M.Ed. / Volhoubare ontwikkeling verwys na ontwikkeling wat in teenswoordige behoeftes voorsien sonder om die vermoë van toekomstige geslagte om in hul behoeftes te voorsien te benadeel. Die feit dat volhoubare ontwikkeling noodsaaklik is vir die oorlewing van alle lewende wesens is reeds algemene kennis. Dit is ook bekend dat die bevolkings van plattelandse gebiede wêreldwyd dit moeilik vind om ‘n aanvaarbare leefstyl te handhaaf. Teen hierdie agtergrond het die onderhawige studie gepoog om die stand van volhoubare ontwikkeling in ‘n spesifieke plattelandse streek in Mpumalanga te ondersoek. In ‘n gekombineerde kwalitatiewe en kwantitatiewe benadering is die persepsies van ‘n groep respondente met betrekking tot die implementering van volhoubare ontwikkeling in hulle areas ondersoek. Die veldwerk is gedoen teen die agtergrond van ‘n studie van verskillende aspekte van volhoubare ontwikkeling, insluitende definisies en ‘n kort historiese oorsig. Aspekte van volhoubare ontwikkeling in die Suid-Afrikaanse konteks is ook kortliks bespreek. In hierdie studie, wat in die Opvoedkunde onderneem is, is ook gefokus op die rol van Omgewingsopvoeding in volhoubare ontwikkeling. Drie-punt- en vyf-punt-skaal vraelyste is aan ‘n groep inwoners van drie streke in die Nelspruit-omgewing gestuur. Die gegewens wat hiermee ingewin is, is verwerk om ‘n beeld te kry van die impak van aspekte wat in die vraelyste ingesluit is, veral ten opsigte van die verligting van armoede, werksvoorsiening, dienste, die rol van gemeenskappe en tradisionele leiers, bevolkingsaanwas, buitelandse beleggings, veiligheid, MIV/VIGS en so meer. Hierdie aspekte is verder kwalitatief ontleed na aanleiding van ses semi-gestruktureerde individuele onderhoude wat met verskillende rolspelers in die betrokke gemeenskappe gevoer is. Hoewel die onderhoude volgens ‘n vooropgestelde skedule gevoer is, is respondente toegelaat om hul eie insette te lewer. In die uitvoer van die veldwerk en by die ontleding van data is verskillende aspekte van vertrouenswaardigheid van navorsing in die geesteswetenskappe in ag geneem. Die gegewens wat uit die vraelyste verkry is, is aanvanklik bespreek, gevolg deur ‘n samevatting van temas uit die onderhoude. Hierdie ontleding het bevestig wat reeds in die vraelyste duidelik geword het, naamlik dat volhoubare ontwikkeling in die betrokke gebiede grootliks ‘n onvervulde ideaal bly, met min of geen praktiese toepassing. Omgewingsbewustheid en –opvoeding is steeds nie na wense nie. Verskillende redes hiervoor is aangevoer, maar die hoofoorsaak blyk armoede te wees. Hoewel verskeie inwoners oorspronklike planne het om hul omstandighede te verbeter, is daar ‘n gebrek aan geld en hulpbronne om dit tot uitvoer te bring. As gevolg van die agterstande ten opsigte van opvoeding en onderwys wat in die vorige politieke bedeling ontstaan het, is daar ook nie voldoende vaardighede om mense in staat te stel om programme sinvol te implementeer en te bestuur nie. Respondente beleef ook dat buitelandse beleggings nie bydra om hul lot te verbeter nie en dat daar min gedoen word om hul veiligheid te verseker. Inwoners neem in sommige gevalle die reg in eie hande om hulle teen bendes te beskerm. ‘n Kommerwekkende bevinding is die feit dat bevolkingsgroei-programme wat daarop gemik is om bevolkingsaanwas te vertraag misluk op grond van die bedrag wat deur die staat toegeken word vir babas. Jong meisies raak swanger om hierdie paar rand per maand te bekom. Hierdie saak word vererger op grond van die feit dat werkloosheid aan die orde van die dag is. Die studie is afgesluit met aanbevelings – gegrond op data wat in die ondersoek verkry is – ten opsigte van volhoubare ontwikkeling in die betrokke gebiede. Dit behels onder meer die volgende: • Die ontwerp van werkbare strategieë vir volhoubare ontwikkeling. Hierdie strategieë moet binne aanvaarbare tydsgrense toegepas word. • Die infra-struktuur en dienslewering moet verbeter word. • Ekonomiese ontwikkeling op ‘n gemeenskapsgrondslag is van kardinale belang. • Vaardigheidsontwikkeling, nie net ten opsigte van konkrete arbeid nie, maar ook met betrekking tot die bestuur van projekte moet voorop gestel word. • Veiligheidsmaatreëls in plattelandse gebiede moet opgeskerp word. • Gemeenskappe moet omgewingsbewus gemaak word, veral deur middel van omgewingsopvoeding. • Almal behoort betrokke te wees by die voorkoming van MIV/VIGS. • Plattelandse gemeenskappe behoort finansieel ondersteun te word. / Prof. H.G. van Rooyen

This study aims to evaluate Rural Development Policy (RDP) and its ability to meet environmental objectives at European, national and regional levels. Policy evaluation is necessary to assess the processes and impact of policies and programmes to meet desired outcomes, to further ensure accountability of public funds. There a number of evaluation approaches that have varying abilities to examine the variety of interacting policy determinants. This study explores both quantitative and qualitative methods to evaluate the Scottish RDP Rural Priorities scheme performance for the programme period 2007-2013. The Rural Priorities scheme is an important mechanism for achieving environmental objectives through regionalisation. Spatial econometrics, in-depth interviews, and stakeholder power mapping were used to assess policy determinants, such as; farming characteristics, land capability, designated sites status, and accessibility and population as well as less tangible policy aspects such as; policy design, stakeholder power balances, and governance structures. Furthermore these methods were assessed singularly and in collaboration in their abilities to identify strengths and weakness in RDP participatory and environmental performance. This diversity of information contributes to the European Commission funded research project, SPARD (Spatial Analysis of Rural Development), which aims to help policy-makers understand the causal relationships between rural development measures and their consequences in a spatial dimension.

Magister Philosophiae (Land and Agrarian Studies) - MPhil(LAS) / This study is about the place of traditional authorities in local level land administration and rural governance in contemporary Mozambique. It came about as a result of the publication of the Decree 15/2000 that recognised traditional authorities after their abolition more than 20 years earlier. This study seeks to examine four inter-related themes: the role of traditional authorities in local level land administration in Mozambique; why the government recognised traditional authorities in the year 2000 after having abolished them more than 20 years earlier; whether the recognition of hereditary traditional authorities is consistent with principles of democracy; and lastly to investigate whether the practices taking place on the ground are an expression of democracy as envisaged by the country’s constitution. The study is based on documental research on the subject, as well as on fieldwork in the community of Chirindzene, Gaza Province in Southern Mozambique. It argues that generalisations about the role of traditional authorities in local level land administration may be misleading. Drawing from the case study in Chirindzene, it shows that it was only the lowest level of the traditional authority structure (the lineage level) that continued having influence in land allocation and distribution after independence in this area. With regard to the recognition of traditional authorities, the study argues that an appreciation of the changing global context is important to understand this dramatic shift. The study argues that the Decree 15/2000 and its regulations are weakening the democratic experience initiated in 1970s by allowing rural populations be ruled by hereditary rulers who are not elected. For this reason, the rural population does not enjoy full citizenship rights because they are ruled by both elected structures and appointed ones. / South Africa

Masters in Public Administration - MPA / The central government has attached great importance to the development of rural enterprises in China. As a result, rural enterprises have developed rapidly and become an important part of the national economy. The primary aim of this study was to examine how public policy has influenced the development of rural enterprises. The changes in public policy since 1978 did play a positive role in developing rural enterprises. These positive roles have been manifested in the ideological base of policy, financial and tax policies, improving management and technological strategy. / South Africa

Philosophiae Doctor - PhD / This thesis examines livelihoods in the wake of agricultural commercialization under the Revitalization of Smallholder Irrigation Schemes (RESIS) Programme and similar revitalization initiatives within the Olifants River Basin in Limpopo Province. The focus is on contractual joint ventures and strategic partnerships implemented within selected smallholder irrigation schemes. The thesis is based primarily on in-depth empirical studies conducted between October 2003 and March 2009 in three sites located in two Integrated Sustainable Rural Development Programme (ISRDP) poverty nodes namely, Greater Sekhukhune and Vhembe Districts. To a lesser extent, the thesis draws on findings from rapid appraisals of five additional study sites in Greater Sekhukhune District. Research findings showed that the performance of joint ventures and strategic partnerships had so far largely fallen short of expectations. With the exception of a minority of small holders involved in RESIS-Recharge strategic partnerships, the promise of higher incomes and improved livelihoods had often remained elusive, while debts and potential losses of often meagre household assets loomed large, threatening to erode existing livelihoods and undermine government interventions. This was mainly because ‘viability’ in both the RESIS and RESIS-Recharge phases was narrowly seen in economic and technical terms, such that reduction of transaction costs often entailed the divesting of responsibilities to address issues of rural poverty and inequality. Subsistence production had largely given way to commercially-orientated farming, and weak monitoring of contract formulation and implementation meant that voices of marginalized poor and vulnerable people, particularly women and the elderly, were not being heard. Research findings further revealed that while RESIS-Recharge strategic partnerships increased incomes for a minority of smallholders, such arrangements did not meaningfully improve the productive, managerial and marketing skills of smallholders to ensure their effective participation in agriculture. Rather, strategic partnerships were creating a small class of black ‘arm-chair’ farmers, who played little or no active role and obtained few or no skills in commercial farming but perpetually depended upon and drew incomes from agribusiness initiatives run by externally-based agents. Adjunct to questions of sustainability for these farmers’ ability to participate in commercial farming, the thesis raises the question: What is the rationale for joint ventures and strategic partnerships in the context of South Africa’s Agricultural Sector Strategy objectives for support to black farmers? Contracts lacked mechanisms for equitable distribution of costs and benefits between contracted private partners and targeted smallholders, on the one hand, and the rest of members of local communities, on the other hand. Contracts also lacked provisions for post project recapitalization of infrastructure and rehabilitation of degraded land. This raised questions about the longer term sustainability of productivity, natural resource base and livelihood security in smallholder irrigation schemes. The conclusion of this thesis is that the challenge of reducing rural poverty and inequality in smallholder irrigation schemes might not be resolved through existing institutional approaches to agricultural commercialization.

In recent decades, Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) have increasingly taken on development and political roles in Africa. This has partly been attributed to the New Policy Agenda (NPA) mounted by the international donors. The NPA is predicated on neo-liberal thinking advocating for an enlarged development role for the private sector and a minimalist state. This relatively new shift in development thought has been motivated by the declining capacity of the African state to deliver development and guarantee a liberal political system. This study, therefore, set out to empirically examine whether NGOs are capable of effectively playing their new-found development and political roles. The study was based on Kenya with the Western Province constituting the core research area. The fact that the Kenyan state has been gradually disengaging from the development process has created a vacuum of which the NGOs have attempted to fill. Equally important has been the observation that, for the greater part of the post-colonial period, the state has been largely authoritarian and therefore prompting a segment of civil society to take on political roles in an effort to force it to liberalize and democratize. Urban NGOs in particular, have been the most confrontational to the state with some remarkable success. Unlike their urban counterparts, rural-based NGOs have tended to be more developmental and play a politics of collaboration with the state. Many of the latter NGOs, although playing a significant role in rural development, have been co-opted into patron-client networks. Factors that influence NGOs= posture towards the state include the nature of their leadership, the extent of their nternational connections, and the level of resources at their disposal. The study=s principal conclusion, is that, in as much as NGOs and overall civil society have provided a basis for development and opposition to the state, there is an urgent and growing need for them to shift from a position of dependency, whether domestic or international, to relative autonomy. Only then, will their contributions be sustainable in society.

No abstract available. / Dissertation (MConsSc)--University of Pretoria, 2005. / Consumer Science / unrestricted

The problem discussed in this dissertation is to gather evidence of good practice and derive strategy for the development of ICT access in rural Zambia. Access to ICT services is important, also in rural areas of Africa. The challenges are many. There is a distinct void in tangible descriptions of the realities of ICT Access in rural areas or actionable guidelines for practitioners. This study involves a case study in the rural areas of Zambia. It does so through ethnography involving 10 years of observation of aspects of ICT access in rural Macha, Zambia. In this community, emerging from an articulated vision, ICT access in the form of the Internet arrived in 2004. Macha Works with its ICT unit LinkNet provides the basis for this interpretive approach from within the rural cultural setting. The purpose of the study is to benefit the local rural community, addressing the fundamentals of reality to add to the body of knowledge. The study involves cross cultural interaction and takes a trans-disciplinary view on science. It involves Participative Action Learning and Research aimed at recognising the complex adaptive systems while being aligned with the ethics of the rural African environment. Emphasis is on the needs of the community, rather than of the individual utilising empirical evidence. The good practices in Macha that inform strategy to make ICT accessible in rural areas are: engaging the community, building relationships; workforce development, unlocking productivity; thought leadership, establishing authority.

This research report aims to explore the potential of an Asset-Based Community Development (ABCD) approach in Leliefontein. Through the ABCD process, an inventory of the individual capacities of a sample group will be undertaken, as well as an inventory of the significant local associations, organisations and institutions, as well as their capacities. The objective will be to use the asset-mapping process to challenge negative community self-perceptions, enabling them to build new, positive images that empower and release latent potential. The information gathered will also be made available to the individuals, organisations, associations and institutions within the community, along with some ideas on how mutually beneficial partnerships can be developed. The key objective will be to assist the community of Leliefontein, to no longer regard themselves from a deficit mindset, but positively, as a community with tremendous resources, assets and relationships that can be harnessed for 4 community economic development. Asset-mapping can then be used by local organisations to build new relationships within the community, as well as relationships that harness resources outside of the immediate community.

Knowledge of water use, through water foot printing (WF) in smallholder agriculture crop production is the key to the global fight against poverty, achievement of food security and sustainability within the world’s rural community. Water footprint of a crop can be defined as the volume of fresh water used to produce a certain crop in all the steps in the production line. This study, therefore aimed at contributing towards improvements in rural livelihoods by raising awareness of the increased productive use of green, blue and grey water in smallholder agriculture in South Africa. This was done through determination of water footprints of five vegetable crops, i.e. potatoes (Solanum tuberosum), tomatoes (Solanum lycopersicum), dry beans (Phaseolus vulgaris), cabbage (Brassica oleracea spp) and spinach (Spinacia oleracea) in the 2000-2013 period. Quantification of water footprints has been done worldwide but, in South Africa (SA) focus has mostly been on the industrial and domestic sector. Water footprint assessment framework, was used to estimate the full impact of vegetable production on water resources at Zanyokwe, Thabina and Tugela Ferry irrigation schemes as case studies. The CROPWAT@ model was used to calculate crop evapotranspiration, differentiating green and blue water. Local climatic data were obtained from SA weather services, while the crop and soil parameters were obtained from the FAO data base. Nitrogen was considered the main pollutant hence its use in the grey water footprint calculation. Generally, Thabina irrigation scheme had the highest water footprint, followed by Tugela Ferry irrigation scheme whilst Zanyokwe irrigation scheme had the lowest. Green beans had the highest water footprint at all the three irrigation schemes with Thabina irrigation scheme having the highest (3535.1 m3/ton). For Tugela Ferry irrigation scheme, the calculated WF was 2753 m3/ton whilst the lowest was observed at ZIS i.e. 2407.6 m3/ton. Cabbage had the lowest water footprint. The highest water footprint for growing cabbage was 254.5 m3/ton in TFIS, 223.1 m3/ton in TIS and the lowest was 217.8 m3/ton in ZIS. The differences observed in the WF of a crop at each scheme maybe attributed to the differences management, weather and environmental characteristics, in the three locations. Moreover, the needs for ET are related to soil type and plant growth, and primarily depend on crop development and climatic factors which are closely related to climatic demands. The grey water footprint was calculated using the recommended fertilizer application rates for all the three sites. Green beans had the highest WFgrey i.e. 373 m3/ton and the lowest was cabbage with 37 m3/ton. Potato, spinach and tomatoes had 156 m3/ton, 214 m3/ton and 132 m3/ton, respectively. Grey water footprint in this study was higher as compared to other studies, possibly because of the high rates of nitrogen fertilizers used in the calculations and the low yields farmers get. Compared with estimates from other studies, the water footprints of vegetable production within smallholder irrigation schemes was relatively high. There is therefore, a need to focus on crop management and tillage practices that will help in increasing yield while minimizing water usage.