The general paucity of evaluation of development initiatives, particularly in the African context, demands that the role of evaluation in the development process is promoted. In essence, this follows when a sound understanding of development issues and the dynamics of evaluation have been acquired. After setting out the general parameters of development and evaluation and giving a brief description of the wider church's involvement in development, three church-related development projects are evaluated. A Rapid Rural Appraisal of the development proposals for the farms, Springvale and Modderspruit, belonging to the Anglican Diocese of Natal, highlights issues inhibiting the intended development process. A summative evaluation of basic human needs illustrates the impact that Africa Cooperative Action Trust (ACAT) has had on the Emzumbe district and recommends necessary extensions to its present programme. These three evaluations serve to accentuate the role evaluation ought to have in the development process. / Development Studies / M.A. (Development Administration)

The focus of this study is to investigate changes induced by rapid tourism development in a Tai Yai village, Ban Sob Ruak (BSR), in the Golden Triangle of northern Thailand. From the geographical point of view, the transformation of the village can be regarded as a change of place, while from the sociological point of view, the transformation can be explained in the context of modernization. These two closely related aspects of change were examined in this study in the context of modernization theory and the concepts of Gemeinschaft and Gesellschaft. The study gathered data through use of surveys, in-depth interviews, field checks, aerial photographs and consultative meetings. Three sets of structured questionnaires were developed for three surveys. Major findings of the study suggest that: (1) During a period of less than 10 years, tourism has contributed to significant changes in BSR in various areas: socio-economic, cultural, land ownership and use. For example, one quarter of residents had changed their main occupations from farming to tourism-related jobs, household income and land values, in particular, had considerably increased. The residents of BSR, in general, have a very positive perception towards tourism impacts. The study, however, recommended that the monitoring of residents' perceptions towards tourism development in BSR in the long term should be undertaken. After nearly a decade, drawbacks of tourism in the village have emerged in various forms, e.g. increased social differentiation and materialism, water and visual pollution, and increased exploitation of forest resources by the community. These drawbacks, if left unchecked, may affect residents' perceptions towards tourism impacts in the future. (2) Tourism-induced loss of control over local resources, especially land, has tended to increase social differentiation and depletion of forest resources by the community. (3) BSR residents have been tremendously successful in the business skills required to benefit from tourism development in spite of a lack of external support. (4) The residents of BSR have adjusted in two ways to cope with tourism development, revitalization and adoption. The study results also suggest that tourism seems capable of catalyzing the modernization process in host communities, especially in rural areas. In terms of tourism management, the study argues that a community approach to tourism planning may be promising for application in less developed countries. Government support, however, is likely to be necessary for this purpose. Finally, it is argued that tourism can be an effective tool for rural development. BSR is an example of unplanned tourism development without support from the government. Public participation, however, made the tourism industry a desirable alternative development strategy for the village. Serious attention from the government is imperative if tourism is to be a successful tool for rural development. / Graduate

Please read the abstract in the section 04back of this document / Dissertation (MEd (Vocational Orientation Pedagogics))--University of Pretoria, 2006. / Educational Psychology / unrestricted

Please read the abstract in the section 00front of this document / Thesis (PhD (Agricultural Economics))--University of Pretoria, 2007. / Agricultural Economics, Extension and Rural Development / unrestricted

Development has suffered a great deal due to the frequent changes that occur in life and these changes inevitably cause conflict. A typical example is the research setting, the Bawku Municipal area in Ghana. This area has suffered severe forms of conflict which in one way or the other have affected the development of the district and the people as a whole. The effect of conflict has not only affected the rural development but also social, human, intellectual, economic and technological developments in general. While the aim of all countries is to develop, some may have reached a stage where they qualify as developed; others are still in the process of reaching their goal; yet others are still struggling to barely survive thus the names ‗developed countries, developing countries and under developed countries‘. Most developing countries are faced with the problem of rural underdevelopment and Ghana is no exception. Most rural areas have been neglected in the development project of the country. Resources are channelled to the urban areas and other places where the government reaps profits; however the Bawku municipal area has not only suffered underdevelopment from government negligence but also from conflict. The district of Bawku has been in tribal war stretching for the past ten years. This has stalled most developmental works from both government and external bodies. The area is one of the poorest places in Ghana; the problem is not only with rural development but social, economic and human development as well.

As yet, neighbourhood rehabilitation remains an untried method of urban renewal in Vancouver in spite of its obvious economic advantages in arresting deterioration and thereby avoiding costly programmes of total clearance and redevelopment. Rehabilitation has, moreover, important social benefits: it requires the participation of residents and provides an opportunity to improve physical conditions while preserving the structure of social relations and institutions necessary for a dynamic community. The present study explores the potential for rehabilitation of an area of East Kitsilano designated by the City of Vancouver Redevelopment Study (1956) as suitable for rehabilitation. The examination is made in relation to residents' interests and institutional resources present in the area and is intended as a sequel to an earlier study of citizen participation in neighbourhood rehabilitation carried out as a Master of Social Work thesis in 1962 in the Lower Mount Pleasant area of Vancouver. For the present study a preliminary survey was made of the physical characteristics of the area followed by interviews with representatives of selected social organizations and with a small sample of residents. Supporting data on households and population characteristics were derived from the D.B.S. censuses and the City Voters List. There emerges from the survey a picture of a neighbourhood with enough social and physical assets to make a programme of rehabilitation both feasible and exigent. East Kitsilano differs from Lower Mount Pleasant in possessing a larger number of indigenous voluntary organizations capable, if the conditions are right, of providing the leadership and support for a planned programme of rehabilitation. But there are, at present, substantial obstacles to the initiation of such a programme. These include, (a) indifference on the part of residents to their surroundings and to the quality of neighbourhood amenities (b) a tenuous identification with the neighbourhood associated, it would appear, with a relatively high ratio of tenant occupancy (c) inexperience generally of the residents in the kind of co-operative activity necessary to implement a rehabilitation programme. The present study, like the earlier one of Lower Mount Pleasant, confirms the importance of establishing appropriate administrative structure and procedures at the official level for a city-wide programme of neighbourhood rehabilitation. This programme, moreover, should be conceived and executed as an integral part of the City's urban renewal planning. There is little liklihood of a local organization interested in rehabilitation arising spontaneously and the provision of a trained community organization worker appears essential to mobilize interest, initiate action and maintain liaison between residents and local government. It is also desirable that the boundaries of any area proposed for rehabilitation be defined so as to correspond as nearly as possible with existing natural social areas. / Arts, Faculty of / Social Work, School of / Graduate

Rural Guangdong before 1949 was characterized by an exploitive system derived from the alliance of wealth and power among the landlords, clans, the rich and the gentry. This network of exploitive relations not only controlled the resources--i.e., land, credit and markets—which were most essential to the livelihood of the peasants, but also created numerous blockages in the system making it impossible to have any input injected from the outside trickle down. Rural development in Guangdong after 1949 began with the land reform movement, but it was only when collectivization was carried out through the establishment of cooperatives and rural communes, such exploitive relations were eradicated. A rural development strategy, however, did not emerge until after the fateful years of agricultural crisis and the Soviet pull-out. This strategy was aimed at the development of infrastructure for both agricultural and rural development through collectivization. It postulated that only when the infrastructure for agriculture was strengthened, could agricultural production be increased and funds and surplus for the development of supportive structure, such as rural industries, health care and education in the rural system be generated. And only when such supportive structure was developed and consolidated could new inputs be created to increase agricultural production further. It was through such a spiral process of generating, reinvesting and retaining rural surplus that rural development was implemented and realized. And it was in such a manner that rural development fulfilled various objectives to become an integral part of a strategy for development. / Arts, Faculty of / Anthropology, Department of / Graduate

Agriculture has always been part and parcel of people in rural communities. As far as South Africa is concerned it is estimated that about one third of the people in rural communities have access to land for farming practices. Unfortunately land available for farming is not used optimally despite efforts from governmental authorities and developing agencies to introduce farming practices which could enhance the development of rural agriculture. Simultaneously information exists which could be applied to help small-scale farmers to improve farming practices. However, the transfer of information to rural communities without considering the information usage behaviour of target groups proved to be ineffective. This study is essentially an investigation to establish how information from the developed world can contribute to improve rural agriculture which in turn can contribute to the upliftment of people in rural communities. To address the problem eight objectives were set. That is, to determine the value of information in rural agriculture, determine how information is communicated in rural communities, determine the information usage behaviour of small-scale farmers, explore the existing information systems which could support access to information, identify factors which could influence the transfer process at grassroots level, identify mechanisms which could enhance the effective transfer of required information and develop a model which can serve as a guideline for the development of an effective transfer strategy. In order to obtain background information of the circumstances under which information is to be transferred an extensive literature study has been carried out regarding, development in rural communities, including the impact of the oral tradition still prevailing in rural communities, the existing state of rural agriculture in South Africa, the value of information as a resource, the information transfer process as it manifests in rural communities, including information systems atthe disposal of target groups in rural areas, transfer techniques and mechanisms appropriate, as well as factors impacting the transfer process. The Phokoane Case provided a real-life situation where the practical application of information transfer to small-scale farmers could be investigated in depth. The outcome of this investigation proved that information as a resource is imperative for the development of rural agriculture. Although not tangible, it acts as a dynamic force which can empower recipients to take informed decisions. The transfer of information to small-scale farmers (and rural people in general) differs markedly from transfer practices in the developed world. Due to an unawareness of what information entails and a lack of background to modern farming practices, there will be no demand for information. Therefore, a deliberate transfer effort is required. Information from the information resource system of the developed world can best be transferred when transfer techniques and mechanisms from the indigenous information system are applied. The service of a facilitator who is knowledgeable of both worlds and who knows how to coordinate and manage information, is imperative. A model has been developed which can serve as a guideline for the design of effective information transfer strategies to be used in development programmes. / Thesis (D Phil (Information Science))--University of Pretoria, 2006. / Information Science / unrestricted

Conservation Agriculture (CA) involves the practice of three interlinked principles of minimum soil disturbance, a permanent soil cover and crop rotation. CA has been promoted in Africa to address food security and environmental challenges. However, adoption of the technology has been slow. Although several studies have been done to understand the factors that affect CA adoption, only a few have investigated the role played by social systems in adoption. Further to this, these adoption studies have methodological limitations, which fail to evaluate farmers’ attitudes to the technology and their perceived effects of social and institutional factors on CA adoption. This study investigated the effects of the social system (represented by attitudes, by-laws, customs and social influence) in the decision to adopt the three CA principles. It also further sought to determine the influence institutional factors (access to markets, implements, credit and extension services) on adoption. The effects of the same predictor variables on the area under CA were also explored. The study applies the Theory of Planned Behaviour. Further, the study also compared the adoption of CA principles between female and male farmers and between the rich and the poor. The study targeted CA adopters in Nkayi, Zimbabwe and Choma, Zambia. The study found differences in attitudes to CA benefits between the two districts, suggesting that the farmers’ perceptions of CA depend on the perceived performance of the CA options promoted in a particular context. The effects of the social system factors and institutional factors on CA adoption and on the area under CA had mixed results. By-laws had a significant positive relationship with the practice of minimum soil disturbance but negative relationship with the practice of soil cover and crop rotation. Social influence and customs had significant positive correlation with the area under CA but no significant effects on the adoption of CA principles. Institutional factors had a significantly negative relationship with practice of minimum soil disturbance but a positive relationship with the practice of crop rotation and the area under CA, which suggests that more institutional support is required for the practise of minimum soil disturbance than for crop rotation and area allocated to CA. The study found no significant difference in adoption of CA principles between male and female farmers, although female farmers adopted two or more CA principles than male farmers. Despite this, female adopters had significantly lower yields from their CA fields than male farmers. The study also found that a significantly higher number of poor farmers adopted two principles (which involved the practice of minimum soil disturbance with either soil cover or crop rotation) than rich farmers. No significant difference between the rich and the poor were found in the adoption of the principle of minimum soil disturbance and adoption of all three CA principles. However, more poor households adopted the minimum soil disturbance principle, while more rich farmers adopted all three CA principles. The conclusions drawn for these findings are that the effects of the social system components and institutional factors on the uptake of CA depend on how the particular CA principle fits into the social and institutional environment and if the CA principle can be adapted to the local environment. The lack of significant effect of social influence on adoption of CA principles suggested that other factors within the social system, such as alternative sources of information, trust, technology complexity or community values may prohibit social learning. The study recommends agriculture extension services and policymakers to pay more attention to these issues in the promotion of CA by addressing the barriers and adapting CA to local contexts. The study also concluded that the deliberate targeting of the poor and women can help them adopt CA principles. However, there is still need to address challenges that may limit poor farmers from adopting the full CA package; and women from achieving high CA yields. / Thesis (PhD (Rural Development))--University of Pretoria, 2020. / Agricultural Economics, Extension and Rural Development / PhD (Rural Development) / Unrestricted

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