This study empirically examines the determinants of government expenditure in South Africa using annual data for the period from 1970 to 2014; and provides an overview of the South African government expenditure. The Johansen-Juselius co-integration test established that there is a long-run relationship between government expenditure and its determinants. The error correction model was used to examine the key determinants. The results of this study show that urbanisation rate, national income, poverty reduction; trade openness lagged one period and the wage rate significantly influence the size of government expenditure. Therefore, the study recommend that government create job opportunities; increase its expenditure in developing rural areas; and find ways to manage the public sector wage bill. The study concludes that population growth, inflation and trade openness in current period are not important in determining government expenditure in South Africa / Economics / M. Com. (Economics)

Attualmente i prezzi agricoli sono evidenziate in combinazione con i presunti effetti collaterali, come la fame e la malnutrizione nell’Africa sub-sahariana (SSA), tuttavia, oggi, SSA ha circa 47,5 per cento della popolazione rurale in condizioni di povertà e tra il 1990 e il 2005 quando i prezzi dei prodotti alimentari erano stabile e con prezzi bassi l'estrema povertà rurale in SSA è stato circa 64,6 per cento. Abbiamo ipotizzato che la malnutrizione o fame continuano in SSA perché li, la miseria persistono. La riduzione della povertà è l'unico modo per porre fine alla fame in Africa. Altresì per un paese agricolo in SSA – senza significative riserve di risorse minerarie – il modo migliore per risolvere la povertà è attraverso lo sviluppo agricolo. Nel nostro campione, sono nove paesi in SSA - Burundi, Ghana, Malawi, Mozambico, Ruanda, Uganda, Tanzania, Zambia e Zimbabwe – il cosiddetto SSA – 9. Abbiamo utilizzato un modello ricorsivo nel periodo tra 1990 e il 2005. Come risultato si è visto che gli strumenti principali che hanno avuto forte relazione con la riduzione della povertà in SSA - 9 sono alcune implicazioni politiche come; il diritto di proprietà, l'accesso al sistema di crediti, il capitale umano e le infrastrutture. / Nowadays, agricultural prices are highlighted combined with, as alleged collateral effects, hunger and malnutrition in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). However, today, SSA has around 47,5 percent of rural population in extreme poverty and between 1990 and 2005 when the food prices was stable and with low prices, extreme poverty in SSA involved around 64.6 percent. We assumed that the undernourishment or starvation continued in SSA because there the misery persisted. Poverty reduction is the only way to the end the hunger in Africa. Also, for an agricultural country in SSA – without significant mineral resources – the best way to solve the problem of poverty is through agricultural development. Our sample are nine countries in SSA – Burundi, Ghana, Malawi, Mozambique, Rwanda, Uganda, United Republic of Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe – the so called SSA – 9. Thus, we built up a recursive model that answered how the agricultural gears in SSA – 9 were moving between 1990 and 2005, as well as assessed how the agriculture could reduce rural poverty. As a result we saw that the main tools that had a strong relation with poverty reduction in SSA – 9 are some policies implications as; property rights, access to the credit system, human capital and infrastructure.

Parks and protected areas are crucial for the health of the biosphere and long-term sustainability of the planet. However challenges these areas face include: there are simply not enough of them, the existing ones are often too small and fragmented, and there is not always public support for them. Regional parks are specific types of protected areas that can help contribute to conservation and sustainability. The effectiveness of protected areas for conservation can be enhanced through a variety of strategies such as “biosphere reserves”. This research looks at stakeholder perceptions regarding potential benefits of the Mount Arrowsmith Massif Regional Park and the importance of the Mount Arrowsmith Biosphere Reserve Operating Framework. This study has contributed to the larger Protected Areas and Poverty Reduction (PAPR) research initiative as it discusses the flow of costs and benefits from protected areas and alternate forms of protected area governance.

Previously, studies in the intersection of power and development have predominantly concentrated on power as domination; how powerful actors can force recipient countries into embracing specific policies due to economical asymmetries. Yet, with the introduction of the Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers (PRSP) approach to development employed by the Bretton Woods Institutions (BWI), conditions on certain policies have decreased and it is said that the approach allows for country ownership as development strategies are written by the countries themselves. As a critical response, the conception of power is broadened here through the separate employment of governmentality theory and neo-Gramscian International Relations theory. They share among them a theoretical premise which allows for an understanding of power that extends beyond domination to the realm of discursive practices which, it is argued, allows for influence despite the notions of ownership and without power as domination. The object of this thesis is to suggest how the discourses of the PRSP regime can influence subjects whom they addressed. The two theories have different assumptions here. More specifically, the neo-Gramscian theory argue that discursive practice may render ideological issues as common sense why they can come to be embraced by subjects, whereas the governmentality theory assume that discourses can, perhaps without conscious recognition, reshape the very identities of subjects. The theories differences are retained and bracketed when a discourse analysis of the PRSP regime is conducted which concludes that the BWIs require that suitable skills are embraced by subjects appropriate for a good governed market economy. These skills are located to basic capacities in calculating, accounting and social capital accumulation. Thereafter a practical example of discursive practice in a capacity building mission is reviewed to explicate how these skills are actualized through training modules enabling influence towards preferred standards of the BWIs without power as domination. The two theories are brought in for a discussion on how these discursive practices may be understood according to their respective premises, but also to discuss the usefulness of these theories for studies of this kind. It is argued, among other conclusions, that the neo-Gramscian understanding of power as operating on the conscious level can fruitfully be coupled with the proposition of governmentality that powers also work on an unconscious level for understanding practises of capacity building. As concerning the weaknesses of the theories it is put forth that the neo- Gramscian theory suffers from an assumption of class identity presented as a “brute fact” before the realm of the political, whereas the governmentality theory suffers from an exclusive focus on discourse and leaves behind how different actor constellations may seek to appropriate discourses. To remedy these weaknesses, the thesis concludes with an argument that a combination of these theories can provide a lucrative foundation for further studies.

Agroamigo is a program of rural microcredit inserted in the Methodology of the National Program for Strengthening Family Agriculture and National Program for Oriented Productive Microcredit (PNMPO). IT IS Operated at Banco do Nordeste do Brasil in the Northeastern and Northern States of Minas Gerais and Espirito Santo through partnership with Instituto Nordeste Cidadania. Its mission is to promote rural development through the granting of small financing (quantitative vision) for investments and costing in agricultural and non-agricultural activities, whether or not rotating, as well as credit counseling and technical monitoring (qualitative vision) over the term Of the financing. As a productive and oriented rural credit, Agroamigo transcends the mere granting of bank credit and is an instrument of a local and regional development policy, which should be integrated with other regional development policies such as PAA, PGPAF, Proagro, The Family Grant, the Light for All, etc. in order to maximize its social and economic effects. The objective of this work is to explain the effects of the individual perspective and the loco-regional perspective, with Agroamigo, considering the vertiginous and ascending growth in the quantitative of contracted operations in this methodology. It investigates whether this quantitative growth has been accompanied by social and financial changes in the borrowers and their socioeconomic externalities in the municipalities, by inducing a greater flow of capital and circulation of goods and services. The regional area analyzed is the main municipalities "borrowers" in the State of Sergipe, having defined the timeline from 2005 to 2015. It begins with a conceptual and historical-factual approach on PRONAF, the emergence of Agroamigo and Their inclusion in the PNMPO methodology. It proceeds with the presentation of the data collected, the field research performed, the expected results. Finally, it discusses the data and information in light of the thesis raised of the effects of Agroamigo in the regional development. The analysis of the data ratified the positive impacts of Agroamigo on income generation and its effects on the local economy, which justifies the choice of the theme as a relevant issue within the framework of regional development policy and in the process of organizing the rural area. / O Agroamigo é um programa de microcrédito rural inserido no contexto metodológico do Programa Nacional de Fortalecimento da Agricultura Familiar e do Programa Nacional de Microcrédito Produtivo Orientado (PNMPO). É Operacionalizado no Banco do Nordeste do Brasil nos Estados do Nordeste e norte de Minas Gerais e Espírito Santo através de parceria com o Instituto Nordeste Cidadania. Sua missão é promover o desenvolvimento rural através da concessão de pequenos financiamentos (visão quantitativa) para investimentos e custeio, em atividades agropecuárias e não agropecuárias, de forma rotativa ou não, bem como orientação creditícia e acompanhamento técnico (visão qualitativa) no decurso do prazo do financiamento. Como crédito rural produtivo e orientado, o Agroamigo, transcede à mera concessão de crédito bancário e figura como instrumento de uma política de desenvolvimento local e regional, que deverá estar integrado às outras políticas de desenvolvimento regional como o PAA, o PGPAF, o Proagro, o Bolsa Família, o Luz Para Todos, etc, de forma a maximizar seus efeitos sociais e econômicos. Esta pesquisa tem como objetivo explicitar quais efeitos na perspectiva individual e na perspectiva loco-regional vem trazendo o Agroamigo, considerando o crescimento vertiginoso e ascendente no quantitativo de operações contratadas nessa metodologia. Investiga se esse crescimento quantitativo vem sendo acompanhado de mudanças sociais e financeiras nos tomadores de crédito e suas externalidades socioeconômicas nos municípios, ao induzir maior fluxo de capital e circulação de bens e serviços. O espaço regional analisado são os principais municípios “tomadores de crédito” no Estado de Sergipe, tendo sido definido a linha de tempo de 2005 a 2015. Inicia-se com uma abordagem conceitual e histórico-factual sobre o PRONAF, o surgimento do Agroamigo e sua inserção na metodologia PNMPO. Prossegue com a apresentação dos dados coletados, a pesquisa de campo realizada, os resultados esperados. Por fim discute os dados e informações à luz da tese levantada dos efeitos do Agroamigo no desenvolvimento regional. A análise dos dados ratificou os impactos positivo do Agroamigo na geração de renda e seus efeitos na economia local, o que justifica a escolha do tema como problemática relevante no âmbito da politica de desenvolvimento regional e no processo de organização do espaço rural. / São Cristóvão, SE

In course of time the role of the individual being has become increasingly important in the fight against poverty. Through its microcredit programmes, the organization Grameen Bank offers “aid to self-help” to poor women on the countryside in Bangladesh. The purpose of this essay is to investigate how participation in Grameen’s microcredit programmes can affect these women’s social situation and working situation. In order to achieve the purpose the following questions have been formulated: How does microcredit affect women’s self-esteem, influence in the household, and exposure to domestic violence? How does microcredit affect women’s occupational situation, to what extent do they have control over their loans, and how is microcredit regarded in comparison with permanent jobs, as a way to reduce poverty? The research, which has been carried out as a qualitative text analysis, shows that Grameen plays an important role when it comes to improving women’s living conditions. The access to microcredit helps women increasing their working activity as well as their self-esteem and influence in the household. However, microcredit does not merely create positive consequences. There are cases where microcredit increases the risk of domestic violence. Often the loans are transferred within the household, and then controlled by men. In addition, women’s use of microcredit is still confined to activities traditionally performed by women. These factors are important to consider when evaluating Grameen’s programmes, since they counteract Grameen’s vision of creating development for women.

Master thesis deals with functioning and development policy of the World Bank. The main objective is to summarize the Bank's strategies applied during the several decades of its existence and evaluate selected tools that organization uses in the fight against poverty.

Poverty is a condition where people's basic needs for food, clothing and shelter are not being met. Poverty is generally of two types: absolute and relative poverty. Some of the causes of poverty include changing trends in a country’s economy, lack of education, high divorce rate which causes feminisation of poverty, having a culture of poverty, overpopulation, epidemic diseases such as AIDS and malaria, and environmental problems such as lack of rainfall (business dictionary.com). / Dissertation (PhD (Applied Theology))--University of Pretoria, 2014. / Centre for Contextual Ministry / PhD (Applied Theology) / Unrestricted

Development issues have been the centre of most international governmental organisations for quite a long time. Most developing countries tend to depend on Western foreign donors to assist them in their developmental ambitions. Ghana as a developing nation also depends on it foreign donors to finance most of it developmental projects. Even though the European Union is an international governmental organisation that is much known for assisting developing countries with their developmental projects it is anticipated that recent occurrence such as the global economic meltdown, climate change coupled with terrorist attacks on most developed nations will limit or perhaps even halt the flow of development aid to developing countries as they might be more concerned with securing their territory rather than thinking of other people somewhere else.This is because such occurrences have resulted in raising a new concern, thus the New Security Agenda or Human Security. The Human Security in respect to its economic sector is what this paper deals with. This paper takes a critical look on Ghana’s Growth and Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers (GPRS), as pertaining to the aspect of these papers that received developmental aid from the European Development Fund (EDF). It is proved here that almost all aspect of Ghana’s developmental projects in one way or other received funding from the EDF. The New Security Agenda in terms of its economic sector was rather found out to be a positive influence for developing nations like Ghana as a result of the country’s stability. This is because it was found out that rather than limiting the flow of development aid to Ghana, it is during this time that the 10th EDF budget for Ghana received the highest funding. It was later found out that all these developmental projects conforms to the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), which is also an area of concern in the New Security Agenda. All this occurrences are much more explained along a theoretical framework (thus the notions of liberalism, critical theory and constructivism). However other academic works on the subject matter was also comprehensively acknowledged.

M.Sc.(Geography) / This study aimed at examining the social and economic impact of rural irrigation schemes with a particular focus on the Lower Gweru Irrigation scheme. The general objective of this study was to assess if rural irrigation schemes can act as livelihood security assets in transforming rural livelihoods, reduce poverty and attain food security in light of climate change. Results are based on findings from self-administered questionnaires directed at farmers and irrigation stakeholders, and face to face interviews involving farmers and stakeholders. Using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences, Microsoft excel and Health 24 web BMI calculator it was concluded that; Lower Gweru schemes, is a source of livelihood security securing food security, reduce poverty and creates rural employment. Regardless of various challenges faced by rural irrigation farmers, irrigations act as poverty and climate change buffers, providing an opportunity for communities to raise their Human Development Index and attain sustainable development. / Department of Geography