There is a recognised need to turn the abstract concept of resilience thinking into practical action for resource management. This is often difficult as resource management is complex and multifaceted. Nexus thinking attempts to address this by promoting a framework that integrates and coordinates resource management across many different but interlinked resource pillars and sectors. This research focuses on the local level implementation of the food, energy, water, land and biodiversity (FEWLB) nexus framework, and assesses farmers' understanding and implementation of nexus thinking in relation to the support of the Bergrivier Municipality. Agriculturalists (farmers) have been described as significant custodians of natural resources, as they sit in a key position when it comes to implementing and practising sustainable development. There has been little research into the relationship between farmers and local municipalities, or into the role that local government can play in supporting holistic resource management through agriculture. While there are many different actors contributing towards resource management, this research focuses on the agricultural sector within the municipality. Qualitative research methods, including semi-structured interviews, participant observation and surveys, were used to undertake a case study of the agricultural sector within the Bergrivier Municipality. In a context where local government struggles to find its role in supporting socio-ecological resilience, the FEWLB nexus framework offers an opportunity to implement effective planning and policies that could enable more efficient resource use.

Word processed copy. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 117-123).

This study explores the links between masculinity and the spread of HIV/AIDS by examining adolescents’ conceptions of manhood and the ways in which hegemonic masculinity manifests itself through peer pressure. The study employed qualitative methods, including in-depth interviews and focus group discussions. Interviews were conducted with fifteen adolescent males between the ages of twelve to sixteen, who live in areas with high levels of HIV prevalence outside Pietermaritzburg in KwaZulu-Natal.

Includes bibliography. / This thesis is based on a series of interviews with key informants and a census of orphan households in Nguludi Mission Community, Southern Malawi, in 2000. The thesis argues that although HIV/AIDS is a relatively recent phenomenon, any contemporary understanding of the epidemic must be informed by an understanding of the past. The impact of the HIV/AIDS epidemic and the "orphan problem" at the local level, is, therefore, situated within the broader socio-economic context of the history of the region.

Wildfire, an essential element for the Fynbos Biome of South Africa, can be a threat to property and human life if it is not well managed. Despite many studies on the dynamics and management of wildfire, the role of the atmosphere in inducing regional circulations that promote widespread wildfire is not well known. This dissertation studies the characteristics of wildfire in the Fynbos Biome, identifies synoptic-scale atmospheric features that produce favourable conditions for the wildfire, and examines possibility of using the features as indicators for wildfire occurrence. Ten years (2003 - 2012) of fire data from the MODIS "active-fires" datasets were analysed over the study domain. Daily Fire Danger Index (FDI) was calculated over Southern Africa for this period using maximum temperature (Tmax), minimum relative humidity (RHmin), and maximum wind speed (Wmax) data from the Climate Forecasting System Reanalysis datasets (CFSR) at a 0.5°x0.5° horizontal resolution. The Self Organising Maps (SOMs) technique was used to classify the FDI (anomaly) patterns on the fire days, and the atmospheric dynamics associated with each pattern were studied.

Includes bibliographical references / A great deal is riding on conservation efforts of the twenty-first century. In an era of extinction rates one thousand times faster than ever before, protected areas have emerged as the most widely used tool available to conservationists to curb the loss of species (Child, 2004; Jepson & Ladle, 2010) . The number and extent of protected areas has increased dramatically over the past century, and their future growth is guaranteed by international and national policies (Brockington et al., 2008). The growing prevalence of protected areas on a global landscape has increased contact between communities and conservation, frequently with conflict arising as a consequence (Dowie, 2009). Increasing recognition of the impact of protected areas on local people has given rise to international consensus is that there is a dearth of knowledge surrounding these implications which needs to be addressed (Brockington et al., 2006; Igoe, 2006; West et al., 2006) . It is this gap that this study sets out to ameliorate. The overarching aim of this research was to investigate the benefits and burdens that local communities experience from living beside a protected area. Further, this study also investigated the causes of these benefits and burdens, how they were distributed between communities at a local scale, and how local perception of the protected area was influenced as a result of these experiences. The Cederberg Wilderness Area, which has a history of restricting resource use dating back to the 1890s, was selected as the protected area of interest. Of the nine neighbouring communities, consideration of the origin and similarity between communities resulted in Bosdorp and Heuningvlei adopted as representatives for the study area. Household surveys, key informant interviews, observations and documentary evidence were utilised to obtain data, and triangulation was used across methods to validate findings (Jick, 1979). Household surveys and key informant interviews were conducted over two separate field visits between March and April, 2014. In particular, the findings of this study were considered in terms of the ecosystem services framework, as the dominant theory suggested in literature surrounding the benefits and burdens that people obtain from protected areas (CBD, 1992; Government of South Africa, 2010; MA, 2005). This study found that a total of 14 beneficial uses of natural resources provided directly or indirectly by the Cederberg Wilderness Area were enjoyed by the case study communities at a local scale. The distribution of these beneficial resource uses between the two communities varied widely, with just six of the 14 uses enjoyed in both communities. In addition to income generated directly by the Cederberg Wilderness Area through conservation and indirectly through tourism, participants agreed that they received benefits in terms of aesthetics, recreation, education, and spirituality. Seven burdens were raised by participants, with all but one shared between communities. However, the less economically able of the two communities, Heuningvlei, did experience a greater number and distribution of burdens than Bosdorp, the village from which most employees of the CWA originate, and the community who receive considerably more average monthly household income. Although all participants in Bosdorp disagreed with the statement that life would be better without rules associated with the Cederberg Wilderness Area, a third of Heuningvlei participants agreed therewith. The most noteworthy observation in terms of incongruence with the literature was the extent to which both communities benefited from the protected area. The reason suggested for this observation was twofold. First, the long history of living with resource restrictions in Heuningvlei has allowed the community to adjust its norms, values and practices in order to maximise benefit from the Cederberg Wilderness Area. Second, the establishment of the Bosdorp community in close proximity to the operational offices for the Cederberg Wilderness Area has allowed residents to maximise employment and other opportunities from the protected area. In order to ascertain the causes of the observations mentioned above, the findings were framed in terms of the ecosystem services framework. This framework was subsequently found to be ineffective in identifying these causes. However, all observations left unexplained by the ecosystem services framework were explained by adopting Access Theory (Ribot & Peluso, 2003). This highlighted the important role the communities played in realising ecosystem services, and allowed for an evaluation of the appropriateness of the ecosystem services framework for incorporating social dimensions in conservation approaches. In conclusion, it was ascertained that many of the findings observed in this study were highly contextual and more often determined by the social systems in question as opposed to ecological systems. Therefore, conservation approaches that aim to achieve more resilient systems must take these social systems into consideration. It was also concluded that the current dearth of information about the social implications of protected areas limits the utility of debates surrounding the need to take these implications into consideration in conservation practices, and poses a potential fatal flaw to conservation practices based on false assumptions of social systems. This study ends by calling for further research on this matter in order to achieve management approaches that result in resilient biodiversity conservation.

This research investigates how environmental consultancies frame participation as a tool for project implementation using a cross-border conservation initiative as a case study. The study focuses on the facilitation process led by Eco-Africa Environmental Consultants during the establishment of the /Ai-/Ais Richtersveld Transfrontier Conservation Area. This study analyzes the promise of participation as a crucial component for Transfrontier Conservation Areas. Analyzing participation of the Richtersvelders is necessary for understanding the work that was carried out and how it was experienced by the stakeholders. The study refers to participation in conservancies in community-based resource management, where the role of non-government organizations and environmental consultancies is well established. Primary data were collected through qualitative document analysis, semi-structured interviews with members of the four communities and with Eco-Africa Environmental Consultants. The findings of the study are that there was a strong attempt towards an all-inclusive bottom-up approach to participation. However, such the success of such an approach was hampered by local mismanagement, politics of money, and a marketing strategy favoring the South African National Parks and the Transfrontier Conservation project.

Includes abstract. Includes bibliographical references (p. 83-90).

Includes bibliographical references (leaves 91-105). / Media coverage of HIV/AIDS issues influences how the public views the epidemic and people living with HIV/AIDS (PWAs). This dissertation investigates how two key lwge circulation English ianguage newspapers in South Africa frame PWAs. The research examines both the content of selected print media, Sunday Times and Daily Sun, and the context in which journalists work. In relation to the latter, the study adopts a critical political economy perspective of the media which argues that political and economic constraints on media organizations in tension with human agency by journalists and editors impacts on the content of newspapers and other mass media. This thesis examines HIV/AIDS coverage from the beginning of January until the end of April 2005 through the use of content analysis. Most previous research in relation to HIV/AIDS reporting in the print media has concentrated on the poiiticization of coverage during key moments in South Africa’s HIV/AIDS history. This period was deliberately chosen to be both contemporaneous and in order to examine the routine representations of PWAs during 'ordinary times', when HIV/AIDS was not high on the political agenda. Qualitative research in the form of semi-structured in-depth interviews was also conducted with five reporters and editors in order to explore in greater detail issues relating to HIV/AIDS reporting. This research found that the print media in South Africa frames the HIV/AIDS epidemic in a gendered and racialised way. From print media reports examined, the picture painted of PWAs is usually black, female and poor. Official sources continue to dominate coverage, but PWAs are gaining a voice in news reports. The language used in these reports is becoming more positive and empowering, but is still regularly stigmatizing.

Includes bibliographical references (leaves 99-106). / Many evaluations of HIV/AIDS intervention programmes continue to focus on impact and thus overlook the processes through which any given outcomes have been achieved; this has prompted a call for a more consistent focus on what happens during interventions. Therefore, this study endeavours to provide a detailed description and critical analysis of an HIV/AIDS intervention programme. Through adopting a case-based approach, the aim is to illustrate the types of understanding that stand to be gained through the application of process evaluation. A conceptual framework is established which contextualises process evaluation by defining and situating it within the broader framework of programme evaluation; a summary of the main debates in the field of evaluation research is provided. The trends in how other HIV/AIDS intervention programmes have been conceptualised, developed and implemented are discussed, in order to locate the research and to establish criteria for comprehensive evaluation of HIV/AIDS intervention programmes. It is asserted that collectively negotiated social identities shape responses and vulnerability to HIV/AIDS, due to a reciprocally determining relationship between identity, sexual behaviour, and HIV/AIDS. It is argued that an understanding of this complex relationship is essential for those who are evaluating HIV/AIDS intervention programmes. This discussion provides a set of tools for reviewing HIV/AIDS intervention programmes, and advocates that process evaluation should focus not only on the implementation and theoretical orientation of a programme, but also on its proposed pedagogy. In the light of this discussion, a model of process evaluation is developed which is tailored to address the specific challenges posed by HIV/AIDS as a topic for education and which, it is argued, enables the systematic and comprehensive assessment of HIV/AIDS intervention programmes. The model proposes a multi-layered approach to evaluation and incorporates three main categories: processual, theoretical, and pedagogical. The model dictated the guiding questions and data sources that were adopted. Three qualitative research methods were employed. First, using purposive sampling, ten semi-structured interviews were conducted with committee members and volunteers at various stages throughout the programme's first term. Second, participant observations were conducted during and after all committee meetings, general staff meetings and training sessions, and during each of the four lessons. Third, qualitative content analysis was employed to examine the programme's curriculum. The data was analysed largely inductively, but in the light of the theoretical and conceptual frameworks. The findings reveal a number of factors which, it is argued, detract from the intervention's potential for empowerment and the collective renegotiation of social identities (identified as 'key preconditions for programme success' (Catherine Campbell and Catherine MacPhail, 2002:331). These include a lack of structure and theoretical grounding, the absence of a needs-based approach, a lack of ownership, the adoption of a didactic teaching style and the decontextualised nature of the intervention. In addition to providing insight to the specific programme under evaluation, the study contributes to the body of understanding on evaluation research generally through demonstrating and discussing the types of insights that can be gained through the application of process evaluation. The findings demonstrate the way in which process evaluation first, allows for problems to be noticed as they occur and, second, provides the necessary foundation for an evaluation of outcome. It is argued that a process evaluation that takes account processual, theoretical and pedagogical factors has the capacity to respond to the complexity of the HIV/AIDS epidemic and thus can enable the development of more appropriate, comprehensive, and effective HIV/AIDS interventions.