Increased management through domestication is the predicted, and often necessary, commercialisation outcome of a wild resource which is subject to a demanding market that promotes competition amongst producers and the depletion of wild stocks. This has been the case for commercial buchu (Agathosma betulina and Agathosma crenulata), a historically wild collected plant which has been cultivated on a large-scale in selected areas of the Western Cape Province of South Africa. Buchu is an endemic, aromatic shrub around which a lucrative industry spanning diverse and distant markets has developed. Alongside its medicinal properties, buchu is primarily valued for its essential oil which is exported for use in international flavour and fragrant industries. The aim of this study was to conduct an overview of the local buchu industry with a focus on how cultivation has impacted on the general trade, the different actors involved and the conservation of the plant. A shift in buchu production to large-scale, agricultural enterprises raises certain questions for the involvement of rural harvesters in the trade, especially with regard to their inclusion and the sharing of benefits arising from commercialisation. Accordingly, this research sought to identify the social and economic impacts of buchu cultivation while also exploring the environmental impacts associated with large-scale farming of the plant. The methods employed in this research were primarily qualitative, based on semi-structured interviews conducted with key actors involved in the buchu trade, including harvesters, farmers, industry representatives and environmental authorities. The study revealed that while the harvesting of buchu is an important economic activity for harvester communities, the cultivation of buchu has played a limited role in local livelihoods with cultivation mainly being confined to large-scale, commercial operations in the hands of wealthy farmers and private processing companies. The findings of this research also shed light on the shortcomings of national access and benefit-sharing legislation which has failed to secure commercial benefits for the rural poor involved in the trade. From an environmental perspective, the cultivation of buchu has contributed to the conservation of the plant in the wild through offsetting harvesting pressures experienced by wild populations, but has also contributed to the destruction of naturally occurring vegetation.

In a world confronted by rapid urbanization linked with dramatic population growth rates, there is a general consensus that quality urban green spaces are important components of urban landscapes. Urban green spaces are defined as open spaces in urban areas primarily covered with vegetation, which are available to users within the community. They have the ability to shape the image of cities and provide various important socioecological benefits, which can contribute to improving the quality of life within these urban communities. In Cape Town, the provision of readily accessible quality urban green spaces is often overridden by other conflicting demands, such as biodiversity conservation and infrastructure development demands. The literature suggests that Cape Town has ample available green spaces. However, the accessibility of this green space is linked to issues of poor management and maintenance, and as a result poor urban spaces are often associated with criminal activities, and are therefore unavailable to benefit urban communities. This is particularly evident in areas which have a low socioeconomic status. This study explores the ecosystem services offered by the Khayelitsha Wetlands Park in the Khayelitsha Township on the Cape Flats. A variety of methods were used to establish the condition of the Wetlands Park and assess the impacts of various uses (e.g. recreation, agriculture etc.) on the vegetation structure and water quality. Qualitative semi-structured interviews were also conducted to assess the local community's uses and perceptions of this green space. A Complex Adaptive Landscape (CAL) approach was adopted to derive the positive and negative social-ecological impacts of the Khayelitsha Wetlands Park. The vegetation structure assessment results showed a dominance of emergent and invasive vegetation, such as Typha capensis and Acacia cyclops, and indicates a high level of degradation and a lack of indigenous vegetation species. The water quality analysis reveals high concentrations of physiochemical and microbial pollutants, where a majority exceeded the Targeted Water Quality Ranges (TWQR) recommended by the Department of Water Affairs for livestock watering, irrigation and human use. Findings from the semi-structured interviews, revealed that a majority of users v visit the Park for multiple activities offered by the Park. These include relaxation, creating and maintaining social relations, sports and recreation and agricultural use. The CAL framework revealed negative and positive feedback mechanisms at play in this urban green space. The negative feedback effects are illustrated and confirmed by poor water quality and a predominantly alien infested vegetation structure. The poor ecological condition of the Wetland is linked to a number of anthropogenic influences, including the discharge of treated waste and untreated waste from both agricultural and urban waste sources, indicating the complexity of managing the Khayelitsha Wetlands Park. Since a number of users and management institutions are connected to the Khayelitsha Wetlands Park, their involvement in the management thereof is crucial for effectively solving the issues identified.

This study interrogates the role of Open Streets Cape Town's day-long street events in disrupting complex systems and hierarchies of everyday street mobility that maintain the mobile, spatial and social divides of Cape Town. The test was whether OSCT events 1) bridged the mobile divide by replacing car-dominated streets with people-centred public space; 2) bridged the spatial divide by bringing fluidity to the mobility of people between usually isolated public spaces; and 3) bridged the social divide by replacing practices of avoidance and exclusion with an everyday cosmopolitan sensibility. The investigation used mobile methodologies and an embedded approach. OSCT proved to be successful at bridging the mobile divide by creating a shared public space, but had mixed success with bridging spatial and social divides. A greater sensitivity to how existing social and spatial divides can be reproduced during events would improve this. Sager's (2006) freedom of mobility framework was reworked and proved to be useful in monitoring individuals situated differently in the shifting complex of power, identity and everyday life across a changing motilities landscape. The underlying mobility framework revealed a need for developing better street navigation skills to create robust and equitable freedom of mobility for street users, necessary for independence from mediators such as cars, private street security and prejudice ideas about people and places that perpetuate division. OSCT events are useful in opening up people's eyes to what could be, but the value is diminished if there are no ongoing interventions sustaining this new understanding. Interventions that tackle the everyday systems supporting the divisions are needed to supplement the interventions of OSCT events. This will add substance between events and enhance the value of the events themselves.

This study utilizes a cyclical socio-ecological systems approach to explore change in natural vegetation and land use within the Kannaland Municipality of the Klein Karoo. Repeat ground photography, historical climate and agricultural data, and in-depth, semi-structured interviews were used to assess environmental, political and socio-economic change in the study area since the early 1900s. Few studies have had the opportunity to augment the analysis of repeat ground photography with contextual information from in-depth interviews making this study unique in its approach. For most of the 20th century agricultural land use within the Klein Karoo has undergone fluctuations of increased and decreased productivity. However, during the later decades a noticeable decline in agricultural land use, especially sheep and goat production, has been recorded. Largely due to this, and contrary to degradation projections for this area, evidence of growth in cover of natural vegetation, especially over the last 20 years, was found. From the mid 1990s change from largely agricultural to recreational game and weekend farming as well as tourism-related land use has increased. Implications of recent land use change are perceived as both positive and negative. Increases in natural vegetation cover and potential associated biodiversity improvements are considered positive implications associated with the demise in extensive agricultural land use for the area. A decline in farm-based employment and agricultural productivity are considered negative implications of this land use change. Substantial increase in game farming within the study area is perceived to require stringent monitoring and research into the long term implications of this land use on natural vegetation. For optimal land use management and conservation of natural vegetation this study recommends building the capacity of the agricultural and conservation extension services within the Klein Karoo. The study further promotes the diversification of land use inclusive of agricultural production, conservation of biodiversity and development, particularly within the tourism sector, as optimal for the sustainability of land use in the Klein Karoo.

Food production has been a constant feature of food security policies. This narrative has continued despite findings showing that food insecurity is structural, and more driven by issues of access than availability, particularly for low-income households in cities who live in a cash economy. While usually considered a rural issue, the urban poor with low and unreliable incomes also face food insecurity which manifests differently to that of their rural counterparts. Thus, this creates the need to understand how the urban poor get their food. Garneton, a low-income area in Kitwe, Zambia, was chosen as the case study area for understanding the food system that feeds the urban poor. Fish and the fish value chain were used as the lens with which to understand the food system. The primary aim of the study was to understand the flow of fish in the food system and how it gets to low-income households in Kitwe. A qualitative methodology using semi-structured in-depth interviews was used. A bottom up and systems approach which started by finding out what the low-income consumers ate, and following the fish value chain systematically up to the producers enabled the study to capture the actual food system that feeds the poor and uncovered the different issues affecting the food system. The study had three main findings. The first finding was that the low-income households bought their food from both formal and informal markets but were more highly dependent on the informal markets. The factors that drove their purchasing decisions included income, proximity and volumes of fish sold. Secondly, the study also found that informal traders bought their fish mainly through the informal markets although the imported fish was bought from the formal market. Thirdly, the study found that there were a number of factors that affected the food system. These included policy, economic and environmental factors. The pathways of fish were also found to change in accordance with the fish ban. The thesis argues that, there is greater need to have policy that addresses the needs of the urban poor. Food should also be looked at as a cross cutting issue with different food systems perceived as complementing each other to addressing the food needs, particularly of the urban poor. Finally, more attention must be paid to the informal market which plays a significant role in meeting the food security needs of the urban poor.

Environmental campaigns have generally relied upon using information alone as a way to get messages across to the public. This approach is based on the assumption of a linear relationship between information and behaviour: it is believed that educating people will lead them to be more environmentally responsible. An example of this is the information deficit model. The information-deficit model (Blake, 1999), suggests that experts inform individuals about the environment in order to achieve behaviour change. Contrary to this model, dissenters claim that the information-deficit model is not participatory or deliberative and that human behaviours are determined by factors such as individual lifestyle. This dissertation tests the assumption behind the idea that added information leads to improved environmental behaviour. The research used a case study of an urban South African environmental education program: the Smart Living Campaign in the City of Cape Town. The study is split into two sections, the first which focuses on the workplace of the companies. The second which is aimed at the households of the employees of the companies. The study focused on two variables, the impact of waste management in terms of recycling, and energy usage in terms of electricity consumption on their behaviour.

Includes bibliographical references. / Women’s experiences of poverty in post-apartheid South Africa are made real in their struggles to access resources and assets to survive. They survive sudden shocks and entrenched poverty by constructing and drawing on social support networks that provide access to adequate housing, secure tenure and sufficient income to sustain households. The social support networks of households, families and communities are investigated in the adjacent but diverse townships of Manenberg and Guguletu - resettlement areas for those who were forcibly removed from the city centre of Cape Town. Theoretical perspectives on: the South African context of support; reciprocity; social networks; and the morality inherent in networks, fail to provide information of the complexities and nuances in the lives of the women. Women are required to negotiate gender roles and position in every relationship in order to be eligible for support. Discourses on how the South African city shaped reciprocity and gender identity within households and families provide insight into the context in which support is negotiated. Drawing on these sets of literature an analysis of life histories (constructed from a semi-structured, open ended questionnaire) is conducted of fifteen women from each township that document their struggles, frustrations, joys and aspirations. The evidence from the case studies suggests that women's experiences of poverty are actualised in their marginalisation from adequate housing, secure tenure and sustainable livelihoods. Moreover, the mechanisms they employ to bridge these challenges, their support networks, further entrenches gender inequalities and the inferior position of women in society. A detailed analysis of their relationships reveals that in order to access support women sublimate their challenges of traditional gender identities in order conform to normative behaviour and access resources and assets required for survival. A comparison of the configuration, utilisation and value of strategic relationships within women's households, families and communities demonstrates their agency. The women interact with their context, making strategic decisions and choices that influence not only the social fabric of their communities but also their own identity.

A thesis submitted to the Faculty of Education in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctors in Education (D.Ed) in the Department of Mathematics, Science and Technology Education at the University of Zululand, South Africa, 2015 / The purpose of this study was to introduce the concept of sustainability to medicinal plant sellers by a way of a non-formal environmental education programme. This was done for future generations to enjoy the benefits of medicinal plants whilst enhancing the livelihoods of medicinal plant sellers who depend on harvesting and selling these plants. Having realised that medicinal plant sellers were harvesting in an unsustainable manner, the researcher could not ignore this situation. There was a need to assist medicinal plant sellers to reflect on ways they conducted their businesses. The researcher deemed it necessary to alert the sellers to the necessity of harvesting plants wisely and consider future generations by taking preventive actions before many of the plants become extinct. The design of this study was a mixture of qualitative and quantitative research approaches. On one hand, the quantitative approach involved a survey using a semi-structured questionnaire, which was administered through face-to-face interviews. On the other hand, the qualitative method is by way of a case study in which data were collected through open-ended questions, focus group discussions and a workshop. The questionnaires were semi-structured. The research survey instrument served as the diagnostic tools to identify challenges that confronted the medicinal plant sellers. Information obtained through this instrument was explored in a workshop, which was designed to be an intervention programme. The programme engaged medicinal plant sellers and the researcher in discussions about sustainability of medicinal plants. The assessment of the intervention programme was carried out by means of site visit and open-ended interviews. Data were coded and grouped according to themes. They were interpreted, analysed, presented according to the set perspectives such as tabulation, graphing and direct citations from the respondents. iii The results showed that there were problems in the medicinal plant selling businesses, with regard to storing, marketing and conserving medicinal plants. Storage was problematic in the sense that some plants need to be dried out before being stored. During rainy seasons this was hard to be achieved since the drying out is done outdoors. Marketing was also problematic due to price competition among medicinal plant sellers. There was no uniformity in pricing. Another problem was lack of record keeping. There were no records of revenue and expenditure that would help determine profit margins if any. After exploring these issues in the workshop, the results from the assessment of the intervention programme showed that the medicinal plant sellers had revisited prices for their medicinal plants. Conservation was one of the areas that were explored as ways of sustaining medicinal plants. Among the conservation methods that were discussed in the study, cultivation of the medicinal plants was found to be a major challenge. The study revealed that in spite of the slow growth rates of medicinal plants, non-availability of land and irrigation problems posed as challenge of medicinal plant cultivation. The study intervened by engaging with medicinal plant sellers in discussions to start their own home gardens. The intervention programme had a way to supplying medicinal plant seedlings to the medicinal plant sellers. The sellers were also taught how to cultivate medicinal plants. The assessment of the study intervention also revealed that some of the medicinal plant sellers were not yet accustomed to methods of record keeping. Nevertheless, the intervention programme introduced methods of recording sales such as banking of revenue and keeping deposit slips. When the second phase of assessment programme was conducted, the medicinal plant sellers reported that they had adopted banking of their revenue. Banking could however; banking could not show all records, particularly expenditures. Although medicinal plant sellers were shown how to record expenditures and sales of the medicinal plant material, they had not practiced those recording techniques during the assessment of the workshop. Banking money by the medicinal plant sellers was, however, seen as a step further towards Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) of medicinal plant sellers. iv The study concludes by stating that issues of preservation and storage of medicinal plants by drying out in the sun, their packaging in plastic bags and reluctance to cultivate the plants by medicinal plants should be addressed by medicinal plant sellers. While the South African government is taking action to empower medicinal plant sellers about sustainability issues studies are required to engage communities to reflect and be actively involved in conservation of biodiversity such as medicinal plants through action research as means to sustain livelihoods of communities including medicinal plant sellers. In conclusion, the capacity building programme took place in a short time scale; based on the research findings the study makes recommendations to guide the education and sustainability of medicinal plants.

abstract: This dissertation combines three research projects to examine the people affecting and affected by urban environmental change across multiple scales of decision making. In the Phoenix Metropolitan area and the Colorado River Basin, I study the social influence around the implementation of water use innovations among city-level stakeholders (Chapter 2) and I emphasize that water insecurity still exists in wealthy cities (Chapter 3). In Chapter 4, I ultimately consider grassroots solutions for achieving resource security alongside positive social change in a historically underserved community. In this dissertation, I have conceptualized my research questions by envisioning urban change as an opportunity for actors, at multiple scales, to simultaneously reduce resource waste and promote positive social change. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Anthropology 2019

abstract: Participatory approaches to policy-making and research are thought to “open up” technical decision-making to broader considerations, empower diverse public audiences, and inform policies that address pluralistic public goods. Many studies of participatory efforts focus on specific features or outcomes of those efforts, such as the format of a participatory event or the opinions of participants. While valuable, such research has not resolved conceptual problems and critiques of participatory efforts regarding, for example, their reinforcement of expert perspectives or their inability to impact policy- and decision-making. I studied two participatory efforts using survey data collected from participants, interviews with policy makers and experts associated with each project, and an analysis of project notes, meeting minutes, and my own personal reflections about each project. Both projects were based one type of participatory effort called Participatory Technology Assessment (pTA). I examined how project goals, materials, and the values, past experiences, and judgments of practitioners influenced decisions that shaped two participatory efforts to better understand how practitioners approached the challenges associated with participatory efforts. I found four major themes that influenced decisions about these projects: Promoting learning; building capacity to host pTA events; fostering good deliberation; and policy relevance. Project organizers engaged in iterative discussions to negotiate how learning goals related to dominant ideas from policy and expert communities and frequently reflected on the impact of participatory efforts on participants and on broader socio-political systems. Practitioners chose to emphasize criteria for deliberation that were flexible and encompassing. They relied heavily on internal discussions about materials and format, and on feedback collected from participants, policy makers, and other stakeholders, to shape both projects, though some decisions resulted in unexpected and undesirable outcomes for participant discussions and policy relevance. Past experience played a heavy role in many decisions about participatory format and concerns about deliberative or participatory theory were only nominally present. My emphasis on understanding the practice of participatory efforts offers a way to reframe research on participatory efforts away from studying ‘moments’ of participation to studying the larger role participatory efforts play in socio-political systems. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Sustainability 2019