In consideration of the chronic poverty of farmers in Rwanda as well as in other developing countries where self-sufficient agriculture is practiced, this study examines what the well studied theory of specialization and trade, if implemented, could bring to Rwandan farmers in terms of production and profits. / To attain this objective, a spatial optimization model with linear programming was built and used to maximize the potential production and net returns which were compared to those from the traditional system. The model was built in a way that it also shows the pattern of trade and quantities traded. / The results show that a regional specialization system would allow, on the national level, more production, higher net returns, and more trade than the traditional system (self-sufficient agriculture) as expected according to the theory of specialization and trade. Nevertheless, the net return in some regions decreases in the new system, which necessitates a compensation plan for those regions. / However, it has to be noted that despite these gains, the adoption of the new plans requires a consideration of many other factors that are not covered in this study. Of those factors, the most obvious are the need to improve the transportation and marketing infrastructure, changing farmers' attitudes and objectives towards commercial agriculture, and securing equity, security, and sustainability in the system.

Against the background of Indonesia's ethnic resurgence and social cleavage in the wake of the fall of Soeharto regime in mid-1998, this thesis seeks to identify the factors that have led to a particular incidence of this discord: the perceived inequity in access to economic and governmental resources, i.e., access to jobs in the public sector and to public health services. Taking modernization theory as its framework, the thesis compares the ascribed factor, i.e., Javanese or non-Javanese ethnicity, and certain other factors, i.e., level of education, region of origin and place of residence (urban or rural area) and evaluates the resulting data. The thesis argues that respondents who have a high level of education, live in a region closest to a national center and reside in an urban area, which are relatively more exposed to modernization, are better off in terms of access to economic and governmental resources regardless of their ethnic membership.

Public concern for the intergenerational transfer of natural resources has generated an interest in sustainable development and sustainable agriculture. Policy makers have a new mandate to insure the promotion of sustainable agriculture. At the same time these policy makers must also reduce public expenditures in agriculture. These two conflicting mandates can only be accomplished when private market values for various soil conservation investments are known. Once this market information is known, policy makers can formulate appropriate policies to achieve both goals. / The focus of this research is to measure the significant factors affecting land values in the study area. The sample farm sales data used were drawn from four of Quebec's twelve agricultural regions. Two of these regions are among Quebec's most productive. These data were used in conjunction with a Hedonic Pricing Model for the analysis. / This research seeks to quantify the implied price paid for land characteristics, soil conservation and capital improvement investments. The research should determine whether the studied land market provides adequate price incentives for private market implementation of soil conservation and capital improvement investments. These investments are necessary to achieve a sustainable agriculture scheme.

The main objective of this paper was to explore and evaluate the viability of incorporating the promotion, enforcement and protection of human rights within the WTO agenda, mandate and framework. It further aimed to investigate the viability of accelerating multilateral cooperation amongst international major role players, thus assessing and evaluating the kind of cooperation necessary for the adequate protection and enforcement of human rights by the WTO and major role players involved.

<p>This mini-thesis is concerned with histories of flower selling in Cape Town. Since the late 19th century, images and imaginings of the flower sellers in Adderley Street and to a lesser degree in other areas of the city attained an outstanding place in visualisations and descriptions of Cape Town. The flower sellers were thereby characterised in a particularly gendered, racialised and class-specific way as predominantly female, coloured and poor. This characterisation dominated to an extent that it is possible to speak of a discursive figure of the ̕̕Cape Town flower sellers̕̕. In tourism-related media and in personal memoirs, the ̕̕Cape Town flower sellers̕̕ often came to represent both the city and the inhabitants of Cape Town. The images and imaginings of the &lsquo / Cape Town flower sellers&rsquo / can partly be traced back to representations of ̓̓̕̕flower girls̕̕ in fictional stories, paintings, photographs and film in Europe, particularly in Great Britain. In Cape Town, this European discourse about flower selling developed in a specific way within colonial, apartheid and post-apartheid contexts.</p>

<p>The study was undertaken in the coastal area of the Benguela Province in Angola. The research question can be formulated as follows: How do laws, policies and regulations influence the development of MSMEs in the coastal area of the Benguela Province? The theory of transaction cost as developed by the new institutional economists will provide the framework for the study.</p>

Botswana is considered an exemplary democracy in Africa. It is imperative to assess how an enviable democracy could flourish when the most widely available mass media was not independent. The fact is, despite the fact that media has been at the heart of development in Botswana, it has often been ignored in local academic and popular discussions about democracy and governance. A 1994 seminar on the media in a democracy organized by the Mmegi Publishing Trust (Leepile, 1994), was one of the very few forums where the role of the media in Botswana was given any attention. Even then, most the presentations were not substantive, mainly providing basic information about media institutions in Botswana and laws that protect and threaten freedom of the media. Botswana's contemporary state - media nexus can only be understood within the context of a long history of media dependence and domination by neighbouring South Africa (Zaffiro, 1991) assisted by British colonisation. To appreciate the challenges of cultural production at Botswana Television (BTV) required a study of the problematic encounter between the quest for creative and professional freedom within BTV on the one hand,·and the authoritarian gaze of state power on the other hand. BTV operated under an ill-defined broadcasting model, of a state bureaucratic arm, attempting to fulfil the ethos of public service broadcasting. Through the lens of the Newsroom, in-house productions, commissioning and procurement of foreign and local content, the study shows the subtle ways in which state ownership of the media compromises freedom of expression and freedom of information in Botswana. Yet, Botswana continued to enjoy that status of Africa's exemplar of democracy. Good governance indicators consistently gave media in Botswana cursory attention, thereby reinforcing state authoritarianism in Botswana. With a media dominated by state power, Botswana still emerged as exemplary. This complicated the quest for the ideal communication environment towards democratization in the Third World, particularly in a globalizing context. In situations such as that of Botswana, where the institutions that should protect the media from government control are either absent or weak, universal ideals on media freedom are often not enough. Media practitioners are more likely to find support in the local discourses, repertoires and cultures that call upon all, regardless of status, to tolerate opposition. A local tradition of the kgotla in particular, often heralded as Botswana's indigenous form of democracy, is placed in this chapter, at the heart of much of the freedom, limited as it may be, that BTV enjoyed. / Thesis (Ph.D.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, 2007.

"Food security is access by all people of all times to enough food for an active, healthy life" (World Bank, 1986:1). It is thought that between 300 million and 1 billion people in the world are food insecure. This could be as much as twenty percent of the world population. A World Bank study estimated that 340 million people in developing countries did not have enough calorie intakes to prevent stunted growth, and a further 730 million did not have enough income to ensure an active working life. Many households barely subsist around a poverty line - at times above it, and at other times below. Such transitory food insecurity is common, dependent on the weather and other environmental or socioeconomic factors. In South Africa, a rising population growth has meant a rise in food insecurity for many rural households, and this may be further exacerbated by the impact of HIV/AIDS which increases occupancy and dependency ratios in households when orphaned children are taken in to be cared for. This research introduces the key concepts and indicators of food security set in the framework of rural subsistence and a high HIV infection rate in Ingwavuma, KwaZulu Natal. Four research objectives have been developed around a 'case-control' design, whereby the demographic, agricultural and socio-economic characteristics of families who have adopted AIDS orphans are compared to households who have not adopted orphans. The first objective of the study comprised an assessment of the make-up and social fabric of households in order to analyse the household head's ability to manage the family's consumption requirement. The results showed that forty six percent of households in Ingwavuma were headed by a 'mother' (single parent) figure and that the larger household occupancy ranges tended to be female headed. Furthermore, households comprising between 11 and 15 people, were female to male headed 7:1, pointing to high dependency ratios in households less likely to receive consistent income from a local and employed male household head. The second objective was to assess the level of dependency on income related purchases of food compared to the level of food production generated within the household itself. Sixty-three percent of households stated that they would not anticipate being able to obtain any work and thirty two percent felt they might be able to obtain work in the cities or with neighbours which would sustain them for one month. Only two percent of the sample anticipated being able to source income for three months, and another two percent for six months - highlighting the high level of dependency that the study area has on agriculture as opposed to income. The third aim of the study was to assess the impact that illness, death and the adoption of AIDS orphans have on the dependency ratio within a household, and its resultant impact of food security. A high level of illness and death was shown to occur in both cohorts of the sample, although deaths in the 'orphaned households' created larger numbers of household occupants and thus dependents when compared to households without orphans. Finally, three logistic regression models of food security were developed based on the main food and livelihood management indicators in the Ingwavuma community and the impact of the HIV/AIDS epidemic on these was included in the models. The indicators could be incorporated in the development of a predictive early warning food security model for the area, similar to the work undertaken in Mozambique and Botswana where an early warning system is used to highlight expected periods of 'lean harvest' in order to ensure that the most vulnerable households are cared for. Another recommendation of the study is the development of a surveillance system for the monitorinq of the epidemiology of illness and death in the area to enable organisations to tackle the impact of the HIV epidemic. Specific research to address the targeting of 'households at risk' which include grandparent headed households and household heads who are HIV positive would also be of great benefit. Research into the development of both the formal and the informal economy, the industrial and entrepreneurial development of the area and the training of the community's untapped labour supply would also be of value to the community. Finally, research into methods to improve the agricultural base and food production skills would be enormously useful in developing the capacity of the community to provide for itself. / Thesis (M.Soc.Sc.)-University of Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2003.

In the post-apartheid period, little research has focused on the economic welfare of South African mothers. In particular there are few studies that compare the economic status of mothers by marital status. Many children in South Africa live in households without fathers (Posel and Devey 2006), which indicates that there is a high incidence of single motherhood in South Africa. Previous research has shown that South African women are more likely to be poor than their male counterparts and female-headed households, on average, are poorer than male-headed households (Posel and Rogan 2009a; Armstrong et al. 2008; Hoogeveen and Özler 2006; Budlender 2005; Rose and Charlton 2002; Woolard and Leibbrandt 1999). These results suggest that single mothers and their children would be more likely to be worse off than families that include men. Historically, insufficient data on motherhood made it difficult to identify a national sample of mothers; however recent household surveys have made it easier to do so. Using the General Household Survey (GHS) 2006 I am able to identify all women aged from 19 to 65 who are co-resident with at least one of their children aged 18 or younger. A disadvantage of this sample is that it excludes not co-resident mothers who have left their household of origin – often in pursuit of better work opportunities. Consequently the sample underestimates the extent of motherhood as well as the labour force participation rate of African single mothers in particular. Despite this limitation, I am able to gain useful insights into the economic welfare of South African mothers. By undertaking a descriptive and poverty analysis I show that on average, African and White single co-resident mothers have an inferior economic status compared to African and White married co-resident mothers respectively. I also show that disparities in income exist between the two races with White mothers, on average, having greater access to resources compared to African mothers. A benefit of the GHS 2006 is that it includes individual information on the receipt of social grant income. Thus I am able to quantify the impact of public transfers, as well as other categories of income, on poverty alleviation. I show that African single co-resident mothers, in particular, are highly dependent on grants. The study also explores the Child Support Grant (CSG) specifically and notes that the grant is limited in coverage and value. Furthermore, I highlight that the only other formal method for single mothers to obtain financial assistance, is via the private maintenance system, which is fraught with inefficiencies and often the costs of engaging with the system far outweigh the benefits. This dissertation therefore highlights the plight of South African single co-resident mothers and concludes by suggesting methods for improving their economic status. / Thesis (M.Com.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, 2009.

The study was set out to investigate how selected historically disadvantaged schools in the Pietermaritzburg Education District, manage the prevalent non-payment of fees. The study used the survey method. The principals of schools were targeted because they are the accounting officers for the financial matters and executive members of the School Governing Bodies. Permission for conducting this research was obtained from the District Manager for the Department of Education and the principals of the sampled schools. For the purpose of data collection, the use of questionnaire and document analysis was adopted. Five principals, each representing their respective circuit in the District, responded to the questionnaire. The research studied financial records to obtain a general view of how principals manage school fees and to draw conclusion on the extent of non-payment of fees. The findings revealed that there is widespread tendency of non-payment of fees in schools. Poverty was cited as the reason for non-payment. Low and middle level income parents did not prioritise school fees from the lists of their accounts. Though principals understand that the victimising of non-paying learners of any form is contradictory to the South African Schools Act No 48 of 1996, they go on to withhold learners' results. Parents have not applied for school fee exemption and schools have not yet advised them to do so. Non-paying parents are reluctant to explain their position to the school and also unwilling to offer voluntary service to school as a form of payment. School fundraising efforts do not help them gain any reasonable amount of cash. The parental support in this venture is lacking. The study recommends that principals should look at other means of dealing with payment and should assist the eligible parents to apply for fee exemption. The Department of Education should consider scaling down personnel expenditure in the office based ranks to add more funds for teaching and learning in the historically disadvantaged schools. / Thesis (M.Ed.) - University of Natal, 2003.