The researcher is disturbed by the high rising levels of poverty and unemployment in the Eastern Cape whilst there are poverty alleviation programmes that have been established since the ushering in of the Democratic Government in 1994. The sole purpose of the research is to investigate two poverty alleviation projects in the Buffalo City Metropolitan Municipality under Amatole District Municipality in the Eastern Cape. The study will focus on the following aspects: project management, capacity building, support, coaching, monitoring and evaluation, the market and the views community members have on poverty alleviation projects. The research sought to find out what challenges have been encountered by Tshabo Bakery Project and Ilitha Poultry Project which might impact negatively to the project. The researcher will use interviews, questionnaires, focus groups, direct observation and document analysis to collect information for the study. Findings and recommendations for this study will also be presented.

This paper will be looking at unemployment in South Africa, since this is a serious matter. A number of policies in South Africa have been formulated to address the issue of unemployment since the transition from apartheid to democracy. The paper will attempt to define unemployment and the different types of unemployment. Even though policies have been designed, this does not necessarily mean that unemployment has, therefore, been reduced. In my research I will be concentrating on unemployment. I would be touching on ways that could be used to improve unemployment, in order to alleviate poverty. We are faced with challenges in our country and in the small town where we live: Matatiele. South Africa is faced with challenges, which will be addressed in the study, as it will be looking at the economy since the apartheid era ended, and the commencement of democracy under the African National Congress (ANC) government. The study will tackle the theories that were used in unemployment and the policies that were introduced, in order to improve unemployment. The study will be mentioning the different solutions that could be adopted, in order to improve unemployment and to alleviate poverty. It is not only the responsibility of the government, but through agricultural training and increased access to farming – especially in the area of Matatiele– government needs to subsidise these people, in order to produce people with skills. Unemployment would then decrease. Tourism is a prominent job-creator, because of the many opportunities it creates for semi-skilled labour, and because Matatiele people are friendly and hospitable. This could be accomplished through better education, investment to create more job opportunities, and fostering economic growth in the country (Emeka Okafor). The policy implications are that government should diminish labour-market segmentation, and the obstacles to entering the productive informal sector may be relevant. However, it should also look to other developing countries with high levels of unemployment. How have they coped with these problems.

This study investigates the impact of informal cross border trading on poverty reduction in Zimbabwe. In the context of this study, the term Informal Cross Border Trade (ICBT), is used to describe the activities of small entrepreneurs who are involved in buying and selling across national borders. The study focuses on whether the stated activities are lifting those participating out of poverty. The research problem is examined through an assessment of the income levels, assets acquirement, expenditures patterns, food security and family relations. The hypotheses tested in the research are that, “The extent of ICBT is significant in Zimbabwe; ICBT in the Southern Africa region is mainly dominated by women; and that ICBT contributes positively to poverty reduction”. In this context, poverty reduction is said to have occurred when informal cross border trading would have resulted in an improvement in the socio-economic wellbeing of traders‟ households. The Poverty Datum Line (PDL) is used as the measure of households‟ well-being. To assess the impact of ICBT on well-being, a survey was conducted whereby in-depth interviews using the questionnaire method were used to collect primary data. Secondary information was obtained from documentary searches at institutions and also using internet searches. From this study it has been found that ICBT has both positive and negative impacts with regard to social welfare. With regard to economic welfare, based on poverty indicator measures used in the study, ICBT contributes positively to Poverty Reduction. Thus the analysis revealed that informal cross border trade plays an important role in alleviating economic hardships, reducing poverty and enhancing welfare and human development in Zimbabwe.

This research centres on the church's involvement in human development and poverty alleviation programmes. This thesis acknowledges that many Third World nations received political freedom from Western colonialists, but many of these countries failed to successfully exploit the political freedom to improve economic growth and human development. Poverty is therefore one of the major problems facing people in Third World countries. / Thesis (M.Th.)-University of Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2002

This thesis concerns the role that the church can play in alleviating poverty in Black rural communities in South Africa, through a case study ofthe Thaba'Nchu community in the Free State Province. The thesis argues that the policies of racial segregation of the apartheid era impacted very strongly on the Black communities in our country. Blacks were dispossessed, marginalized and suffered greatly. It is further argued that the New Dispensation after 1994 did very little to ensure that the poor in places like Thaha'Nchu enjoyed a meaningful standard of life. Poverty has continued to be a large factor in the lives of the rural Black South Africans. This situation obliges the church according to its calling to make a difference in the lives of the rural poor communities such as in Thaba'Nchu. It is argued that the Church does have a contribution to make in development. When poverty and unemployment have entrenched themselves in the community, the Church locally and ecumenically have the capacity and the potential to wage war against the scourge. To combat poverty, a clearly drawn programme of action needs to be formulated. This research proposes a two-pronged strategy where first, hunger gets addressed and second, sustainable income generating projects are initiated to empower the poor. / Thesis (M.Th.)-University of Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2002.

This study examines how the South African government's expenditure on social services impacts on the poverty levels in the country. To provide a background on poverty, different concepts and views on the subject are reviewed and then the nature and distribution of poverty in South Africa are discussed. In post-apartheid South Africa, the thrust of macroeconomic framework and corresponding policies implemented by the democratic government have been geared towards poverty alleviation, employment creation and national output expansion (economic growth). This study examines the trends in government expenditure on social services and uses econometric analyses to further investigate the effects of government spending on social services on the poverty levels in South Africa. Economic growth and employment opportunities will have to exist and complement fiscal redistribution to enable the poor lift themselves out of poverty in the long run. Improved targeting methods that correctly identify the poor could also ensure that social spending reaches the intended poor, thus narrowing the gap between macro policies and the poor, and preventing a waste of resources. Various poverty alleviation measures have been implemented, of which redistribution through the budgetary policy is an important one. As part of its package towards addressing the poverty problem, the post-apartheid government in South Africa has consistently been injecting considerable amounts of resources on inter alia, education, housing, welfare and health services. The initial results indicate that fiscal redistribution on its own is inadequate in combating poverty in South Africa. Models that incorporate economic growth and unemployment show that expenditure on social services do impact on poverty alleviation, in particular expenditure on housing, education and welfare. Further regression analyses show that poverty can be tackled through economic growth and employment creation. In short, there cannot be significant fiscal redistribution unless the South African economy registers high levels of economic growth and job creation. / Thesis (M.Comm.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2005.

The role of agriculture in rural development is widely documented in literature. Many analysts regard agriculture, specifically small-scale agriculture, as the cornerstone for viable and sustainable economic growth. Furthermore, the agricultural sector is seen as an effective instrument for poverty reduction, particularly in rural communities of developing countries where a large amount of poor people are concentrated. Indeed, analysts now agree that developing the agricultural sector is perhaps one of the most effective ways to address high levels of poverty evident in the developing world, and call on the world leaders to commit themselves to direct more investment into this sector. Using the avocado industry in Giheta-Burundi, this dissertation argues that some emerging crops (such as avocados) present enormous opportunities to income generation for small-scale farmers with the potentiality of diversifying cash crop farming in Burundi, an area currently dominated by coffee, tea and cotton. This study further suggests that avocado farming presents the economic, market and health potentiality to contribute to a viable and sustainable rural economy in Giheta Burundi, thereby reducing levels of poverty in this area. The main research question is as follows: “To what extent does the production of avocados benefit the income and wellbeing of small-scale farming households in Giheta?” Accordingly, the main policy concern is that if avocados are playing a crucial role for income generation, wellbeing and diet of the small-scale farmers in Giheta, the avocado sector needs to be substantially supported by both the private and public sectors in order to increase the capacity of avocado production in this area and subsequently enable small-scale farmers to gain greater income from this sector. All of which will contribute significantly to reducing levels of poverty in Giheta. This dissertation is 42 266 words in length excluding references and appendices. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2011.

Social assistance in the form of cash grants is a large and fiscally costly component of anti-poverty policy in South Africa. A critical question arises: Are the grants effective tools for reducing poverty in South Africa and, moreover, how significant is their impact on poverty? As a measure of reducing poverty, the government has expanded the social grants system since the advent of the new democracy in 1994. The country's social grant system is quite comprehensive and it is intended to cover vulnerable individuals over their life course from childhood to adulthood and into old age. Policy discourse surrounding the grants centres on the sustainability of the system and its implications for socio-economic development and poverty alleviation. It is therefore important that the significance of grants is identified and assessed particularly in relation to very poor households. This dissertation focuses specifically on one particular grant, namely, the old age pension. It does so in the context of the sustainable livelihoods conceptual framework and the history of the social grant system in South Africa. Statistical data collected by the South African government as well as more localised evidence gathered in the Eastern Cape town of Grahamstown is used to ascertain the significance of old age pensions for poverty reduction. While there is some evidence to suggest that pensions contribute to poverty reduction, this does not translate into poverty alleviation. In fact, there is some unevenness in the impact of pensions on poverty. In this regard, the decision-making structures in poor households regularly influence the way pension money is allocated and used within households. Grant money is normally shared in extended households, such that the pension does not simply benefit the recipient but the recipient's household as a whole. Although there is cause for concern regarding the propensity of social grants to affect people's behaviour negatively, there is a case to be made for retaining grants as an important, though not the only, form of anti-poverty strategy. This highlights the need for continued research on the social grant system and pensions more specifically.

Local economic development in South Africa has been a term used to define interventions to promote economic development in a specific area ranging from small neighborhood through to a region or district. Approaches to LED have developed and changed as local economies have had to respond to changing impacts in the global economy. Local economic development projects range from simple and small to larger and more complex actions and programmes. They are aimed at changing local socio-economic relationships fundamentally over time. At the core of LED is the need to involve local people and institutions in the development of their local economies by focusing on opportunities for economic growth, employment creation through empowerment as well as social and economic transformation. Local economic development is most importantly about people working together to achieve sustainable economic growth that brings economic benefits and quality of life improvements for all in the local community. In an attempt to assess the role of LED on poverty alleviation in NMBM three LED projects were identified. Participants were members of the projects. The study found that, indeed LED projects do have a positive impact in changing socio- economic conditions of the local people. LED initiatives play a role towards poverty alleviation and economic development since they contribute towards job creation, skills transfer, infrastructure development and improving livelihoods of the people community.

The current study aimed at investigating the contribution of land redistribution programme towards poverty alleviation in Misgund development project. The study was conducted in the Eastern Cape Province within Cacadu District at Koukamma Local Municipality in a rural town of Misgund. The study employed qualitative research method, with a sample of ten project beneficiaries who are both men and women. The unstructured interviews were used to collect data for the study and supplemented by scholarly texts, journals articles, policy documents, reports, newspapers and magazines articles. The data was analysed using coding, listing, categorising and content analysis as data analysis methods. After the data was analysed it was interpreted to obtain information to address problems and come up with recommendations. The study revealed the effects that the land redistribution programme has in the lives of the rural people of Misgund, which include amongst others, poverty alleviation, women empowerment and job creation. The involvement of the project beneficiaries in the conception of the project and their participation in decision making is of importance as it contributes to the sustainability of the project. It is recommended that the Department of Land Reform should consider involving the communities when deciding on the choice of the project that will be funded, so as to obtain information and history of the project to be purchased. It is also important to determine the estimated time of harvesting and when the project will start producing dividends so as to sensitise the project beneficiaries.