Thesis (M.A.)--Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, 1992. / Vita. Abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 170-176). Also available via the Internet.

Thesis (M.A.)--Carleton University, 2001. / Includes bibliographical references. Also available in electronic format on the Internet.

Thesis (M.A.)--Carleton University, 2001. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 166-174). Also available in electronic format on the Internet.

Thesis (doctoral) - Universität, Bremen, 2004. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 289-306).

Thesis (Ph.D.) - University of Queensland, 2006. / Includes bibliography.

Thesis (doctoral)--Technische Hochschule, Aachen, 2005.

For many decades, black rural women have been underprivileged, illiterate, with limited access to resources in general. They were not only faced with discrimination and segregation, both in organised labour markets and in informal sector employment, but they also had different legal rights regarding inheritance, land and credit. They got less education if any at all, lower pay, although they worked longer hours and had less access to professional training then men (Moser, 1993). For many years, development projects have been technical projects or construction projects focussing on construction work. Since the 1970s, possibilities for women participating in the planning, management and maintenance of development projects were broadened. In many of the projects, the project managers/planners would say that they have worked with the villages, leaders and committees, yet the majority of the time, they work with males living in the village. Women are usually targeted only for health education. More gender sensitive approach was shown in the 1980s, when women had several roles to play in matters of development (Syme, 1992: 6). In the past couple of years, South Africa has had a growing acceptance of a gender-focused approach to development. In accepting the gender-focused approach to development, the country went as far as creating a department of women, children and disabled to fight for the rights of women, children and the disabled. The country also signed a protocol of the SADC on gender and development. This protocol encompasses commitments made in all regional, global and continental instruments for achieving gender equality. It enhances these instruments by addressing gaps and setting specific, measurable targets where these do not already exist. The protocol advances gender equality by ensuring accountability by all SADC member states, as well as providing a forum for the sharing of best practices, peer support and review (SADC, 2008).

Women’s income-generating projects are regarded as a critical area in promoting sustainable livelihoods in the lives of the poor. This study centres on a cattle project in Sadomba village in Nyanga District, Zimbabwe. The purpose of this study is to investigate the role and contributions of income-generating projects with regard to women; the necessary conditions for a successful cattle production project; the major challenges in women’s income-generating projects, and how income-generating projects can be strengthened, all in relation to this cattle project.The study is underpinned by the sustainable livelihood approach and literature on micro-financing of women’s projects in various countries. The study is based on qualitative methodology using a case study design and methods of data collection included semi-structured interviews, focus group discussions and participant observation. The data was analysed using thematic analysis and sub-themes that arose in the study and thereafter all the data was grouped by a process of coding. The results indicated that the Sadomba cattle project has benefited the project members in terms of income generation by the selling of cattle and milk, for agricultural purposes (draught power) and also income they obtained from hiring their cattle to other community members in rainy seasons. The income generated has assisted them to send their children to school and attain higher education.In addition, it promotes community engagement when they share paddocks and dip tanks. However, despite these benefits, they face a number of challenges such as long distances to the market, a lack of microcredit and the unavailability of exotic breeds. Therefore, there is need to integrate the conditions that are necessary for successful income generating projects to the Sadomba cattle project.

The research seeks to evaluate how the South African government has conceptualised gender through the use of the concepts of WID and GAD. This research has been conducted through the analysis of the Draft Strategic Framework on Gender and Women's Empowerment a document of the Department of Trade and Industry that was formulated to address and redress the issues of gender equality. It has some sound suggestions that seek to identify strategies to improve women empowerment through financial independence. As a result they have used various approaches in order to provide strategies that are mindful of the „needs‟ of the women. Accordingly they have formulated a policy that understands who these women are and have made recommendations of strategies that different groups of women can identify with. They have included the marginalised rural and disabled women and even gone as far as catering for younger women still at school. However there has been concern at the impact that the exclusion of men has contributed, therefore it is important to find ways in which to make men more involved.

This thesis is based on an in-depth assessment of the three rural women co-operatives in the Tsojana village, within the Intsika Yethu Local Municipality, which is the largest and most rural municipality within the Chris Hani District Municipality. 95 percent of households in this municipality live in rural areas or villages (Integrated Development Plan (IDP), 2010-2011). Rural areas are characterised by high levels of poverty, deprivation, poor infrastructure, and poor linkages to markets. Rural women are the ones experiencing poverty at first hand due to the fact that they are less mobile; when food crisis hits, men tend to leave to look for work or income in towns/cities, while women stay behind to look after their families (Moyo-Mhlanga, 2001). In 1975, the World Bank addressed the question of how women can become effective in economic development, hence the establishment of Women in Development Projects to encourage them to be more involved in income-generating activities like rural projects, co-operatives (co-ops) and self-help groups. A co-operative is an autonomous association of people who join voluntarily to meet their socio-economic and cultural needs through a jointly-owned and democratically-controlled enterprise (International Labour Organization (ILO), 2002). The United Nations (UN) recognized the contribution cooperatives can make to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) through productive employment, eradicating poverty, enhancing social integration and promoting the advancement of women. This research study was motivated by the fact that- there are various women development projects/co-operatives in Tsojana Administrative Area (A/A) which aim to improve the lives of the rural people for the better, but most of these co-ops are not sustainable and financially viable. Rural women have realized that in order to sustain development they have to integrate themselves into village development structures, as in various co-operatives, informal rural entrepreneurs and agricultural and non-farm income-generating activities. The study proposes to investigate the reasons for the failure of these co-ops to create sustainable rural livelihoods. The study further attempts to explore development strategies that will assist to transform and advance the co-ops towards sustainable development for all. It also aims to explore strategies that will alleviate poverty, create jobs, and address all factors of underdevelopment and deprivation. The overall methodological approach in this study is qualitative in nature, as it is based on the understanding of the situation from the participant‟s point of view, or perspective. It seeks to describe, investigate and explore aspects of development projects, and to also understand the aspects of socio-economic life of rural women. It combines three traditions of enquiry, i.e. case study, phenomenology, and ethnography. A non-probability type of sampling, in particular purposive sampling, was used for the study because the researcher‟s samples are based on her judgement. Interpretive research paradigm was used to allow the researcher to study meaningful social action, not just the external or observable behaviour of people, and various research tools were used to collect data. These co-operatives have been identified as struggling for survival, and lacking training, and material and financial resources. The co-operatives require support for expansion and modernizing their operations.