma registries across the country as well as trauma response system will have a greater impact to reduce burden of road traffic crashes in The Gambia.

The benefits of physical activity (PA) for children are well-researched and extend into the realms of physical health, mental health and executive function (EF). Nonetheless, most U.S. children fail to meet the recommended target of daily PA. Although elementary schools can provide an ideal setting for PA, school-based PA time has been reduced in favor of increased sedentary instructional time. This contradicts research that supports the role of PA in enhancing students’ EF and academic achievement. Moreover, low-income and minority populations have inequitable access to school-based PA opportunities. For these reasons, researchers and public health officials have proposed integrating additional opportunities for PA during the school day, including classroom-based active breaks. This dissertation aims to study existing U.S. classroom-based active break programs, examine the feasibility of implementing a classroom-based active break program and analyze the impact of an integrated program on both PA and EF, all among underserved, minority populations. This dissertation includes four chapters in total. The second chapter is a systematic review that evaluated the impact of school-based PA interventions on children’s PA, with a focus on diverse populations. The third chapter describes a pilot study that assessed the feasibility of implementing a classroom PA program (HYPE) in a diverse urban setting. Teacher and student acceptability of HYPE were evaluated, as well as HYPE’s impact on student PA. HYPE was feasible and well-received, although time and space were challenges. Children’s median step count/day increased. The waitlist-control study presented in Chapter IV examined whether a multifaceted program (“POWER”) that incorporates both PA and EF would impact fifth graders positively. We also investigated whether POWER could assist teachers with classroom behavioral management. Overall, the positive changes in the intervention group and their favorable reception of POWER demonstrate the ability of POWER to improve children’s socioemotional, mental and physical health. Altogether, these studies highlight the potential for school-based PA interventions to improve the holistic wellbeing of children, particularly low-income, minority youth. Interventions that incorporate a teacher-led, multimodal approach to improving children’s PA and EF synergistically may be well-received by administrators, teachers and students and help children adopt healthy, lifelong habits.