<p>For close to a decade, Zimbabwe has experienced a protracted socio-economic crisis. Although it is affecting both rural and urban areas, major forms of formal safety nets by the Government and Non-Governmental Organisations have been confined to rural areas. On the other hand the virtual collapse of the formal food marketing system in urban areas and the high formal unemployment rates have contributed to increased vulnerability of low income urban households to food insecurity. Using qualitative research methods, the study set out to understand livelihoods of low income urban households in Dzivaresekwa. In particular strategies low income households employ to cope with the negative macro-economic environment prevailing in Zimbabwe.</p>

<p>For close to a decade, Zimbabwe has experienced a protracted socio-economic crisis. Although it is affecting both rural and urban areas, major forms of formal safety nets by the Government and Non-Governmental Organisations have been confined to rural areas. On the other hand the virtual collapse of the formal food marketing system in urban areas and the high formal unemployment rates have contributed to increased vulnerability of low income urban households to food insecurity. Using qualitative research methods, the study set out to understand livelihoods of low income urban households in Dzivaresekwa. In particular strategies low income households employ to cope with the negative macro-economic environment prevailing in Zimbabwe.</p>

Magister Philosophiae (Land and Agrarian Studies) - MPhil(LAS) / For close to a decade, Zimbabwe has experienced a protracted socio-economic crisis. Although it is affecting both rural and urban areas, major forms of formal safety nets by the Government and Non-Governmental Organisations have been confined to rural areas. On the other hand the virtual collapse of the formal food marketing system in urban areas and the high formal unemployment rates have contributed to increased vulnerability of low income urban households to food insecurity. Using qualitative research methods, the study set out to understand livelihoods of low income urban households in Dzivaresekwa. In particular strategies low income households employ to cope with the negative macro-economic environment prevailing in Zimbabwe. / South Africa

Thesis (M.Sc. (Agricultural Economics)) -- University of Limpopo, 2015 / Saving is important in the economy as it has linkages with growth, development and sustainability. The poor average saving rate in the rural economy has restricted the capacity of rural development in South Africa. The study focuses on comparing rural and urban household savings behaviour in South Africa, using household data from the Income and Expenditure Survey (IES) for the period 2010/2011. The dynamic linear saving functions originating from the Absolute Income and Permanent Income Hypotheses were estimated separately for the different household types using the Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) method. Panel data analysis was carried out by pooling together the cross-sectional household types over the twelve-month period. The study established that urban households earn higher incomes and have more average savings than rural households in South Africa. A positive significant relationship was found to exist between current saving decisions and income across all household types in South Africa. Another interesting finding was that rural households have more marginal saving rates than urban households in the short-term and in the long-run. The Fixed Effects Model was deemed to be the best estimator in estimating saving functions across all household types in South Africa, as validated by the Hausman and Redundant Fixed Effects tests. Given that rural households have a potential to save, the study recommends increased awareness and education of rural households on the benefits of accessing basic financial services. Policy-wise, the study recommends the government to increase support in agriculture and extend the provision of food and health subsidies to rural households in South Africa.

Effective management of the excreta or faecal sludge (FS) emptying, transport and disposal mechanisms from the on-plot latrines in urban areas of many low-income countries is critical for the sustainability of urban sanitation. However the literature mentions the lack of an effective management system for urban FS emptying, transport and disposal in the low-income countries. The current management of FS has been fragmented and improper with attendant poor health and environmental pollution problems. In particular, no substantive information was found relating to how far the excreta or sludge removed from the latrines is transported to the disposal points. Also information on household financial needs and their perceptions regarding emptying and transport services was lacking. No study had been done regarding the effects of disposal distance and accessibility on the cost of emptying and transport; neither has work been done on FS reuse implications for emptying, transport and disposal mechanisms. Based on these issues, the research questions and hypothesis were formulated to guide the study. Qualitative and quantitative research techniques were used to triangulate and ensure the reliability and validity of the findings and analysis. From the analysis of the findings, the thesis concludes on these key issues: i) Emptying, transport and disposal mechanisms of the excreta and FS as well as the costs of these depend on the type of latrines, latrine use and the technology available for emptying and transport. ii) Owing to the nature of latrines and the emptying methods used the disposal of the FS was indiscriminate and much was found closer to its source of generation. iii) FS was in high demand for reuse but lacked appropriate marketing strategy that could match supply with the demand. iv) The Household Centred Environmental Sanitation (HCES) approach was found to be limited in content and capacity to effectively address the urban excreta and FS emptying, transport and disposal without the active and full involvement of the municipal and local authorities with clear roles and regulations that address the key processes, linkages, and capacity development issues. Thus, the HCES approach needs periodic review and modifications to take care of the new developments and peculiarities of each urban setting. The study also recommends the need to look at streamlining technologies and developing capacity to address cross-cutting issues in urban sanitation. It further recommends the need for households, the sanitation authorities and practitioners to understand the links between latrine technology in terms of type, size, use and location vis-à-vis the required emptying, transport and disposal mechanisms in the urban areas of the low-income countries.

Cette thèse vise à expliciter comment les quartiers précaires peuvent être à l’origine de trappes à pauvreté résidentielles. À travers une approche multidimensionnelle réalisée à différentes échelles, nous montrons comment certains facteurs externes, notamment ceux liés aux caractéristiques de l’habitat, contribuent à accroître la vulnérabilité des ménages. Une telle étude de la vulnérabilité demande de considérer, lors de l’analyse, un grand nombre de facteurs explicatifs de l’état de leurs capabilités face à une série de risques sociaux, économiques ou environnementaux. D’autant que ces derniers sont particulièrement importants dans les quartiers précaires et qu’ils compromettent, pour les ménages, leurs possibilités de s’extraire de la pauvreté. Nous élaborons, dans ce but, une typologie de la vulnérabilité des ménages selon les risques cumulés. Nous confrontons les résultats quantitatifs obtenus par une enquête statistique aux discours subjectifs des ménages. Pour les données statistiques, nous nous référons à l’enquête du Programme Participatif d’Amélioration des Bidonvilles (PPAB) sur les conditions d’habitat dans les quartiers précaires d’Antananarivo. Les discours, quant à eux, permettent d’effectuer une analyse rétrospective du parcours des ménages afin de vérifier l’effet de trappe à pauvreté résidentielle. Toutes ces approches permettent de réfléchir à la conception de politiques urbaines qui soient aptes à lutter contre cet « effet de trappe à pauvreté urbaine » afin de relever le défi d’un développement qui soit socialement durable. / This thesis aims at clarifying how the precarious dwelling areas generate residential poverty traps. Through multidimensional and multiscale approaches, we demonstrate how some external factors, including the habitat, may contribute to the households’ vulnerability. In fact, studying vulnerability in such areas requires addressing a wide range of factors that determine their capabilities sets when confronted to social, economic or environmental risks. Those latter are particularly numerous in precarious areas and compromise the households’ possibilities to get out of poverty. We build a typology of households’ vulnerability based on cumulative risks. We compare the results from a statistical survey to households’ discourse analyses. As for the statistical database, we refer to a survey conducted for the Participatory Slum Upgrading Programme (PSUP) on habitat conditions in the precarious districts of Antananarivo. The discourses are used to carry a retrospective analysis of the households’ trajectories. These approaches will finally allow a reflection on the urban policy designed to fight against the “urban poverty trap effect” and address the challenge of a socially sustainable development.