Tribal (rural) communities possess assets/resources that can be utilised in improving the quality of life of their residents. The processes involved in the usage of these assets toward community-led development can determine the success or failure of the development efforts by the community. The research conducted was aimed at investigating the processes involved in utilising these assets, with reference being placed on two community-led development approaches namely Asset Based Community Development and Sustainable Livelihood Framework. The research will examine the processes that the Royal Bafokeng Nation has used in the successful development of its community. A comparison of the community-led development processes will be compared to the Integrated Sustainable Development Strategy formulated by the South African government to develop rural communities. The results indicate that development is not just about asset identification, it‟s more complex than that. If development was just about resource identification then a lot of tribal communities would be developed. Development is about the interactions between leaders, community and external sources and in the case of RBN, administration as well. It is about interaction between leaders and community in the form of participation in development efforts; interaction between leaders (and administration) with external sources such as municipalities to enhance development; and interaction between community and external sources through social capital. The results also indicate that whilst it is the duty of government to provide basic services, communities can partake in other development initiatives. That development in it‟s entirely should not be left to government if communities have the means of initiating development. That government has to improve certain aspects in their development strategies, but that it has made strides in formulating strategies to develop rural communities. The challenges for government come in the implementation of these strategies. That partnership between community and government can lead to better and sustainable development initiatives.

Enon-Bersheba (E&B) area has approximately 10 200 hectors of pristine communal land that is rare to find in the Cacadu region. This prime communal land is situated in the bank of the Sundays River Valley in the Eastern Cape Province. Enon-Bersheba falls under the jurisdiction of the Sundays River Local Municipality. The Municipal jurisdiction provides easy access to this pristine commonage that presents opportunities for economic development as well as residential opportunities. This study presents the diversity of sustainable livelihood alternatives from the community‟s perspective. This study finds that giving the beneficiaries of land restitution authority over decision-making on land usage is an important contributor to success. Land is a significant asset, and it becomes more valuable and development-worthy if legal institutions are in place to manage the planning and development processes, for its full utilisation. In addition to this, the study provides a community-driven development framework with which potential development partners can interact to enhance revenue generating activities and strengthen the institutional environment through the formation of community-private-public-partnerships. The participatory research process that was undertaken made essential findings. The study validates the use of livelihoods-based approach to poverty alleviation. A bottom-up participatory process was effective in determining how best Enon-Bersheba communal land can be put into effective and efficient use. Likewise, an integrated approach to development planning was proven to be important. This study proved an extra-ordinary belief that the stability and changed value systems within a community often derive from complex social problems that are inherently dynamic. The involvement of the Independent Electoral Commission in the referendum process for Enon-Bersheba‟s legal entity that will manage the land suggests the credibility of the process. The existing information around potential development options of Enon-Bersheba was consolidated and verified by the community. The awareness of community abilities and resources served to enhance community mobilization for social action. The study provides a framework for development policy imperatives and a new vision for Enon-Bersheba.

Small-scale timber farming provides alternative income for growers selling to forestry, procurement companies and timber suppliers or agents. The research used focus groups and structured questionnaires in the Sokhulu area to determine the contribution of small-scale timber farming to enhance sustainable livelihood. The Sustainable Livelihood Framework measured livelihood levels of different grower types in terms of access to natural, human, financial, social and physical assets. Findings show that timber suppliers had a higher asset composition, than growers selling to companies or growers selling to timber suppliers. Households lacking access to forestry resources sold timber to agents and households wanting to avoid harvesting and transport risks sold timber to suppliers. Timber farming contributes income, employment and business opportunities towards alleviating poverty rather than providing a complete solution. Tree harvesting support households during financial hardship and reduce vulnerability through diversified livelihood strategies. Disadvantages include: trees taking time to mature while immediate income is required, trees exposed to natural hazards, cheating by local harvesting and transport contractors and timber plot sales sometimes do not receive the agreed price. Despite disadvantages, timber farming provide economic benefits and further studies are needed to determine income level on mature trees, by-product sales and whether higher prices for more tonnage will sustain households that wait for tree maturity, thereby determining optimal break-even point for rural timber farmers. / Environmental Sciences / M.A. (Human Ecolgy)

In South Africa, about 15,3% of the households were living in 2011 in formal state-subsidised low-income houses (houses for households with income lower than R 3500 - about $ 350 - per month), whereas 12,1% were living in informal dwellings. The sustainable development of low-income housing is therefore one of the main challenges for developing countries addressing the green Agenda as South Africa, especially considering the quality of life of inhabitants and the complex socioeconomic implications. Furthermore, the energy consumption patterns of low income households have emerged as one of the most important factors influencing the national electricity demand, as marked by the National Housing Code of 2009. The complex social and environmental issues related to the living conditions of low-income communities need to be addressed with an integrated approach to the design of the settlements. Rethinking and greening the low-income housing design principles firstly represent an opportunity to strive social inequity and improve the quality of life of households. The rationale of this study is to investigate how a strategic bottom-up approach and multi-scale low-cost green measures, implemented in the design process of South African low-cost housing, can potentially achieve environmental and social sustainability targets with affordable solutions. The dissertation analysed a representative case study of a low-cost housing development in the KwaZulu-Natal Province. The research adopted a bottom-up approach combining participatory methods through a survey and interviews with the local community, and a scenario analysis investigating design alternatives and multiscale green strategies (i.e. alternative building typologies, densification, passive design strategies). The proposed scenario evaluated the potential benefits of the green implementation, through qualitative and quantitative assessments based on sustainability indicators as environmental and energy impacts, social implications, safety and cost effectiveness, supported also by experimental methods using dynamic building energy modelling. The study promoted an integrated and holistic research and design approach to foster the sustainability in low-cost housing development. The outcome of this integrated bottom-up approach defined a framework of good criteria and methods for the design process, which can be intended as a guideline to effectively implement green measures and reach sustainability targets for low-cost settlements. / Thesis (M.Sc.Eng.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2014.

This dissertation explores determinants and perceptions to participation in beekeeping by households’ as well as its contribution to household income. This is in a context that smallholder farmers’ participation is reported to be very low, despite several claimed benefits of beekeeping. Moreover, despite receiving substantial endorsements as a resilient climate-smart rural livelihood, off-farm, forest, non-timber diversification strategy; the uptake of beekeeping by smallholder farmers in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa still remains very low. Against this background, this study used cross-sectional survey data to gauge smallholder farmers’ perceptions and factors that influence their participation in beekeeping using a binary regression model; further, it measured the contribution of beekeeping to rural household income using a linear regression model. Descriptive statistics revealed that majority of the people from the study area have positive perceptions regarding beekeeping. Regression estimates further indicate that beekeeping is mostly conditioned by shared perceptions, institutional and socio-economic factors that are worth targeting to promote the uptake of beekeeping as a livelihood. Public policies that influence the institutional framework (extension, credit and market) in favour of beekeeping are more likely to promote participation in beekeeping activities. Also, more research on the documentation and benefits of beekeeping supported by investments targeting educational campaigns towards promoting positive attitudes and dispelling fears and myths surrounding beekeeping as an enterprise, will also promote the participation of smallholder farmers in beekeeping. Regression estimates for determinants of household income revealed a significant positive contribution of beekeeping to household income, education, gender and age. Promotion of beekeeping may therefore address household income that is worth targeting to address rural poverty. The study therefore concludes that to fully unlock the income potential of beekeeping for smallholder farmers, development agencies need to address several negative perceptions and institutional factors that affect beekeeping participation, while more research is required to quantify the claimed benefits of beekeeping, given their positive potential to promote farmers’ interests in beekeeping.

Rural development efforts to reduce poverty and enhance food security and generally improve livelihoods in developing countries continue to be constrained by high energy cost. For that reason, renewable energy has been identified as a possible panacea to fill this gap. Renewable energy is cheaper, more accessible and environmentally sustainable and promotes inclusivity. Biogas is a renewable energy that is readily available and easy to use by poor rural households. The use of biogas digesters among households in rural areas of developing countries is a well-known technology. The potential for biogas in these areas has been demonstrated and a strong economic case has been made. However, its adoption and use have been lower than expectations possibly as result of non-economic considerations, including social issues about which rural people hold different perceptions. Perceptions of rural households are important because they influence the behaviour to a large extent. Since limited access to affordable energy in rural areas has encouraged government and private organisations to initiate biogas projects to overcome the challenge, it is important to ascertain the factors that affect attitudes towards the technology. The present study sought to explore perceptions of rural households about biogas production towards rural household income in the Raymond Mhlaba Local Municipality. Specifically, this research investigated the state of biogas project being implemented by the University of Fort Hare’s Institute of Technology (FHIT), the perceptions of respondents towards biogas production and determine the contribution of biogas consumption to rural income. The study also aimed to identify the factors affecting the adoption of biogas production in the study area. The study was carried out in Melani village in Raymond Mhlaba Local Municipality in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa and employed survey data obtained from 48 households who were enumerated to identify their perceptions on biogas production, with special emphasis on the role and effect contributed to rural income of Melani village. The study employed a cross-sectional research design and purposive sampling technique was used in data collection. Data were collected and captured in Excel and then analysed using the statistical package for social sciences (SPSS) Version 24 Descriptive statistics was used to examine socio-economic characteristics of households and state of biogas production in the area, Bivariate correlation analysis was used to determine the relationships among the key elements of perceptions of household towards biogas adoption, binary logistic model was used to estimate factors influencing adoption of biogas technology by households. The results show that women were dominant for both adopters and non-adopters of biogas. The majority of households were young with mean age of 40 years while for non-adopters were 65 years old on average. The results showed high levels of literacy amongst household adopters. Majority of the households for both adopters and non-adopters of biogas technology were married and unemployed and household size ranged from one to five persons, with social grants being dominant source of income. The bivariate correlation analysis suggests a positive effect of green pepper production and livestock ownership on biogas technology adoption. Age and level of education were negatively correlated with adoption of biogas. The cross tabulation analysis suggests that water scarcity, lack of knowledge about biogas technology, cattle ownership, lack of maintenance and repairing, flooded biogas digesters during rainy season are negatively associated with the uptake of biogas technology. The empirical results from binary logistic model suggest that land size was the key determinant of adoption behaviour towards biogas technology while age of the household head, source of income and level of education may have a negative influence on adoption of biogas technology. Based on the findings highlighted above, the study recommends strategies to encourage households to adopt biogas technology.

Small-scale timber farming provides alternative income for growers selling to forestry, procurement companies and timber suppliers or agents. The research used focus groups and structured questionnaires in the Sokhulu area to determine the contribution of small-scale timber farming to enhance sustainable livelihood. The Sustainable Livelihood Framework measured livelihood levels of different grower types in terms of access to natural, human, financial, social and physical assets. Findings show that timber suppliers had a higher asset composition, than growers selling to companies or growers selling to timber suppliers. Households lacking access to forestry resources sold timber to agents and households wanting to avoid harvesting and transport risks sold timber to suppliers. Timber farming contributes income, employment and business opportunities towards alleviating poverty rather than providing a complete solution. Tree harvesting support households during financial hardship and reduce vulnerability through diversified livelihood strategies. Disadvantages include: trees taking time to mature while immediate income is required, trees exposed to natural hazards, cheating by local harvesting and transport contractors and timber plot sales sometimes do not receive the agreed price. Despite disadvantages, timber farming provide economic benefits and further studies are needed to determine income level on mature trees, by-product sales and whether higher prices for more tonnage will sustain households that wait for tree maturity, thereby determining optimal break-even point for rural timber farmers. / Environmental Sciences / M.A. (Human Ecolgy)

This study was undertaken to explore the barriers to the sustainability of the spaza shops in Atteridgeville (wards, 51, 62, 63, 68, 71 and 72) and to identify the support strategies necessary to assist these shops to grow into sustainable businesses. The study was motivated by the role and contributions of these stores in creating jobs for the majority of the previously disadvantaged people, particularly in the black township areas of South Africa. The study was exploratory, descriptive and qualitative in nature. Semi-structured interviews were conducted to obtain data from 18 spaza shop owners. The findings from the research indicated the following barriers to be responsible for the failure of the spaza shops: lack of financial support, lack of business management skills, expensive transportation, limited trading space, crime, negative competition among spaza shop owners, and lack of cooperatives among spaza shop owners. The study recommends that spaza shop owners should ensure that they have enough savings before embarking on business and that they should also attend training in business management to equip themselves. Spaza shop owners also need to establish collaborative ventures among themselves to enable them to voice their concerns as a collective, rather than as individuals. Government, in partnership with private sector, should improve the effectiveness of its support strategies, for example by assisting spaza shops in forming cooperatives and facilitating training in business skills. It is also recommended that the government, through the Department of Trade and Industry, should continue to find out better ways to aid these stores financially. It is the researcher’s opinion that if these recommendations are followed, they could lead to the success of these stores. / Development Studies / M. A. (Development Studies)

This study was undertaken to explore the barriers to the sustainability of the spaza shops in Atteridgeville (wards, 51, 62, 63, 68, 71 and 72) and to identify the support strategies necessary to assist these shops to grow into sustainable businesses. The study was motivated by the role and contributions of these stores in creating jobs for the majority of the previously disadvantaged people, particularly in the black township areas of South Africa. The study was exploratory, descriptive and qualitative in nature. Semi-structured interviews were conducted to obtain data from 18 spaza shop owners. The findings from the research indicated the following barriers to be responsible for the failure of the spaza shops: lack of financial support, lack of business management skills, expensive transportation, limited trading space, crime, negative competition among spaza shop owners, and lack of cooperatives among spaza shop owners. The study recommends that spaza shop owners should ensure that they have enough savings before embarking on business and that they should also attend training in business management to equip themselves. Spaza shop owners also need to establish collaborative ventures among themselves to enable them to voice their concerns as a collective, rather than as individuals. Government, in partnership with private sector, should improve the effectiveness of its support strategies, for example by assisting spaza shops in forming cooperatives and facilitating training in business skills. It is also recommended that the government, through the Department of Trade and Industry, should continue to find out better ways to aid these stores financially. It is the researcher’s opinion that if these recommendations are followed, they could lead to the success of these stores. / Development Studies / M. A. (Development Studies)

M.Tech. (Architectural Technology) / This dissertation explores my own neighbourhood – Roodepoort. It critically examines consumerist lifestyles which currently dominate the area and proposes an architectural intervention which will showcase new modes of living. The proposed building accommodates a cultivation school and a ‘hackerspace’ where residents of Roodepoort can learn to live more sustainable. The cultivation school recalls Roodepoort’s history as a farming area and celebrates the area’s spirit of place. The hackerspace provides a place for suburban inventors to work and collaborate.