Thesis (PhD (Economics))--University of Stellenbosch, 2005. / Numerous theories have been constructed to provide reasons for economic growth differences between countries. As data became more readily available, cross-country empirical studies identified a set of variables that contributed to economic growth, including variables such as the investment in human and physical capital.

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Even though the West, or Global North, initiates extensive development policymaking and project activity on the African continent, this study argues that one source of major frustration between different parties entrusted to do the work arises from cognitive differences in their worldviews. These differences affect people's actions and have theological ramifications involving how we all understand meaning and reality. The study employs a case method analyzed through the lens of Alfred Schutz's sociology of knowledge theories and augmented by insights from African scholars to look at basic perceptual differences between Zambians and expatriates working on the Copperbelt Province's mines. After exploring how participants in the study interpreted various experiences, this study concludes that Zambians and expatriates were essentially living in "parallel universes" of meaning regardless of their apparently shared activities and objectives. The study further argues that viewpoints expressed by Zambian participants can be extrapolated into powerful lessons for members of civil society who are concerned about international development and the environment. Such teaching elements could especially help reshape how Americans and other Westerners understand ourselves in relation to physical creation and the cosmos as well as to those from radically different cultures. Lessons learned from the Zambian perspective could also help reinvigorate Western theological thinking, providing much needed critiques of discourses that currently dominate international development policymaking and planning and that determine value principally according to economic strategies and fulfillment of efficient, measurable objectives. / Thesis (Ph.D.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, 2007.

Since independence in 1964, Zambia in general and the Copperbelt Province in particular have largely depended on the mono-economy based on copper mining. Around the 1970s the copper prices started falling causing the mining industry to collapse leading to economic stagnation. Efforts to revive the economy, such as the Structural Adjustment Programme implemented since the late 1980s have not brought about well-being for the people of the Copperbelt. As a result the government of the Republic of Zambia decided to launch an economic diversification programme for the Copperbelt province whose main aim is to seek and implement alternative economic activities that would accelerate economic growth thereby improving people's living conditions on the Copperbelt. This thesis proposes that in order to overcome poverty and improve people's living conditions, we need to shift our policy and practice from free market economic growth centred approaches, to shalom. The shift is based on the argument that development seen through the lenses of free market economic growth alone has not sustained life; instead it has contributed to environmental degradation and poverty creation in Zambia and the Copperbelt Province in particular. The thesis argues that shalom is an authentic development paradigm. This argument is based on three fundamental integral parts of shalom namely creation, people and justice. In order to bring about comprehensive well-being for people there is a need to a) appreciate creation as a phenomenon with its own integrity. It should not be destroyed for selfish economic ends; b) give pre-eminence to people as free agents who could participate in creating their own destiny based on their capacities and social conditionalities; and c) ensure social justice as a necessary condition for human relations and economic dispensation. / Thesis (M.Th.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2004.

Social Safety Nets (SSNs) were in the early 1990s a major feature of poverty alleviation and social impact mitigating mechanism from austere economic reforms implemented by the Zambian Government. Evidently, SSNs became prominent when Zambia accelerated the implementation of the Structural Adjustment Programme (SAP) in the early 1990s. At that time, the levels of poverty skyrocketed affecting 73% of the 10.5 million people of which 58 % were said to be extremely poor with the acute levels of poverty being more concentrated in rural areas which harbour about 65 % of the country’s population (CSO 1998: 20). SSNs are non-contributory transfer programmes for the poor or those vulnerable to shocks and these include income support through participation in public works programmes, cash transfers to the poor or vulnerable households, fee waivers for usage of essential health and education services, in kind transfers such as school feeding or even price subsidies for specific goods deemed essential to the poor (World Bank 2005: 1). Pritchett (2005:17) observed that SSNs can be applied across the various levels of society whether or not the shocks push households below the absolute threshold of poverty. Despite being a major feature of social mitigation it is not clear to what extent they (SSNs) can be said to an effective mechanism for poverty mitigation in Zambia. With SAP be decried by interests groups as having reduced people’s living conditions for fuelling in, higher prices for basic commodities, lower real incomes, reduced access to social services, medical care and retrenchments and lack of job opportunities for those seeking employment. The absence of fully fledged unemployment benefit system, made the victims of the adjustment process worse off. The social security schemes equally got adversely affected by high unemployment levels and growth of the informal sector because the proportion of the insured population plummeted and that inexorably leads to a fall in contributions. Other consequences of SAP besides retrenchments of blotted workforce include child labour and overburdening women as their participation in economic activities increased as part of the copping mechanisms besides their reproductive roles. Given the aforementioned complications that arise during structural reforms, this thesis seeks to examine how effective SSNs are in poverty alleviation programmes in countries like Zambia where they have been tried. / Development Studies / M.A. (Development Studies)

Poverty and the environment are closely linked, as people use environmental resources to support livelihoods. Illegal stone quarrying evident in Lusaka, Zambia is symbolic of the use of environmental resources by the poor. Stone crushing provides income yet it is characterized by land degradation, large-scale excavation and dumping of waste materials. This study provides an analytical account of stone crushing as a livelihood in Lusaka and makes recommendations for improving the livelihoods of stone crushers to become sustainable. Using a livelihoods approach, a qualitative study collected data from various role players in Lusaka. Assets (physical, natural, human, social and political capital) for stone crushers were assessed, revealing that stone crushers lack livelihood assets, key options and are exposed to various shocks due to seasonal shifts. Increasing access to key livelihood assets, reducing vulnerability, improving infrastructure, access to justice and tackling social exclusion and gender inequality will enhance their livelihoods. / Development Studies / M.A. (Development Studies)

This dissertation explores the plight of vulnerable poor households in Sinazongwe district of Zambia. It determines nature of their vulnerability and identifies commonly used coping strategies. It also identifies different types of livelihood strategies and assets available and accessed by vulnerable poor households to create sustainable livelihoods. Study design used qualitative and participatory paradigms, involving variety of data collection techniques and tools such as key informant interviews and focus group discussions. The study identified several factors impacting on vulnerable poor households, their response strategies and perceived potential sustainable livelihoods. Drought and flash floods destroyed livelihoods of poor households from which they often failed to recover. Vulnerable poor households possessed fewer assets and less diversified sources of income and often lacked back up resources in times of hardship. Livestock rearing, fishing and irrigation-supported gardening were identified as possible sustainable livelihoods for vulnerable poor households in Sinazongwe, to recover and become resilient. / Sociology / M.A. (Development Studies)

Social Safety Nets (SSNs) were in the early 1990s a major feature of poverty alleviation and social impact mitigating mechanism from austere economic reforms implemented by the Zambian Government. Evidently, SSNs became prominent when Zambia accelerated the implementation of the Structural Adjustment Programme (SAP) in the early 1990s. At that time, the levels of poverty skyrocketed affecting 73% of the 10.5 million people of which 58 % were said to be extremely poor with the acute levels of poverty being more concentrated in rural areas which harbour about 65 % of the country’s population (CSO 1998: 20). SSNs are non-contributory transfer programmes for the poor or those vulnerable to shocks and these include income support through participation in public works programmes, cash transfers to the poor or vulnerable households, fee waivers for usage of essential health and education services, in kind transfers such as school feeding or even price subsidies for specific goods deemed essential to the poor (World Bank 2005: 1). Pritchett (2005:17) observed that SSNs can be applied across the various levels of society whether or not the shocks push households below the absolute threshold of poverty. Despite being a major feature of social mitigation it is not clear to what extent they (SSNs) can be said to an effective mechanism for poverty mitigation in Zambia. With SAP be decried by interests groups as having reduced people’s living conditions for fuelling in, higher prices for basic commodities, lower real incomes, reduced access to social services, medical care and retrenchments and lack of job opportunities for those seeking employment. The absence of fully fledged unemployment benefit system, made the victims of the adjustment process worse off. The social security schemes equally got adversely affected by high unemployment levels and growth of the informal sector because the proportion of the insured population plummeted and that inexorably leads to a fall in contributions. Other consequences of SAP besides retrenchments of blotted workforce include child labour and overburdening women as their participation in economic activities increased as part of the copping mechanisms besides their reproductive roles. Given the aforementioned complications that arise during structural reforms, this thesis seeks to examine how effective SSNs are in poverty alleviation programmes in countries like Zambia where they have been tried. / Development Studies / M.A. (Development Studies)

This dissertation explores the plight of vulnerable poor households in Sinazongwe district of Zambia. It determines nature of their vulnerability and identifies commonly used coping strategies. It also identifies different types of livelihood strategies and assets available and accessed by vulnerable poor households to create sustainable livelihoods. Study design used qualitative and participatory paradigms, involving variety of data collection techniques and tools such as key informant interviews and focus group discussions. The study identified several factors impacting on vulnerable poor households, their response strategies and perceived potential sustainable livelihoods. Drought and flash floods destroyed livelihoods of poor households from which they often failed to recover. Vulnerable poor households possessed fewer assets and less diversified sources of income and often lacked back up resources in times of hardship. Livestock rearing, fishing and irrigation-supported gardening were identified as possible sustainable livelihoods for vulnerable poor households in Sinazongwe, to recover and become resilient. / Sociology / M.A. (Development Studies)