Magister Artium (Development Studies) - MA(DVS) / The informal economy has continued to increase in developing countries, giving jobs and income to marginalised groups, the majority being women. The rise of the informal sector is perpetuated by exclusionary social policies and the continued increase in unemployment. In Botswana, street food vending, the most visible form of the informal sector trading, has evolved to be a survivalist activity that women populate. Increasing poverty levels, gender inequalities, and high unemployment rates have resulted in poor urban women being vulnerable to the stresses and shocks caused by these factors. Street food vending is therefore pursued by women to mitigate their vulnerability. Additionally, street food vending allows for more flexible working hours, thus accommodating women’s community, household, and productive roles. Despite women’s substantial contribution to Botswana’s informal economy, the government has not done much to support them.

Thesis advisor: Juliet B. Schor / Social science scholarship on climate change increasingly situates global climate change in the everyday experiences, practices, and knowledges of individuals and communities in local landscapes. Although climate change is a global phenomenon, it is experienced, negotiated, and adapted to at the local scale. In this dissertation, I situate and emplace global climate change in the everyday experiences and practices of people with land- and sea-based livelihoods in Maine. Maine is, in many ways, at the forefront of the climate crisis, and farmers, fishers and foresters—with their ongoing, intimate knowledge of and relations with particular places—are experiencing climate change and making meaning of its impacts. The aim of the dissertation, broadly conceived, is to particularize climate change and locate it in the embodied relations of people and places in Maine. I draw from several bodies of scholarship to locate the study of livelihoods and global climate change in Maine. First, I utilize the work of James O’Connor, Raymond Williams, and contemporary livelihoods scholars to position analysis of climate change impacts within broader historic relations of land and labor. Second, hybrid materialist perspectives, as well as relational perspectives on place, help to understand global climate change as a constellation of interrelated, but distinctly localized manifestations of a translocal process. Methodologically, I employ climate ethnography, which broadens the ethnographic lens to the more-than-human world. I draw from 45 ethnographic interviews, extensive participant-observation, a participant survey, and participant photography to co-investigate the profound ecological shifts farmers, fishers, and foresters are experiencing. I also employ public sociology to communicate data through creative nonfiction, art, and various public events. The dissertation probes how climate meanings are locally constructed and shaped by repeated encounters within multispecies communities in place. In addition, it documents the ways in which livelihood conditions in Maine are entangled with processes of gentrification and shifting economic conditions that, along with climate change, are putting additional pressures on nature-based livelihoods there. The dissertation contributes to an understanding of how climate change is a bundle of processes that cannot be neatly separated as natural or social. It also demonstrates the central role of livelihoods—and their contingent identities—in understanding and adapting to climate change. Ultimately, the dissertation bears witness to precarious land- and sea -based livelihoods, and agitates for greater attention to ways in which people, places, and climate change are irrevocably bound. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2021. / Submitted to: Boston College. Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: Sociology.

京都大学 / 0048 / 新制・課程博士 / 博士(地域研究) / 甲第22568号 / 地博第271号 / 新制||地||103(附属図書館) / 京都大学大学院アジア・アフリカ地域研究研究科アフリカ地域研究専攻 / (主査)教授 重田 眞義, 教授 高橋 基樹, 准教授 大山 修一, 准教授 金子 守恵 / 学位規則第4条第1項該当 / Doctor of Area Studies / Kyoto University / DGAM

Institute for Rural Development / PhDRDV / Household food deficit is a serious and prevalent public security issue, especially for people living in the dry areas of Zimbabwe. Yet national welfare surveys usually exclude a large portion of the dry areas. This explains partially why there is inadequate data on household food deficit. Food deficit confronting households living in isolated and inaccessible communities is unique. Studies have focused on the status, determinants and the factors influencing adoption of viable options. The current study was designed to assess the state of food deficit among families and how they survived during lean periods. Several dynamics of food deficit (incidence, determinants, coping strategies and the challenges affecting the adoption of viable coping options) were examined using insights from the Mortimore and Adams model, Actor-oriented model and the sustainable livelihood framework. Four separate studies were carried out. A sequentially integrated mixed methods design was used, split into interconnected qualitative and quantitative research phases. Results of the first phase informed the second one. A multi-stage sampling procedure was followed leading to the selection of Chipinge district, wards and villages as the study areas. Data were collected from 120 randomly and purposively sampled respondents. A household questionnaire survey, key informant interviews, citizen jury, participatory mapping and focus group discussions were utilised to gather data. A tape recorder was used as an assistive device in data collection. A 7-day food recall method was used to collect data on coping mechanisms that participants preferred. Thematic content analysis was applied to bring meaning to qualitative data and interpreting participatory maps. The quantitative data were captured and analysed using the International Business Machines (IBM) Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 24.0. Descriptive statistics, Household Food Insecurity Access Scale (HFIAS), point score analysis, household food balance model and Coping Strategy Index were used to analyse quantitative data. Approximately, 81 % of the respondents reported that they were vulnerable to food deficit. Households headed by women, children and the elderly were food insecure. However, those headed by people more than 60 years old and children were the most food insecure. All the households that experienced severe food deficit were concerned that they did not have money to purchase supplies. Respondents reported that they could not afford balanced diets. Highly significant associations (P < 0.001) were observed between household food insecurity and livelihood capital factors such as sex, age literacy, marital status, land size, off-farm activities and livestock ownership. Despite this, no significant association existed between food deficit and capitals such as rainfall index, access to extension amenities and distance to the water sources and market (P > 0.05). Households applied temporary food intake coping mechanisms to manage deficit situations. Furthermore, less preferred food was consumed as a food deficit coping strategy. Traditional foods such as meat of wild animals and fruits were used to supplement available food Sale of productive assets, changes in diet, withdrawal of food and migration were cited as some of the major strategies for coping with food deficit. The preferred coping measures did not reduce household food deficit adequately. Key informants perceived demographic, ecological, economic, social and infrastructural issues as factors that limited adoption of viable coping options. Drought, crop diseases, livestock pests, unpredictable rainfall patterns and drought were the major ecological factors affecting preferred coping measures. Decrease in land holdings and rapid population growth were some of the demographic factors hindering adoption of sustainable coping options. Poverty features such as lack of draft power and lack of investable excess money limited the adoption of sustainable coping options. Lack of irrigation amenities, reliance on rain-fed smallholder farming, and limited access to veterinary facilities were cited as the infrastructural challenges. Social factors limiting adoption of viable coping strategies included lack of savings and health complications. Based on the results of the current study, it was concluded that the degraded ecosystem should be rehabilitated and safeguarded from further destruction. Shortage of land, poor accessibility to rural credit and inadequate off-farm employment opportunities should be addressed. While farming played a critical role in reducing food deficit, the challenge in Chipinge district could not be addressed via agriculture only. The results of the current study are important because of their possible influence in agenda setting, informing interventions, advocating for programmes and policies that fortify household food security. Considering the diversity of coping strategies used in Chipinge district, stakeholders should utilise broad-based pro-food security programmes to support beneficial coping options that support household resilience. The expansion of this study to cover other areas with various climatic conditions might be a valuable avenue for a future study. Further research should establish how sustainable indigenous food systems can be developed and be buttressed by state policies in these dry areas. / NRF

Small-scale forest-based enterprises (SSFBEs) are enterprises that utilize any material or product that is derived from forests, woodlands, or trees outside of forests and woodlands for income generation. Characteristically, they are small, rural, household-based operations that are technologically simple, requiring limited skills and little capital investment. Little attention has been paid to the importance of these enterprises in supporting rural livelihood in developing countries. At the same time, the income earned from SSFBEs provides an incentive for forest dwellers to manage their resources at a sustainable level, as well as helping to alleviate rural poverty. SSFBEs are, however, not without their problems. They face unstable markets, lack of raw materials, few financial resources, poor market access, and constraints on forest use and control, to name a few. The purpose of this paper is to provide a qualitative overview of SSFBEs by discussing their role in and importance to rural communities in developing countries, their significance in poverty alleviation and forest conservation, problems they face, and possible solutions. / Master of Urban and Regional Planning

Magister Economicae - MEcon / The informal economy in South Africa has been associated with a lack of growth, and it is believed that people would pursue businesses in this sector to overcome the cicumstances of poverty. Street trading, which is the most visible sector of the informal economy, has been blamed for urban decay and the negative impact it has on the urbanisation of different cities across South Africa. Such views have contributed to the challenges of street traders and have affected how they make a living. Street trading is a growing phenomenon in the Central Businesses Districts (CBDs) where many are people dependent on the practice of street trading for livelihoods. This study sought to understand the contribution made by the street trading enterprises in sustaining migrant street trader livelihoods and well-being in Durban. The Sustainable Livelihoods Framework (SLF) was applied as a conceptual framework to investigate the degree to which migrant street traders can improve their well-being and cope with the vulnerability context. The core elements of the SLF connect for migrant street traders to achieve desired livelihood outcomes. Using a case study research approach, the study sampled 12 migrant street traders for semi-structured interviews and 30 migrant street traders for the questionnaire. The study involved migrant street traders who sell clothing apparel at the Workshop flea market in the Durban CBD. The study applied a sequential mixed-method approach for data collection and data analysis. Empirical findings on quantitative data provided an insight into the different types of migrant street traders enterprises and the factors that propel migrant street traders to start street trading enterprises. Qualitative data provided insight that may not have been obtained by quantitative methods. Qualitative empirical finding’s inception point is the migration aspirations and opportunities of migrant street traders. The data highlights the role of networks in facilitating the migration process and providing support. Whilst the vulnerability context continuously poses major challenges for migrant street traders, the capital stocks from which migrant street traders draw from are crucial to deal with the shocks, seasonality, trends, and other challenges. Findings indicated the capitals enable migrant street traders to achieve a better life that they have reason to value, extend their capabilities, enhance well-being, and most of all achieve desired livelihood outcomes. The study revealed that social capital and human capital are crucial for sustaining livelihoods. Evidence from the study further revealed that street trading and the livelihoods of migrant street traders were highly dependent on the city they had chosen as their destination point when leaving the country of origin. Therefore, traders migrated toDurban not only for economic reasons but also for its geographic location and liveability. Although street trading operates in the vulnerability context, evidence from the study points to ways in which aspects of street trading in Durban may contribute to sustainable livelihoods and the enhanced well-being of migrants.

Thesis (MDEV. (Planning and Management)) -- University of Limpopo, 2019 / Development projects have been widely implemented in South Africa and the rest of the world in order to promote social and economic development. While many projects generate some income for beneficiaries, when they are assessed within the broader context of the meaning of development, it is not so clear if, in fact, they have made such impact. In its efforts to reduce poverty and unemployment and to grow the local economy, Lepelle-Nkumpi Municipality has implemented many community development projects. While the municipality has used its Integrated Development Plans (IDPs) to support such projects, the impact on the livelihoods of beneficiaries does not appear to be as pronounced. The aim of this study was therefore to assess more systematic and greater depth, the impact of community development projects in sustaining the livelihoods of communities in Lepelle-Nkumpi Local Municipality in Limpopo Province. The study was based on mixed methods research design where a small sample of nine beneficiaries from five different types of projects (crop farming, poultry farming, early childhood development (ECD) and tourism), and two municipal officials or other stakeholders were interviewed. Interviews were used to collect primary data from the respondents, and secondary data was collected from sources such as IDP reports, journals and articles. The Sustainable Livelihoods Framework was adopted as the theoretical lens for the analysis of selected projects. The findings from the study indicate that although beneficiaries of projects that were studied benefited in terms of income and employment, project interventions had a limited impact because they did not lead to any significant acquisition of assets by beneficiaries. The income was also deemed to be insufficient for the needs of the participants. Furthermore, there was no evidence that the beneficiaries were empowered by the projects. Key words: Livelihoods; projects, development, sustainability, capability.

Magister Artium (Development Studies) - MA(DVS) / Food security is a challenge for most developing countries (Yahaya, 2018). In South Africa, poverty continues to be a stumbling block to food security for most of the population. Due to the socio-economic challenges plaguing the country, a large proportion of the population struggles to access sufficient food which meets dietary needs. Poverty and unemployment are the key contributory factors of food insecurity in South Africa. Against this backdrop, this study sought to investigate the perceived impact of urban agriculture on food insecurity in Khayelitsha. As a survival strategy, urban agriculture has been advocated to improve food security in most developing countries. Moya Wekhaya Peace Gardens is the study organization of this thesis. The aim of the research is (1) To investigate the extent of food insecurity in Khayelitsha; (2) To investigate the coping strategies adopted by households to be more food secure (3) To investigate the perceived impact of urban food gardens on household food security and (4) To identify challenges faced by urban farmers in Khayelitsha.

This thesis focuses on the intersection of gender, households, and the non-timber forest product market. Based around the concept of commodity chain analysis, this research examines each stage in two non-timber forest products', straw brooms and coco baskets, life cycles from extraction to final sale. The first objective of this research is to contribute to the literature on NTFPs, and in general gender roles in Latin America, by examining the gendered division of labor within and among the stages of two specific NTFP commodity chains, and the ways in which this division influences how important these products are to household income and conservation. The second objective is look at how commodity chain analysis can be used to examine the above issues, thereby contributing to both NTFP and commodity chain analysis literature. The research shows that the construction of gender in Nicaragua underlies the different roles that men and women perform throughout the two non-timber forest product chains. The two chains represent varying degrees of participation by women and men, and this difference is explained by the prevalence of certain tasks. In the basket commodity chain there were more tasks that are labeled feminine, and in the broom commodity chain there are more tasks labeled male. In addition, the varying participation of men and women influence how income from these products are viewed within the households as well as where men and women stand as conservation stakeholders. Commodity chain analysis served as a useful tool to examine more closely the relationship of gender and households in non-timber forest products, and could be of great assistance to the various development projects using these products as a tool for sustainable development. / Master of Science

The thesis empirically examines how microfinance products are designed and implemented, and the implications for clients’ households and sources of livelihood. The study argues that the design of products and implementation that reflect the livelihood needs and poverty context of clients is one of the effective ways to reduce poverty. It investigates the microfinance operations of three financial institutions: Sinapi Aba Trust (SAT), St Joseph’s Cooperative Credit Union (CCU) and Sonzele Rural Bank (SRB) in Jirapa, a municipality in Northern Ghana. The study deployed a mixed-methods approach to collect data from six rural and urban communities. Data was sought from secondary sources, 20 interviews, 10 focus group discussions and 120 questionnaires. The research adopted the Sustainable Livelihoods and the Making Markets Work for the Poor approaches as a guide in the framework of analysis. The study, using qualitative and quantitative analytical tools found that product designs of SAT and SRB did not reflect the needs and poverty context of the majority of their clients. Clients of SAT and SRB were found to be less involved in the product design processes, suggesting a top-down institutional approach that seldom incorporated the needs of the poor. The method of group formation has a substantial implication on members’ poverty outcomes. Groups involving only females had a significant and positive relationship with members’ household and business outcomes, while members of male-only groups had a negative relationship with their household outcomes. The thesis concludes that accessible interest on loans and incentives to encourage savings would make microfinance markets work more sustainably for the rural poor. The findings challenge a reconsideration of the design of microfinance products to integrate financial technology as an efficient approach to deliver financial services, especially in rural areas.