The escalation of poverty simultaneously with the decline of small-scale agriculture in the rural areas of the Eastern Cape in particular, raises serious concerns within the government circles in South Africa and among researchers. Of the nine provinces of South Africa, the rate of poverty in the Eastern Cape is a pathetic one and is the largest contributor to poverty statistics in the whole of South Africa. Machete (2004) stresses that high levels of poverty are visible in the rural areas and the large proportions of the people who are poor in South Africa are found in the rural areas. It is widely accepted that small-scale agriculture plays a vital role in and contributes substantially to socio-economic life of people living in the rural areas and is one of the strategies most suited to combat poverty for the majority of the people in the rural areas. This study explored the challenges that limit the effective use of land for subsistence agriculture as a strategy for poverty alleviation at Mpongo and Twecwana villages in Tsholomnqa. The study adopted a qualitative approach in order to get in-depth understanding of the challenges as experienced by the participants. The sample comprised of fifteen (15) subsistence farmers and three (3) extension officers from the department of agriculture. The data was collected from the participants through the focus group technique with an interview schedule containing open ended questions. The findings of the study indicated that the communities lack capital such as money, machinery, labour and other resources needed to pursue agricultural livelihoods. The findings also showed that agricultural infrastructure such as dams, rivers, fencing have deteriorated. Machete (2004, p.8) concurring with Pote (2008) says “inadequate physical infrastructure in the rural areas, particular in the former homeland areas remains a major obstacle to smallholder agricultural growth in South Africa”. In the two villages the situation is worsened by a total lack of irrigation scheme development. These communities rely entirely on seasonal and natural rainfall for their crops to be cultivated and grown. It was also found that the introduction of state grants contributed for the rural communities to do way with their traditional socio-economic agricultural livelihoods. The end results were for food production from gardens and communal fields come to a total collapse in many communities in the rural areas. The findings also show that youth is less interested to participate and pursue agricultural based activities in the rural areas. Williams et al (2008) claim that young people are unwilling to pursue agricultural studies as career of choice because of negative image attached to it. Many youths regard agriculture as an activity which belongs to adult and ordinary people. Drought was also cited as the worst natural disaster that has threatened the already disadvantaged small scale agriculture in these rural areas. These deficiencies have rendered subsistence agricultural centred activities to a total collapse.

The coastal zone accommodates some of the most diverse ecosystems in the world and offers a wide range of ecosystem goods and services; consequently it has become a focal point of human development. People are attracted to the coast because of access to resources, favourable climate, aesthetic appeal and potential for recreational activities. As pressure for utilisation and development increases, so does the need to manage the coastal system more effectively. This research focuses on the coastal zone of the Ndlambe and Ngqushwa local municipalities in the Eastern Cape, South Africa, which are physically and environmentally similar, yet have distinct demographic and socio-economic differences. The research integrates information using GIS, from three time epochs, to determine where development and land use change is occurring. The Ndlambe Local Municipality displays high levels of formal development, while the Ngqushwa Local Municipality exhibits little formal development. These differences in development and land use are related to economic, social and legislative ‘drivers’ based on an adapted Driver-Pressure-State- Impact-Response model. The model identifies that development and land use changes lead to increased pressure on the natural system, which in turn leads to shifts in the natural state of the coastal zone, resulting in adverse impacts on the coastal zone. Changes in the natural functioning of the coastal zone highlight the need for a response in terms of changes in legislation governing coastal management and spatial planning. This research concludes that pressure for development in the coastal zone within the research site is beginning to increase and will adversely affect the coastal zone if not managed effectively. These two local municipalities have the opportunity to move forward and develop in such a way that allows for conservation and sound management of the coastal zone, which will ensure long-term sustainability within the coastal zones of the Ndlambe and Ngqushwa local municipalities

Over the past fifteen years there has been an extensive conversion of land use from traditional farming practices to conservation and private game reserves. It has been suggested by Langholz and Kerley (2006:2) that privately owned preserved areas can engage in ecotourism initiatives by protecting biodiversity, succeeding financially and contributing to social upliftment. However, ecotourism has to operate within the context of historical land dispossession of the majority black population and current land reform initiatives to address this problem. In view of the economic, social and environmental importance of ecotourism based private game reserves (PGRs) in South Africa, particularly the Eastern Cape, the main goal of this research is to examine the Indalo association of private game reserves in the Eastern Cape Province’s development model for ex-farmworkers and adjacent communities. This was done through a literature survey and analysis of existing studies and by interviewing the managers of the Indalo PGRs and a few farmworkers to get their opinions of the tension between what they are doing and the imperatives of land reform. This involved an exploration of their community development work, particularly around issues of job creation, participation in decision-making, capacity building and sustainability. The thesis comes to the following conclusions. The first is that the establishment of PGRs have a significant positive impact on the local areas in which they are established. As a land-use, ecotourism based game reserves are an economically and ecologically desirable alternative to other land uses. Therefore the ecotourism based private game reserve industry with its extensive community development focus for farmworkers and local communities is a viable and sustainable alternative to conventional land reform. The second is that the Indalo PGRs development work has built capacity in the communities it has served. However, community participation, particularly in decision-making is limited and needs more attention if productive and sustainable development is to be achieved. Lastly, communities rely heavily on external support for their development and upliftment. However, the majority of the PGRs have/or are putting measures in place to ensure the continuation of community development projects to ensure the long-term sustainability of projects.

Many of the anticipated increased occurances of natural hazards are not only a consequence of climate change, but rather of rapid and widespread land cover change and the subsequent loss of the buffering capacity provided by healthy ecosystems against natural hazards. Unplanned and unmanaged developments in informal settlements limit government’s ability to mitigate and manage, pointing towards natural resources as being integral for vulnerable communities in developing countries to cope with and mitigate flood disasters. There is a lack of understanding on how natural resources contribute to resilience of vulnerable populations in the Eastern Cape and how they are impacted by these populations before, during and after a flood shock. There also exists a gap in knowledge on how natural resources can mitigate the physical impacts of flooding in South Africa, more so in the Eastern Cape province. Using household questionnaires and GIS techniques, the strategies that households used to recover from the October 2012-February 2013 flood shocks were investigated in informal settlements of three towns (Grahamstown, Port Alfred and Port St Johns). Within the vulnerability paradigm and the sustainable livelihood framework, the study also quantified and evaluated the relative contribution of natural resources to recovery strategies, and lastly, the study investigated how patterns of land use, state of natural vegetation and household topographical location exacerbated or diminished the physical impacts of flooding. This study found that natural resources contributed up to 70 percent to recovery of households from the flood shock, most of this being to reconstruction of housing structures after the flood, less so to economic recovery. It was also found that at a settlement scale the buffering effect of vegetation, although variable amongst settlements, was significant. Settlements that were dominated by dense bush and small trees experienced up to 46 percent less impacts on their property than those surrounded by bare gravel and impervious roofs with degraded environments. The main findings of the research show that natural resources reduce the vulnerability of households in informal settlements to flooding in two significant ways; by physically mitigating against damage to shelters and by also providing an emergency-net function that substitutes financial capital in households. Their inclusion in disaster management has the potential to encourage the sustainable livelihoods of the urban poor in the Eastern Cape

Property rights are social institutions that define and delimit the range of privileges granted to individuals of specific resources, such as land and water. They are the authority to determine different forms of control over resources thus determining the use, benefits and costs resulting from resource use. That is, they clearly specify who can use the resources, who can capture the benefits from the resources, and who should incur costs of any socially harmful impact resulting from the use of a resource. In order to be efficient property rights must be clearly defined by the administering institution whether formal or informal and must be accepted, understood and respected by all the involved individuals and should be enforceable. These institutions influence the behaviour of individuals hence the impact on economic performance and development. The thesis has attempted to determine how the situation of property rights to land and water affects the development of smallholders in the Kat River Valley. Data was collected from 96 households who were selected using random sampling. To capture data, a questionnaire was administered through face-to-face interviews. Institutional analysis and ANOVA were used for descriptive analysis to describe the property rights situation, security of property rights and the impact of property rights on the development of smallholder farming. The results show that individual land rights holders have secure rights to land and water resources while communal smallholders and farmers on the invaded state land have insecure rights to land and water resources. The results from institutional analysis show that the situation of property rights negatively affects development of all smallholder farmers in the Kat River Valley. There are various institutional factors that negatively affect development of smallholder farmers in the Kat River Valley. Based on the research findings, some policy recommendations are made. These include consideration of the local context and strengthening of the protection of property rights.