The issue of rural poverty is deeply rooted in the skewed distribution of the resources in the rural areas. The majority of rural people do not have access to the basic services like health, water, electricity, education etc. the inequalities constitute a barrier to progress, and indeed there is some evidence to indicate that the extreme inequality acts as bottleneck to development. Land Reform and Rural Development programmes have been initiated in the rural areas to alleviate poverty, although they have been subject to hot debates in many countries. This is due to the fact that most of these programmes have fallen short of expectations, especially of the intended beneficiaries. This discourse attempts to link Land Reform and rural development to poverty alleviation. This is done by reviewing literature on land reform and rural development, analysing the case of Tarlton land Redistribution project and recommendations on the best practice for poverty alleviation through an integrated approach towards land reform and rural development.

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 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)

M.A. / The Rural Development strategy is very important to the dominantly rural Molopo District of the North-West Province of South Africa. However, the majority of the case studies in Africa seem to suggest that the strategy is always 'top-down' (void of people's participation). The failure of this strategy to alleviate rural poverty is mostly predicated on this nature. This study examines the prevalence of people's participation in all the stages of the rural development projects, in four rural areas in the Molopo District. The study was done through literature review and testing the theory (by use of questionnaires and interviews) on people's participation in the four rural areas. The findings reveal a dire need for people's participation in the rural development projects. One may argue that though people's participation renders projects more effective and successful, the stages at which involvement can occur are varied. In the final analysis, the case studies of two most successful and two least successful projects are discussed. In conclusion, the study makes recommendations to the rural development agencies in the North-West to practise meaningful and realistic people's participation in their projects.

This publication is not intended to be a scientific study and in fact does not pretend to be as such. It merely poses various perspectives and issues that reflect on the development and growth of the co-operative movement. A great deal of information grows out of personal and other experiences that have been shared at various levels, both individual, group, workshop/conferences and visits of actual co-operatives at work. The main people who have shared these experiences have helped, in one way or another to shape this publication. To them, and they know who they are, a very warm and special word of thanks. A particular note of appreciation for Sonja Sleigh and the members of the Peace Centre, who spent many hours in the typesetting and actual compilation of the publication. It is hoped that at the end of the day, that the questions and issues posed in this publication will serve towards enriching the growth process; the growth toward a richer and more human society.

Thesis (M.Dev.) --University of Limpopo, 2010 / The Kruger National Park is a world renowned organization and is rated as one of the best nature reserves in nature conservation in the world. Despite all the efforts made to control and protect nature in the Park, there is a need for the involvement of the community around the Park. Community-based conservation in particular has been subjected to a series of scathing criticisms, and it has become increasingly acceptable to advocate a return to more coercive forms of conservation. The establishment of the Park forum consisting of the neighbouring communities and the Park requires new strategies for better integration of conservation and rural development. The interest of conservation can be threatened by various factors, mainly poverty, poaching and wildlife conflicts. The interests of the population residing in the immediate neighbourhood of Kruger National Park can be threatened by proposed wildlife management options, other neighbouring conservation areas, and new tourist development activities. Effective conflict prevention mechanisms need to be developed together with the communities and especially in the implementation process. The study presents a critical analysis of the impact of the development made by the Park to the local communities. The available policies need to be implemented in order to assess their developmental impact they are making on the communities. The community has developed a negative attitude towards the park because they think the park is not doing enough in terms of development and training and skills development. The issue of a budget is a concern because it is not clear whether the park has a budget or not for the community. In as far as the community is concerned, there is no budget available and in as far as the park is concerned, the budget is available for community development. There is no cooperation between the park and the community. It seems the park is operating parallel to the community. There are a lot of uncertainties on the side of the community which has developed into mistrust. Communities like Makuleke are involved in farming such that some of the community members have got some subsistence farming skills. If training may be given to these people, most of them may begin to engage in commercial farming. There is also a strong feeling that the Hlanganani forum which represents the community is not recognized by the KNP management. It is there to fulfill the requirement of the policy. It became clearly that Kruger National Park does not involve the forum which has been formed to function as a link between the Park and the community. The negotiated partnership between the park and the community in terms of nature conservation is now at stake. The community is now more concerned about their safety and that of their livestock because of the wild animals roaming around day and night. This is a very serious problem which exists between the park and the community which in a way may hamper the progress in terms of sustaining the relationship currently being nurtured. It is recommended that the park management as the main active role player should put in place a good, viable and effective communication strategy which will form the basis of communication between the park and the community. This will assist both the park and the community to communicate the available developmental policies to the community. And if that is well communicated it is going to eliminate unnecessary conflict in terms of not knowing what the park has for the community and the policies available to address such developmental issues.

Thesis (M.Dev.) --University of Limpopo, 2008 / Rural sanitation researchers, particularly in the Limpopo Province, have not offered theories in relation to the patterns of the development of rural sanitation. Several researchers have concerned themselves with the need for the solution of water supply but not sanitation services. The present study seeks to enhance the understanding of the dynamics of the patterns of the development of rural sanitation in the Capricorn District Municipality, in particular at the Eisleben Village. This research paper applied an evaluative methodology to assess the impact of VIP sanitation technology at Eisleben Village at Ramokgopa under Capricorn District Municipality in Limpopo Province in comparison to dry sanitation. Supportive cases studies on sanitation delivery in South Africa have also been cited to where both technologies have been applied to assess their impact to the health and dignity of the communities, the environmental impacts. Examples of such case studies included examples of the Mosvold Hospital Sanitation Programme, the Northern Cape Household Sanitation Programme, the eThekwini Water and Sanitation Programme and the Dry sanitation in an urban environment at Weiler’s Farm in Johannesburg. The following five major findings emerged from the study: 1. Sanitation development should be community driven in terms of information, knowledge and decision making. 2. There is need for the vision of health, hygiene and education strategy for water and sanitation. Efficient and effective hygiene education is urgently needed. 3. There is resounding evidence from previous sanitation projects done in various places in South Africa that dry or waterless sanitation has been found to be an adequate sanitation technology that best suits urban, peri-urban and rural areas. 4. There is need to replace VIP with a better technology such as dry sanitation as a matter of urgency to avoid unhygienic and unhealthy conditions due to inadequate VIP sanitation technology. 5. Sanitation solution and technology should comply with the Department of Water Affairs and Forestry (DWAF) policies of adequate sustainable water and adequate sustainable sanitation solution, Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and the German Helmhotz Association HFG’s “concept of integrated sustainable development”. In the main, the study suggests possible strategies and mechanisms to overcome the challenges that are identified in the research, with the idea in mind of contributing in improving sanitation, not only in the Eisleben Village, but rather to all rural communities in the Limpopo Province, South Africa.

M.Com. (Business Management) / Southern Africa, when viewed in the context of a developing region, is an area of extremes. Sophisticated urban development, financial markets, agricultural development and technically-advanced production processes form a direct contrast to the squatting, subsistence agriculture, malnutrition and unemployment found in a single complex Southern Africa socio-economic environment. The most important goal of economic development in Southern Africa is the raising of the standard of living of the entire population. The interests and needs of the individual play a prominent role in this pre-determined goal. The results that are obtained in this process are largely determined by the element of planning. In the planning stage, vision and insight need to be displayed to determine the anticipated end results. The availability of current information is the basis on which any real action, in the attempt to achieve the aforementioned objective, will depend. The purpose of this study was to compile a macro-economic information framework for development planning and to illustrate this framework with an example.

The purpose of this study is to investigate the role played by agricultural cooperatives in developing the rural areas of the Eastern Cape Province. It also looks at the contributions by Government in promoting the establishment and the success of these cooperatives. The focus area was Cannon Farm in the Chris Hani District Municipality, where most of the people live below the poverty line, but have started agricultural cooperatives with the aim of eradicating poverty and developing their communities. The data for this research was gathered through group discussions and face-to-face interviews which were guided by a questionnaire. A document analysis was also conducted to fulfill all the research objectives. It has been found that agricultural cooperatives, as compared to any other type of cooperatives, are a major tool to eradicate poverty and bring economic development to rural communities. This is made possible not only by the full commitment and determination of cooperative members, but also by government which has also committed itself to providing a supportive legal environment for cooperatives (Cooperative Act No. 14 of 2005). The findings also show that, due to the challenges they are currently facing, agricultural cooperatives in the Eastern Cape Province have not yet reached their full potential. Therefore, it has been recommended that, such challenges need to be urgently addressed. As the United Nations (2001) highlights, agricultural cooperatives present themselves as an important element that can contribute to the realization of the Millennium Development Goals by 2015.

Bibliography: leaves 93-97. / This study explores the complex problem of socio-cultural change and continuity in Africa; the basic human drives for physical survival and identity; and how the danger of self-alienation and anomie might be overcome. Worldview Analysis and Human Scale Development are brought together and focused on a particular context of socio-economic development in a situation of competing worldviews in rural Transkei. People in rural Transkei experience competing worldviews and values out of a dual quest for economic advancement in an increasingly industrialized society, on the one hand, and the maintenance of identity, on the other. The prioritizing of economic development is seen to contradict the value of an African cultural identity. In the absence of a mediating symbolic network to facilitate the renegotiation of identity, these values remain in tension. In PART ONE I discuss the problem in the context of the necessity for economic growth and Human Scale Development in a democratic South Africa. My general research hypothesis is founded on this discussion. It states that "Social and economic development, in a situation of competing worldviews, depends on the mediation of conflicting symbols in a manner which is not inconsistent with the economic imperatives." In PART TWO this macro-study is scaled down to an empirically testable, research project. The hypothesis of the micro-study reads as follows: "Integrated identity and belonging for ex-street children, in a situation of competing worldviews, depends on the mediation of conflicting paradigmatic symbols." Both hypotheses are informed by theories of religion, identity and development drawing on the works of Max-Neef and Cumpsty. The situation of competing worldviews experienced by a group of ex- street children is described. I then show that social development in this context is impeded by the lack of mediation between conflicting paradigmatic elements and values. Thereafter, much attention is given to the difficult task of designing tools to map identity and values of individuals, locating critical points of tension between conflicting values and, finding mediating symbols. Finally, I examine a range of corporate strategies that demonstrate ways of mediating between the conflicting paradigmatic symbols.