Background and Aims Many low- and middle-income countries are undergoing epidemiological and health transitions. South Africa has one of the highest prevalences of overweight and obesity in Sub-Saharan Africa. This research examined neighbourhood and household socio-economic influences on the risk of overweight and obesity in terms of anthropometric status and dietary intake among urban South African adolescents. A further aim was to conduct a qualitative study on the potential for religious groups such as Churches to be used as community-based organisations for obesity intervention. Methods A secondary analysis of neighbourhood and household socio-economic status (SES), anthropometric and dietary data was carried out on adolescents aged 17-19 years from the Birth to Twenty Plus cohort study in Johannesburg-Soweto. Qualitative data were collected through focus groups discussions and a community readiness survey with church leaders. Results No significant associations were observed between SES (household and neighbourhood) and energy, protein, fat, or carbohydrate intakes in males. Some significant associations were found between SES and dietary intake in females. Females had a higher prevalence of overweight and obesity than males (26.2% vs. 8.2%, p<0.0001). In males, poor household SES was associated with lower odds of overweight, fatness and high waist-to-height ratio (WHTR). For females, household SES was not significantly associated with overweight, fatness and high WHTR. The qualitative research showed that there was a very low level of community readiness among church leaders for obesity prevention programmes. Conclusions The dietary results suggest that the diet of these adolescents is transitioning to that seen in high income countries. It also highlights that even within the same relatively small urban area, nutrition transition does not affect different groups in uniform ways. The qualitative results indicate that programmes should focus around raising awareness of the problem of overweight/obesity in this community.

Master of Arts / Department of Geography / Marcellus M. Caldas / The democratization of Brazil in 1985 brought hope and impetus for agrarian reform, especially after the proposal of a series of new settlement projects by many Presidents to expropriate and redistribute lands to the Brazil’s landless. The landless poor, however, took this new state-sanctioned program into their own hands and started occupying lands to build land reform settlements. Social Movement Organizations (SMOs) that were established and working illegally gradually emerged and invaded large private landholdings near urban areas with a specific political agenda, while far rural landless people targeted unclaimed open public forest for land occupation to build spontaneous land reform settlements. Both types of land occupation actions constituted the Direct Action Land Reform (DALR). Recent literature has outlined the socio-economic circumstance that affected DALR, DALR settlement formation process and its implication to deforestation; however, no research considers forest fragmentation in these land reform settlements and its relationship with demographic factors. In order to fill this gap in the literature, this thesis first compared the temporal and spatial dynamics of deforestation fragment patterns in spontaneous DALR settlements around the municipality of Uruará along the Transamazon Highway, and in SMO-led DALR settlements in Southern Pará region using satellite imagery from 1986 to 2010 and three landscape metrics (patch mean area, area-weighted mean shape index and patch cohesion index). Metrics results were then respectively analyzed with selected field survey data to discover the impacts of demographic factors on forest fragmentation in DALR settlements. Results showed that SMO-led DALR settlements in Southern Pará primarily exhibited larger, more irregularly shaped and more physically connected deforestation fragments than spontaneous DALR settlements in the Uruará region over the whole study period. Demographic factors that influenced forest fragmentation in DALR settlements included the number of people and children per household, family lot size, percentage of families receiving credit and the distance between the family lot and the nearest city. At last, constructive policy recommendations were provided based on research findings.

L'évolution des systèmes de production dans un contexte de genre climatique et effet de genre dans la région de Matam a pour ambition de présenter les mutations d'un contexte de développement traditionnel basé sur la rotation des cultures et une alternance saisonnière et spatiale, à un contexte d'agriculture irriguée à travers les eaux du fleuve Sénégal. Ce contexte s'inscrit dans une politique de l'Etat Sénégalais soucieux de relancer la sécurité alimentaire des ménages de la vallée du fleuve secouée par une violente crise climatique qui a sévi sur presque deux décennies. Ces populations qui dépendaient fortement de la culture de décrue intégrée dans un système de production traditionnel qui mettait en valeur l’élevage, la pêche, l'agriculture pluviale, la migration saisonnière, ont vu leurs espoirs de survie anéantis. La mise en service des barrages de Diaman et de Manantali, inscrite dans le programme de l'0MVS (mise en valeur du fleuve Sénégal) entre pays riverains (Sénégal, Mauritanie, Guinée et Mali) a réduit considérablement l'apparition de crues. Ce programme qui avait de vastes ambitions a confisqué la vie des populations riveraines du fleuve avec le recul des crues du fleuve Sénégal. Ces populations, dont la migration saisonnière était partie intégrante de leur système de production, ont adopté une migration de longue durée pour assurer la sécurité alimentaire des ménages laissés au village. Le système d'agriculture irrigué mis en place à travers les aménagements hydro-agricoles, demande des ressources humaines plus importantes qu'en culture de décrue et un coût de production plus élevé. / The development of production systems in a global context and such kind of effect in the Matam region aims to introduce mutations in a traditional development environment based on crop rotation and seasonal and spatial alternation in context of irrigated agriculture through the waters of the Senegal River. This context is part of a state policy Senegalese anxious to boost household food security of the river valley rocked by a violent climate crisis which hit nearly two decades. These populations heavily dependent decline integrated culture in a traditional production system that highlighted the livestock, fisheries, rainfed agriculture, seasonal migration, saw their hopes dashed survival. Commissioning of dam Diaman and Manantali, registered in the 0MVS program (development of the Senegal River) between riparian countries (Senegal, Mauritania, Guinea and Mali) significantly reduced the occurrence of floods. This program, which had vast ambitions confiscated the life of riverine populations of the river hindsight flood the Senegal River. These people, whose seasonal migration was part of their production system, adopted a long-term migration to ensure food security of households left the village. The irrigated farming system implemented through irrigation schemes, requires greater human resources and flood recession cultivation and higher production costs.

Historiskt sett har fermenteringsmetoder främst använts för livsmedelskonservering, och därmed i överlevnadssyfte. Idag växer intresset för fermentering men utifrån nya intresseområden såsom för det ökade näringsinnehållet och metodernas smakförhöjande egenskaper. Detta arbete handlar om fermenteringsmetoder beskrivna i svenska kokböcker från 1736 till 1920, där recepten kategoriseras genom en kvantitativ innehållsanalys efter typ av fermentering och kokbokens publiceringsår. Av de olika fermenteringsmetoderna har särskilt fokus lagts på mjölksyrning, alkoholjäsning och ättiksberedning. Källmaterialet består av 43 kokböcker från den studerade tidsperioden, och utifrån dessa ges en överskådlig bild av metodernas förekomst. Vidare diskuteras vilka omgivande samhällsförändringar som kan ha bidragit till att metoderna har dokumenterats i dessa böcker. Resultatet av detta arbete talar för en något avtagande frekvens av metoderna mot slutet av 1800-talet. Resultatet visar även på att mjölksyrning och alkoholjäsning var ungefär lika vanligt förekommande, och att ättiksberedning var mer sällsynt. I förlängningen visar resultatet på en möjlig koppling mellan receptens frekvens av förekomst, som avtar mot slutet av den studerade perioden, med undantag för ättiksberedningen som avtog närmare sekelskiftet. Skälen till dess detta kan härledas till samhällsförändringar som industrialisering, renlighetsideal och nykterhetsrörelser. / Historically speaking, methods of fermentation have primarily been used in preservation of food stuffs, and hence for a purpose of survival. Today, the interest in fermentation grows, but within new areas of interest like the increased nutritional value and the methods flavour enhancing properties. This essay focuses on the fermentation methods described in Swedish cookbooks between the year of 1736 to 1920, where the recipes are categorized by a quantitative content analysis after the type of fermentation and the publishing year of the cookbook. Out of the different methods for fermenting food stuff, particular focus has been directed towards fermentation by lactic acid bacteria, production of alcoholic beverages and production of vinegar. The source material consists of 43 cookbooks from the studied period, and from these, the occurrence of the fermentation methods is portrayed, which furthermore is discussed to identify societal changes which could have influenced their presence in these books. The result shows a slight declining occurrence of the methods towards the end of the 19th century, and that fermentation by lactic acid bacteria and alcoholic fermentation were similarly frequent, while the production of vinegar was less included in the cookbooks. Furthermore, the result shows a slight correlation between the occurrence of the studied recipes, which are simultaneously declining with the exception for the method of producing vinegar, which frequency was declining closer to the turn of the century. Possible reasons for this are the societal changes brought by the industrialization, a new ideal of hygiene and sobriety movements.

La presente tesis analiza los factores que influyeron en la disminución de importaciones de cocinas a gas en los años 2014 y 2015. El primer capítulo brinda información y definiciones de los procesos de importaciones y de la industria de electrodomésticos, se describe como están definidos los productos y cómo están agrupados, por ejemplo: línea blanca, línea marrón. Por otro lado, se explica el panorama mundial del sector de electrodomésticos, el panorama regional de la industria (Latinoamérica) y el panorama nacional de la industria de electrodomésticos; finalmente se analiza los factores planteados para la investigación, los cuales son: nivel de consumo y demanda, producción (principal proveedor), competencia nacional y el boom inmobiliario. En el segundo capítulo, se desarrolla la metodología de investigación de orientación cualitativa, del tipo descriptiva, por la cual, podremos explicar y validar nuestra hipótesis, utilizando herramientas como entrevistas semiestructurada, realizadas a los tres segmentos o grupos de interés identificados: importadores, productores nacionales y principales comercializadores de cocinas. También, se detallarán el proceso de recolección y clasificación de datos. En el tercer capítulo, se analizan los datos recolectados que nos llevaron a obtener los resultados por segmento y categoría. En el cuarto capítulo, se desarrollan los resultados de las entrevistas y la discusión de resultados por segmento y categoría, para identificar los factores que influyeron para la disminución de importaciones de cocinas a gas en los años 2014 y 2015, incluyendo los hallazgos, barreras y brechas de investigación, y, por último, se detalla las conclusiones y recomendaciones. / This thesis reviews the factors that influenced the decrease of gas cookers imports during 2014 and 2015. The first chapter provides the information and definitions of the home appliances industry and the importing processes, it depicts the definition of the products and how they are classified, for instance: white goods and brown goods. On the other hand, it explains the global outlook, the regional outlook (Latin America) and the national outlook of the home appliances industry; finally, it analyzes the factors proposed for investigation: the level of consumption and demand, manufacturing (main supplier), national competition and the real estate boom. The second chapter develops the quality research methodology, descriptive in nature, which will be used to explain and validate the hypothesis, by ways of semi structured interviews performed in the three identified segments or groups of interest: importers, domestic manufacturers and main retailers. The process of data collection and classification will also be detailed in this chapter. The third chapter analyzes the collected data, which led to the segment and category results. The fourth chapter builds on the outcome of the interviews and the debate of the segment and category results in order to identify the factors that influenced the decrease of gas cookers imports during 2014 and 2015, including the findings, obstacles and gaps during the research; and lastly, this chapter elaborates on the conclusions and recommendations. / Tesis

A research report submitted to the Faculty of Management, University of the Witwatersrand, in 50% fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Management (in the field of Public Policy). 17 June 2016 / This paper investigates the nature of relationship between income inequality and consumption expenditure by households. The link between the distribution of income and household spending was determined by exploring the relationship between income inequality and household saving. The econometric estimates show that the propensity of the bottom earners to consume is higher than that of the high income earners. The conclusions from this paper are that; the bottom earners used credit to smooth their consumption expenditure, income inequality has not boosted saving of the top earners and wealth inequality has a minimal effect (although positive) on aggregate consumption Some of these finding are consistent with the theoretical view on income and wealth inequality (Kaldor, 1957) and Aghion et al. (1999). The absence of coping mechanism (such as access to credit and employment), suggests high inequality might result in a decline in the household demand, since the bottom and low earners has high marginal propensities to consume compared with that of the top earners. The existence of imperfect capital markets suggests distributive policies and economic growth are important channels for reducing income and wealth disparities in South Africa. / MB2016

A research report submitted to the Faculty of Humanities, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts (Migration and Displacement) July 2017 / This research report gives an account of the social networks, links, connections and relationships of undocumented Zimbabwean women working as domestic workers in Johannesburg, Gauteng. The primary aim was to understand the role of these ties in providing social, political, emotional and economic support in addressing the challenges that undocumented domestic workers face. The study also explored how social networks enhanced the capabilities and resources of non-national women, particularly focusing on how they defined wellbeing and development. Based on 12 semi-structured interviews with undocumented women living and working in Johannesburg, the findings that emerged from this study, show that unlike what the majority of literature in South Africa points to, undocumented domestic workers do not live in isolation from others, but rather have a diverse range of social networks that allow them to be active agents and participants in their lives. The results highlight that the majority of social networks that undocumented domestic workers use are in actual fact useful to them and how they navigate their contexts. Migrants in this instance are largely dependent on their families for support both in the originating country and in the host community. / XL2018

Cette thèse de doctorat contribue à la littérature sur l'économie des ménages, sur la mesure de la pauvreté et sur l'avortement sélectif. Lorsque les normes sociales et les préférences favorisent les hommes par rapport aux femmes, les inégalités entre les sexes peuvent se retrouver dans différentes dimensions. Dans le premier chapitre j'étudie la norme de patrilocalité et je me demande comment la structure du ménage affecte les prises de décision de la belle-fille et son autonomie. En utilisant des données de panel au niveau des ménages en Inde, j'estime un modèle de différences en différences qui compare entre 2005 et 2012 les groupes qui subissent un décès du beau-père ou de la belle-mère et ceux qui n’ont pas de décès. Je trouve que le statut de la belle-fille s'améliore après le décès du fait de la redistribution du pouvoir entre les membres du ménage. Cependant, les résultats ne sont pas compatibles avec le fait que le canal conventionnel de la belle-mère soit la seule autorité sur la belle-fille. Le deuxième chapitre étudie la mesure de l'avortement sélectif des femmes et demande s'il y a des avortements répétés entre deux naissances consécutives. Cette question ne pouvant être résolue en utilisant des méthodes existantes, l'article propose de nouveaux tests et une méthodologie pour estimer les fractions de la population subissant des avortements sélectifs. En appliquant cette méthodologie à des données indiennes, nous trouvons que les avortements sont pratiqués de manière répétée. Le troisième chapitre propose une nouvelle approche de la mesure de la pauvreté absolue. Cela se fait de deux manières, d'abord en suggérant une manière d’individualiser les prix de référence, et deuxièmement en définissant des lignes de pauvreté propres à chaque groupe/région. En comparant notre approche les uns aux autres, pour l'Inde, nous constatons que les différentes approches conduisent à différentes conclusions sur la pauvreté. Ne pas prendre en compte les préférences des individus surestime la part des personnes rurales (jeunes et âgées) dans la population pauvre. / This PhD dissertation contributes to the literature on household economics and the measurement of poverty & sex-selective abortion. When social norms and preferences favour males over females, outcomes can reflect gender inequalities across various dimensions. I study the norm of patrilocality in the first chapter and ask how the household structure of four adult members affects the daughter-in-law's decision-making-say and autonomy outcomes. Using household level panel data from India, I estimate a difference-in-difference model comparing groups between 2005 and 2012 that experience a death of the father-in-law or mother-in-law and those that do not. I find that the status of the daughter-in-law improves after death as power is redistributed among the members. However, the findings are not consistent with the conventional channel of the mother-in-law being the sole and strongest authority over the daughter-in-law. The second chapter studies the measurement of female sex-selective abortion and asks if there are repeated abortions between two consecutive births. As this question cannot be answered using existing methods, the paper proposes novel tests and methodology to estimate the fractions of the populations undergoing sex-selective abortions. Applying our methods to Indian data we find first quantitative evidence of repeated abortions. The third chapter proposes a new approach of absolute income poverty measurement that takes preference into account when agents differ in preferences and face different prices. This is done in two ways, first by suggesting a way to use individualised reference prices, and second by defining group/region specific poverty lines.Comparing our approach with conventional ones, for India, we find that the different approaches lead to different poverty conclusions. Not taking preferences into account overestimates the share of Old-Rural and Young-Rural in the poor population.

Research report submitted to the Wits School of Arts University of the Witwatersrand, Faculty of Humanities In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts in the field of Drama therapy April 2016 / The aim of this research was to evaluate Narradrama as a drama therapy method in assisting South African domestic workers to shift their identity towards a more positive one, so they will be able to better deal with their current socially oppressive issues. I postulated, based on research done by sociologists and anthropologists, that domestic workers still feel oppressed marginalised and differentiated even to date, twenty years after the apartheid era; the racial discrimination that was perpetuated by the doctrine of the apartheid regime and cemented the master-servant relationship as the only possible relationship between domestic worker and employer was normalised within the harsh realities of minimum wages, long working hours and appalling living conditions; oppression of women by women, sexism and racism. Moreover, the domestic workers legal rights that were established after 1994 in the Bill of Rights have not changed their lives and working conditions. These working conditions continue to affect them and are a risk to their physical and mental health. (Mohutsioa-Makhudud, 1989; Williams, 2008; Ally, 2009). The risk that is inherent in chronic perceived discrimination to one’s mental health (Mohutsioa- Makhudu ,1989:40) and the risk of developing a negative identity and self hatred by internalising the negative views of a dominant society(Phinney, 1989:34) has influenced the decision to do this research. The method of Narradrama chosen for this study was researched by Dunne (as cited in Leveton 2010) and found to be effective in working with marginalised groups but has not yet been researched with a marginalised stratum within the South African context. Narradrama, became the preferred method as it is centred on story (Dunne and Rand, 2013:7) which led to the thought it would be effective when working with a group of African women who are considered to be story tellers in the African culture. (Scheub, 1970: 119-120). Thematic data analysis was used in analysing the results. Identity shift was measured by comparing the change between the initial negative themed stories, that substantiated the hypothesis that participants do feel oppressed and marginalised, with the new, positive themes that appeared later in the research processes The Narradrama processes were analysed through the theoretical lens of Landy’s role theory, who proposes that for a person to have a healthier identity he needs to take on a variety on new roles, and to be able to play them proficiently. The playing of new roles assists participants to enlarge their perspectives, discover new identity descriptions and experience what it would feel like to move forward in life in preferred ways towards a more manageable, hopeful future. (Landy, 1994:93-97) This parallels the Narradrama notion which claims that by re-storying a client’s narrative, the client opens up to new preferred choices; a new landscape of identity and action (Johnson and Emunah, 2009:182). The research results show the start of a shift, in the participants’ re-authored stories and their assumed choices of new roles- these changes signify that the group has benefited from processes. As the researcher, I therefore recommend that these processes be resumed in order to allow these identity shifts inclusive of the suggested roles to become more substantial, and more integrated in the participants’ identity within their current living and working context. However, though Narradrama proved to be a method that can assist this group, the results of this research cannot be generalised, and further research with different groups of domestic workers will need to be done in order to be able to generalise to the wider context of the stratum of South African domestic workers.

A Research Report submitted to the Faculty of Humanities, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Masters of Art in Political Studies, Johannesburg, 2017 / Despite their long history of organising, South African domestic workers are deprived of a platform to organise due to the post-apartheid state positioning itself as the primary articulator, representative, and protector of domestic workers‟ collective interests and the resultant displacement of the domestic workers‟ union in these roles. Even at its peak, the union struggled to rally domestic workers around its cause. The shift from “live-in” domestic work to “live-out” domestic work provides workers with greater personal freedom and less isolation from friends and family; allows them to gain some control over their working conditions and; challenges the “atomised” nature of domestic work as domestic workers interact quite frequently with each other in spaces such as taxis and buses, taxi ranks and street corners as they go about travelling to and from work every day. Domestic workers‟ engagement in the everyday practice of commuting to work and the spaces where domestic workers regularly interact with each other allow for the appearance of social networks where grievances can be shared and rallied around; mutual support is given and; information regarding work can be obtained. Significantly, these social networks are integral to the formation of collective identities and the building of political subjectivities of domestic workers, who as a group are deprived of a platform to organise. Furthermore a fuller conception of political action needs to be adopted. Domestic workers, who are without resources and the leadership of a vital union, find themselves in a position of political marginalization; yet participate in everyday forms of resistance. These coupled with their engagement in everyday life, constitute the invisible face of political mobilization. The social networks that have appeared show promise, however they are under-developed and have not yet been formalised in a way that organised action can ensue. As such it is possible that organisational impetus will have to come from the efforts of middle class actors belonging to NGOs, activists and government agencies as has been experienced in other parts of the globe. / MT2018