A great deal of research has demonstrated that Non-Timber Forest Products (NTFPs) play a crucial role in the livelihoods of the rural poor, and are particularly important to the most marginalised people throughout the developing world. However, these livelihood benefits are not without cost to the natural resource base that rural communities depend so heavily upon. The continued dependence on NTFPs as a major livelihood source must be contingent upon the minimisation of the level of disturbance created through this dependency. This study assesses the level of disturbance created through natural resource harvesting in eight study sites around South Africa, and applies a predictive conceptual model created by Shankaar et al. (2004b) to try and ascertain under what conditions the level of disturbance created through natural resource harvesting will be high. It assesses the three key factors that Shankaar et al. (2004b) identified (level of Local Ecological Knowledge (LEK), level of dependency and access to markets) in relation to the level of disturbance found at each of the study sites. It was found that there was a statistically significant relationship between the level of dependency and the level of disturbance, but there was no statistically significant relationship between either access to markets or the level of LEK and disturbance. Regulation of land use is a key issue, with weak local institutions in communal areas making effective resource management difficult. The significance of these findings is discussed, and priorities for future research are identified. This study adds to the body of knowledge related to NTFP harvesting and critically analyses the conflicts between the livelihood gains and the level of disturbance created through NTFP harvesting in an attempt to ascertain how livelihoods can be safeguarded. And in the longer-term, so that management strategies can be identified where resource extraction is not at the cost of undermining the very livelihoods that depend upon the natural resource base.

This study examines the socio-economic impact of fair trade on black emerging citrus fruit farmers in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa. It is a comparative analysis of farmers involved in fair trade and those who are not. Farmers from Riverside Enterprise and Sundays River Citrus Cooperative were examined to evaluate the impact of fair trade. Such impact was analyzed through looking at access farmers have to foreign markets and their ability to receive high income returns from these markets. The study also discusses the influence fair trade has on the social and economic development of the farmers’ communities. The findings of the study indicate how most fair trade communities have benefited financially and through public infrastructure such as crèches, learning centers and access to computers for both farmers and workers. Such public developments are funded through the fair trade social dividend which is a premium farmers receive for selling their fruit under fair trade. However, the study findings also indicate the limitations of fair trade; farmers have to incur high costs to become fair trade accredited. The study also examines the commodity value chains (hereinafter referred to as CVC) for citrus fair trade farmers and non fair trade farmers. This analysis reveals the procedure of value chains, their benefits and constraints.

In recent years, immense effort has been channelled towards the Information and Technological development of rural areas. To support this development, telecommunication networks have been deployed. The availability of these telecommunication networks is expected to improve the way people share ideas and communicate locally and globally, reducing limiting factors like distance through the use of the Internet. The major problem for these networks is that very few of them have managed to stay in operation over long periods of time. One of the major causes of this failure is the lack of proper monitoring and management as, in some cases, administrators are located far away from the network site. Other factors that contribute to the frequent failure of these networks are lack of proper infrastructure, lack of a constant power supply and other environmental issues. A telecommunication network was deployed for the people of Dwesa by the Siyakhula Living Lab project. During this research project, frequent visits were made to the site and network users were informally interviewed in order to gain insight into the network challenges. Based on the challenges, different network monitoring systems and other solutions were deployed on the network. This thesis analyses the problems encountered and presents possible and affordable solutions that were implemented on the network. This was done to improve the network‟s reliability, availability and manageability whilst exploring possible and practical ways in which the connectivity of the deployed telecommunication network can be maintained. As part of these solutions, a GPRS redundant link, Nagios and Cacti monitoring systems as well as Simple backup systems were deployed. v Acronyms AC Access Concentrators AMANDA Automatic Marylyn Network Disk Archiver CDMA Code Divison Multiple Access CGI Common Gateway Interface.

Information and Communication Technology (ICT) is widely regarded as a key tool for bringing about development to people who live in underserved areas. Technologies such as mobile phones and Wi-Fi are seen as advantageous because they can be made available to poor places without the cost of building extensive physical infrastructure. However, researchers argue that ICTs have failed to live up to their potential in the context of development. Researchers point out developing countries lack frameworks to guide them through the implementation of ICTs in this context. The objective of this study is to come up with a framework that can be used in rural areas in South Africa to implement ICT projects. The researcher interviewed individuals who have been directly involved in an ICT initiative in a rural setting in the Eastern Cape Province to learn from their experiences. The researcher also studied publications that have been produced from these initiatives in order to gain a richer understanding. The findings of the study show that participants share similar views about how ICT projects should be approached and implemented in rural areas in South Africa. The views are grouped according to similarity into themes and discussed in detail in the study. From these themes a framework that can help implement ICT projects in rural areas is developed.

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

The concepts "capital building" and 'Institutionalisation" are analysed and applied to community arts centres as instruments for socio-economic development (SED) in South Africa. Theories of neo-classicism, Marxism, development economics and socio-economic development show that building physical, financial, human, social and cultural capital in a complementary configuration is crucial to sustainable socio-economic development. The concept "capital building for SED" is formulated in this regard. New institutional economics and critical extensions of this theory show that institutions play a key role in capital building for SED, as they entail embeddedness, normativity, e-ntreprcneurship, partnership, structure and complementarity. The arts sector contributes considerably to capital building for SED, in particular arts centres in marginalized communities in the UK, USA and South Africa. Community arts centres built political, cultural and human capital in black townships during the South African democratic struggle (1950-92). In accordance with proposals from the arts sector, the post-1994 South African government developed 42 arts centres. However, the contribution of most old and new centres to socio-economic development appears to be insignificant and few are sustainable. The causes of failure are difficult to explain due to lack of information and theory. Through the application of a theoretical framework to the South African arts sector and three case studies the hypothesis is tested that community arts centres can contribute considerably to capital building for SED if they are appropriately institutionalised, while an appropriate focus on capital building for SED results in stronger institutions. An analysis of arts sector shows that strong institutions achieve high returns on investments in capital building, but that few benefit the poor. The application of an analytical matrix consisting of indicators of the above-mentioned five types of capital and six institutional components, shows significant positive correlations between the levels of inslitutionalisation and capital building for SED in the Community Arts Project, the Katlehong Art Centre and ArtsforAIl. The findings result in recommendations on policy and practice of community arts centre development in South Africa. / Development studies / D. Litt. et Phil. (Development Studies)

Introduction: Land reform is one of the consistently debated, complex and contested subjects in the South African development discourse. Many impoverished communities have been dispossessed of their land during the colonial past. Indicators, measures and evidence of success in land reform are scant, anecdotal and poorly documented. Aim: The aim of this study is to determine whether land reform in South Africa can indeed yield positive development outcomes. In the absence of clear indicators to measure successful land reform, the researcher uses case study methodology to evaluate the impact of land reform on a particular community, the Barolong-Balemirui Project in the North West Province. Methodology: Generic Qualitative methods are used to collect and analyse data collected from (n=45) participants. Within this, multiple data collection approaches that include document analysis, informal discussions and unstructured interviews were utilised to gain insights into the role played by South African land reform across a range of developmental outcome areas. Findings: The study found that land reform could indeed, produce positive development among the impoverished communities in South Africa. This empirical exploration also highlights that the success of land reform programmes and projects depends on many interlinked variables which include enabling policies; the availability of support from development institutions; the private sector and the state, the commitment of the beneficiaries in utilising the land for development purposes as well as the appropriateness of the identified development objectives. The development inputs and outputs of a successful land reform project are therefore multifaceted and complex. Conclusion: This study emphasises the importance of the participation of beneficiaries in the evaluation of land reform projects to determine real and lasting developmental impact. / Development Studies / M.A. (Development Studies)

Rural communities have been disconnected from the global world in the past due to lack of infrastructure that rendered connectivity a challenge for them. Recent developments in information and communication technology (ICT) have led to improved connectivity in these areas. As a result, mobile phones have become ubiquitous in these rural communities. A matrix was proposed in this study in order to evaluate and assess the impact of mobile devices on development of the rural communities. Existing measurement tools have not yet explored how the usages of mobile phones and other ICTs are impacting the lives of people in rural communities of South Africa. The aim of this study was to understand the existing criteria used to measure the impact of ICTs in rural communities. This was be achieved by focusing on the use of mobile phones in the community of Phake Rebone, taking into account different users. Once this was established, the study had a primary objective to design a matrix that would assist in evaluating and assessing the impact of a mobile phone in social activities such as learning, business and governance. This was achieved by using a case study method, employing qualitative and quantitative research methods. Cases within a case study were used to uncover how the core groups within the community used the mobile phone. A mixed method approach was used in data gathering and analysis to enable the researcher to identify usages and challenges related to the mobile phones. Data was collected from 401 participants and was analysed through the computer-aided tools such GoogleDocs and Microsoft Excel. The findings of the study showed a greater usage of the mobile phone. The literature findings of the use of the mobile phone for basic communication as well as growing adoption of applications such as social media and Internet were confirmed. The use in community related activities and work purposes that impacted the community members were minimal. The need of training to gain knowledge on how to use the device more effectively was established. The proposed matrix therefore seemed v relevant not only to measure impact but also to highlight the areas in which the community members can be trained on. The noted usage trends and needs by the community were then used to formulate indicators that could be used for the matrix. The indicators were then used to develop a matrix that could be used by community members and other interested parties to measure the impact of mobile phone on development of the users. The results of the matrix were also proved to be efficient in assisting individual users in recording the skills acquired through the use of the mobile phone. The matrix can be used in consultation with the guidelines that were formulated to ensure that each user, particularly from rural communities, benefits from such an evaluation tool / Development Studies / D. Litt. et Phil. (Development Studies)

Thesis (MTech (Tourism and Hospitality Management))--Cape Peninsula University of Technology, 2015. / Research indicates that community-based tourism (CBT) has economic relevance and is often viewed as an alternative source of income for rural communities that are endowed with rich cultural and natural tourism resources, yet the success of CBT projects is negligible. This research was designed to explore the importance of considering pre-conditions for CBT before proceeding with the actual implementation of the project with a sample of CBT project members directly involved in CBT. Ignoring this fundamental step often led to failure of CBT projects. The research sought to establish whether the CBT projects in Mpondoland were either faced with challenges or presented with opportunities and to propose a CBT Pre-condition Management and Evaluation Model (PEM). The participants were selected because of their relevant knowledge and experience in relation to the case. All seventeen members who were operating a CBT business at the time of the study in the village of Noqhekwane and all five members from the village of Ndengane were approached to participate in the study. This study employed a mixed-methods approach for data collection, more specifically, the qualitative approach was used to gather more in-depth information from respondents, based on their CBT project in the context of their specific socio-economic status, their local environment, education levels, management and background of their project, and infrastructures of the area. Interpretive analysis was used to analyse the qualitative data using thematic categories from the analysis as sub-headings. Other data collected from the responses was analysed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) version 21.0.

Smallholder agriculture contributes to poverty alleviation through food price reduction and employment creation. Smallholder farmers have the potential of creating employment because they are labour-intensive. Most small holder farmers in the Amathole District practices dual farming system i.e. crops and livestock production. However these farmers are faced by a number of constraints amongst these are land tenure security, lack of capital, drought, diseases, lack of access to markets and production inputs. The objectives of this study were: to investigate land tenure security impact on-farm investment and on-farm productivity by the smallholder farmers; to assess constraints encountered by the smallholder farmers, to identify factors influencing on-farm investment by the smallholder farmers and to identify factors influencing on-farm productivity by the smallholder farmers. Eighty smallholder farmers were interviewed using a structured questionnaire. The data was analyzed using descriptive statistics (frequency, percentages) and regression analyses. Data was for coded and processed for analysis using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS). The results revealed that generally, the household demographic characteristics have an influence on the decision to investment in the farm thus on farm productivity. These included age, gender, marital status, educational level and household size of the smallholder farmers. However the findings revealed that smallholder farmers were not much concerned with the land tenure security of the land as they see themselves as owners of these lands. The reason being that they always had access to their land and there were no perceived tenure insecurity threats. The majority of the smallholder farmers were not worried that they might lose their land in the future as they felt that their land tenure was secured. Although, the majority of farmers had some sense of security they still preferred a freehold tenure system as form of land tenure security. This suggests that there was a sense of insecurity among some of the smallholder farmers caused by their current tenure forms. Majority (66%) of the farmers held their land under freehold whilst leasehold and communal hold farmers constituted 5 % and 29 % respectively. Even though majority had freehold tenure system, they could not use their land as collateral when required for funding from the lending institutions because the title deeds were not registered in their names but those of deceased family members. As a result the majority was constrained by lack of credit and had low income. Lack of cash suggests that the farmers have difficulties in purchasing farm of the survey suggest that the household demographics and socio-economic variables may have an influence on the on-farm investment and on-farm productivity by the smallholder farmers. Furthermore, besides the challenges with land tenure, there are other factors that are likely to influence on-farm investment and on-farm productivity. The results of the survey revealed that smallholder farmers were faced with lot of challenges. These included lack of access to markets, grazing land, credit, farm implements, productions inputs and irrigation water. In addition to this the smallholder farmers were faced with both crops and livestock production constraints. Crop production constraints included lack of access to labour, transport, capital, storage facilities, pests, diseases, lack of management skills and severe drought. Livestock production was constrained by diseases, theft, attack by wild animals, lack of fence in the camps, labour, vaccines, dipping facilities too far and severe drought. For both crop and livestock production diseases and drought were major concerns for smallholder farmers since they were dependent on rainfall for their farming activities. With regards to improvements and investment there was little or not much investment that has been made by the smallholder farmers. One of the reasons mentioned by the farmers as the main cause for little or no investments is the lack of capital to make such improvements or investments. The study also employed empirical analysis through employing on-farm investment and on-farm productivity models of the study on the factors influencing the on-farm investment and on-farm productivity by the smallholder farmers in the study area. In both models, the independent variables were tested for their significance and it was found that some variables were significant whilst others were not. With regards to the dependent variable on-farm investment, household socio-economic factors such as household size, educational levels and farm size, had a positive influence in on-farm investment and were also statistically significant. On the other side, factors such as land tenure security, age, gender, household income and access to markets did not have any influence and were not statistically significant. From the perspective of on-farm productivity variables such as farm size, access to credit and access to extension services had a positive influence. However, variables such as land tenure security, age, household income, educational levels, access to implements, were negatively influencing onfarm productivity by the smallholder farmers. Key words: Land tenure security, smallholder farmers, on-farm investment & on-farm productivity