Neste trabalho procura-se desenvolver reflexões acerca das mudanças nos modos de vida que os seringueiros de Xapuri/AC vêm experimentando desde o assassinato de Chico Mendes, em 1988. Neste sentido, as atenções e energias do estudo foram concentradas na tentativa de perceber, principalmente a partir de relatos coletados com moradores do Projeto de Assentamento Agroextrativista Cachoeira e Reserva Extrativista Chico Mendes, os novos temores, as novas experiências e os novos desafios, entre outras histórias experimentadas pelos seringueiros residentes nos locais pesquisados. Para isso, procurou-se estabelecer um diálogo com as experiências desses sujeitos sociais, objetivando traduzir, por meio de relatos colhidos, in loco, as vozes, os rostos e as vivências humanas na cena do estudo. A História Oral foi a estratégia metodológica principal utilizada para a obtenção das fontes. Entretanto, também fontes escritas foram utilizadas. A análise e o diálogo com as fontes apontam que as principais modificações no viver dos sujeitos pesquisados aconteceram, principalmente, após a chegada ao poder estadual de um grupo político denominado Frente Popular do Acre. Esse Governo, que se autodenominou Governo da Floresta, realizou investimentos patrocinados por organizações internacionais que trouxeram mudanças significativas no modus vivendi das pessoas do interior das matas xapurienses. Essas mudanças melhoraram a vida dos sujeitos, mas também trouxeram problemas, riscos e prejuízos. A possibilidade do desaparecimento dos seringueiros, deixando o território limpo para outras explorações, constituiu-se em uma das importantes questões que a pesquisa evidenciou e suscita no meio social da floresta xapuriense / This work seeks to develop reflections on the changes in the lifestyles the rubber tappers from Xapuri/AC have been experiencing since the murder of Chico Mendes, in 1988. In this sense, the attention and the energy of the study were concentrated on trying to perceive, mainly from the reports of the dwellers of the Cachoeira Extractive Settlement Project and the Chico Mendes Extractive Reserve, the new fears, the new experiences and the new challenges, among other stories the rubber tappers residing in the surveyed areas have gone through. For this purpose, a dialogue was established with the experiences of those social subjects, aiming to translate, through the reports collected, in loco, the voices, the faces and the living experiences in the scene of the study. The Oral History was the main methodological estrategy used to obtain the sources. However, written sources were also used. The analysis and the dialogue with the sources indicate that the major changes in the living of the studied subjects happened, primarily, after a political group called Popular Front of Acre came to power state. That Governance, which called itself Government of the Forest, sponsored investments held by international organizations which brought significant changes to the modus vivendi of the people from the interior of Xapuris forest. Those changes have improved the life of the subjects, but they also brought problems, risks and damages. The possibility of disappearance of the rubber tappers, leaving the territory clean for other holdings, constituted itself into one of the important questions that the survey evidenced and raises in the social environment of Xapuris forest

In many parts of Africa, large herbivores find their way into private lands, competing for forage with livestock and destroying crops. In Kenya, elephants (Loxodonta africana) pose a real threat to subsistence farmers at the interface between the elephants’ range and agricultural land. Conservation and land use strategies and policies in Kenya do not take into account the needs of the rural poor and tend to prioritise wildlife protection at the expense of the people. At the same time, rapid population growth has put protected areas under intense pressure through encroachment. Human-elephant conflict is only a microcosm of the wider ecological struggle for survival between humans and wildlife. In this study, data is analysed on the human-elephant conflict in the subsistence smallholder farming areas in south-western Laikipia. The study investigated the human-elephant conflict patterns and the various measures deployed by smallholder farmers to protect their crops from elephant incursions. The results show that: 1) Crop raiding is the most common form of HEC in Laikipia, 2) Farmers in Laikipia extensively deployed traditional techniques, 3) Contrary to the widely held inefficacy of these techniques, they were effective in the short term, 4) Most HEC incidents were not detected while in progress and 5) The Kenya Wildlife Service was unable to attend to many complaints despite nearly all the incidents being reported. Based on the interpretation of the results, two models for coping with human-elephant conflict are identified: 1) To strengthen the capacities (traditional conflict mitigation techniques) and the knowledge of the local people sharing their landscape with elephants to cope with human-elephant conflict and 2) The promotion of alternative livelihoods that consider wildlife compatible practices through a comprehensive land use and conservation policy review to integrate both human and wildlife needs.

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

Philosophiae Doctor - PhD / The thesis examines the processes of social differentiation amongst households living on farms transferred through South African land reform, and the degree to which the ‘commercialisation’ of the cattle economy accounts for these processes. The evidence is drawn from six farms owned by Communal Property Associations (CPAs), which are part of the Besters Land Reform Project in the Besters District of KwaZulu-Natal. Drawing on the scholarship of critical political economists, the thesis shows that social differentiation is a dynamic process that both underlies and exacerbates conflicts over the commercial production of collectively owned cattle. This finding is derived from examining the articulation of three analytically distinct processes. These are the diversification of livelihoods in response to diminishing opportunities for regular wage employment; the social stratifications arising partly from the unequal ownership of cattle; and the differential claims on and extractions made from CPA land and cattle production. The thesis shows that some households are able to accumulate agricultural capital and expand their cattle herds by securing and synchronising a range of livelihoods, including wage employment, social grants and subsidies from CPA farm production. Others, unable to synchronise livelihoods arising from social processes that often run counter to one another, find their cattle herds depleted as they draw on them to survive. When their agricultural production declines, their capacity to generate a livelihood sufficiently robust to withstand shocks is put at risk. This places the collectively owned land, income and assets of the CPAs at the centre of a politics defined by the contradiction between meeting the needs of social reproduction on the one hand, and accumulating farm capital, on the other. This is evidenced in the dynamic nature of the hybridised farm systems in which cattle farming for multiple purposes co-exists with the production of cattle as commodities. Reflecting this materiality, the politics of the CPA draws on older relationships of kinship, underpinned by ceremonial uses of cattle that both reflect and generate broader socio-economic inequalities. The outcome of this fluid and complex ‘politics of the farm’ determines whether land reform produces a small number of ‘winners’ or a greater number of households involved in agricultural petty commodity production. Social differentiation is exacerbated on farms that disband collective production, while households are both more likely to continue farming or to re-enter agricultural petty commodity production where CPA production provides capital and labour inputs. The implications of these findings are that the problems of production on many land reform farms cannot be explained simply in terms of CPAs as troubled institutions. Rather, the dynamics of differentiation constitute CPAs and their enterprises as sites of struggle that render collectively owned production unstable under current land and agrarian policy frameworks. Policy priorities that take cognizance of this politics and support farm level adjudications of member’s rights to land, capital and cash, and support agricultural capital accumulators to exit communal property arrangements could result in limited transformations of the agrarian structure.

Philosophiae Doctor - PhD / This thesis examines livelihoods in the wake of agricultural commercialization under the Revitalization of Smallholder Irrigation Schemes (RESIS) Programme and similar revitalization initiatives within the Olifants River Basin in Limpopo Province. The focus is on contractual joint ventures and strategic partnerships implemented within selected smallholder irrigation schemes. The thesis is based primarily on in-depth empirical studies conducted between October 2003 and March 2009 in three sites located in two Integrated Sustainable Rural Development Programme (ISRDP) poverty nodes namely, Greater Sekhukhune and Vhembe Districts. To a lesser extent, the thesis draws on findings from rapid appraisals of five additional study sites in Greater Sekhukhune District. Research findings showed that the performance of joint ventures and strategic partnerships had so far largely fallen short of expectations. With the exception of a minority of smallholders involved in RESIS-Recharge strategic partnerships, the promise of higher incomes and improved livelihoods had often remained elusive, while debts and potential losses of often meagre household assets loomed large, threatening to erode existing livelihoods and undermine government interventions. This was mainly because ‘viability’ in both the RESIS and RESIS-Recharge phases was narrowly seen in economic and technical terms, such that reduction of transaction costs often entailed the divesting of responsibilities to address issues of rural poverty and inequality. Subsistence production had largely given way to commercially-orientated farming, and weak monitoring of contract formulation and implementation meant that voices of marginalized poor and vulnerable people, particularly women and the elderly, were not being heard. Research findings further revealed that while RESIS-Recharge strategic partnerships increased incomes for a minority of smallholders, such arrangements did not meaningfully improve the productive, managerial and marketing skills of smallholders to ensure their effective participation in agriculture. Rather, strategic partnerships were creating a small class of black ‘arm-chair’ farmers, who played little or no active role and obtained few or no skills in commercial farming but perpetually depended upon and drew incomes from agribusiness initiatives run by externally-based agents. Adjunct to questions of sustainability for these farmers’ ability to participate in commercial farming, the thesis raises the question: What is the rationale for joint ventures and strategic partnerships in the context of South Africa’s Agricultural Sector Strategy objectives for support to black farmers? Contracts lacked mechanisms for equitable distribution of costs and benefits between contracted private partners and targeted smallholders, on the one hand, and the rest of members of local communities, on the other hand. Contracts also lacked provisions for postproject recapitalization of infrastructure and rehabilitation of degraded land. This raised questions about the longer term sustainability of productivity, natural resource base and livelihood security in smallholder irrigation schemes. The conclusion of this thesis is that the challenge of reducing rural poverty and inequality in smallholder irrigation schemes might not be resolved through existing institutional approaches to agricultural commercialization.

Magister Artium (Social Work) - MA(SW) / During the year 2000 Zimbabwe faced a multiplex of challenges linked to political and economic dynamics generated from its Fast Track Land Reform Programme (Raftopoulos, 2009). The country plunged into land grabs (dubbed Third Chimurenga) led by the war veterans, motivated by economic freedom and emancipation for the black majority. Thus began the economic decline and the exodus of citizens leaving the country in search for employment opportunities and better living conditions abroad. As expressed by Raftopoulos (2009), the problem of economic hardship and perpetual uncertainty worsened in 2008 due to the violent elections that were held in the country which resulted in rampant killings and a hyperinflation that saw the Zimbabwe dollar plunge into trillions. Many families were displaced as people were forced to flee to neighbouring countries including South Africa in search for a better life as well as opportunities. Zimbabweans entered the South African job market which had already begun struggling due to the economic recession experienced in 2008 (Matshaka, 2009). This left many Zimbabweans unemployed and with many survival challenges. In order to survive, many of these refugees started learning creative arts and crafts with the hope of using their skills and capabilities for self-employment. It is within this context that this research investigates the coping mechanisms used by Zimbabwean refugees in combating the challenges of unemployment and poverty by trading through craft markets in Hout Bay as a means of survival and livelihood. The Sustainable Livelihoods Framework (SLF) was used as a theoretical lens through which to examine the livelihood strategies of Zimbabwean refugees as a means of survival. With regard to the selection of research design the mixed methods approach was used to broaden the width and depth of assessment. This included both qualitative and quantitative methods in order to collect data relevant to the research question.

Developing countries must concurrently develop while also adapting to climate change; if not, the challenges of poverty alleviation are likely exacerbated. One response has been an emergence of literature emphasizing various approaches that address climate adaptation and development. There are approaches that focus on: climate-specific impacts, addressing underlying vulnerability of households or the resiliency of systems. Taken separately, these approaches have significant weaknesses, but a combined assessment of general and climate specific capacities at system and household scales, the adaptive development capacities framework, is promising. This framework is captured in a matrix that illustrates the presence of these capacities and thereby provides a basis for considering the relative importance and the interaction of climate-specific and general capacities at multiple scales. The framework has the potential to provide a nuanced, yet clear understanding of the extent that climate-adaptive development is occurring. This is important because there is a weak understanding of the interaction and relative importance of adaptive development capacities at multiple scales in developing countries. This thesis research sets out to operationalize the adaptive development framework (Eakin, Lemos and Nelson 2014) (when the research began, this framework had not yet been operationalized). This qualitative research project addresses this gap by focusing on coastal Cambodia. Cambodia is actively pursuing economic development through a range of policies, including developing a series of Special Economic Zones. For example, my case focuses on a Special Economic Zone (SEZ) located near the Thai border (between the border and a secondary coastal city, known as Koh Kong town) that began employing thousands of workers in 2012. At the same-time, Cambodia has ambitious climate adaptation policies, that include a coastal focus. Since the climate-adaptation and development effects of the SEZ, specifically its employment, are unknown, this case provides a strong setting for testing the adaptive development capacities framework. In this way, the SEZ is a window into better understanding the presence and interaction of adaptive development capacities across household and system scales. This thesis begins by introducing the research topic, research questions and adaptive development framework. The research methods are clearly detailed, before turning to an understanding of climate change within the context of broader environmental change in Koh Kong. Fisheries decline, coastal erosion and drinking water shortages are being driven by a series of drivers including off-shore fishing, sand-mining, mangrove loss, and urban growth in the coastal area, and these drivers are being exacerbated by the increasing effects of climate change in Koh Kong. Climate change risks include sea-level rise, increasing drought and more extreme and frequent storms. Turning to the adaptive development capacity of systems, this research uncovered no climate-specific capacities in Koh Kong’s industrial, urban and migration systems. Most problematically, the city is being developed without consideration of the climate change risks posed by sea-level rise and increased drought. This has already led to seasonal piped water shortages as the water demand pressures of factories, population growth, along with prolonged dry seasons, leads to insufficient water. The uneven quality of urban systems, and the variation in climate exposure, means that the residential location of households contributes to varying degrees of household adaptive development capacity. Although these systems lack climate-specific capacity, there is a high level of development capacity in the industrial system due to relatively high and predictable wages and a good working environment in this particular SEZ, in comparison to elsewhere in Cambodia. Linked to the strength of the SEZ as an employer, households – particularly those with females between 18-25 –are able to temporarily diversify or compliment their livelihoods from climate-exposed fisheries and farming towards the higher and more predictable wages of SEZ employment where there is minimal climate exposure. This means that although the Koh Kong’s systems lack specific climate adaptive capacity, households are able to use their agency to move towards a greater degree of adaptive development. However, not all households are able to achieve the same degree of climate adaptive capacity, and the timing of such adaptive capacity is very specific (the SEZ only hires women between 18-25). While local fishing households are optimally placed to take advantage of the proximity of the SEZ and their surplus female labour, migrant farming households face the higher costs of migration and greater female labour opportunity costs. Looking within households, the very high rate of female employment at the SEZ means that adaptive development is uneven across households. While the strengthening of household adaptive development capacity through time-sensitive SEZ employment is encouraging, in the long-term, the lack of adaptive capacity in Koh Kong’s systems could significantly limit or undermine these gains. Of concern is the pressure that industrialization, urban growth and migration are placing on Koh Kong’s urban water system, land-use practices and planning processes that are not able to address current environmental concerns, nor climate change risks. This creates the conditions for emerging vulnerabilities, and demonstrates the limits of household adaptive development capacity. These findings demonstrate the value of the adaptive development framework in articulating the forms and scales of capacity needed for adaptive development.

Central-northern Namibia is home to an approximate 43% of the country’s population, a large proportion of which still depends directly on natural resources for their livelihoods. The main land use in this area is agro-silvo-pastoralism i.e. a combination of subsistence farming and silvi-culture. The few phytosociological and biodiversity data available in Namibia are not substantial to motivate environmental management and sustainable utilization of the country’s natural wealth. The Vegetation Survey Project of Namibia coupled with the BIOTA southern Africa Project therefore share a common goal of re-classifying Namibian vegetation by building on the Preliminary Vegetation Map of Namibia of 1971 and the Homogenous Framing Areas Report of 1979. The vegetation of Omusati and Oshana regions which are situated in the Mopanne Savanna in central-northern Namibia was classified and described by subjecting 415 relevés to multivariate analysis i.e. classification and ordination. The geographical distribution of these community types was established by supervised classification of satellite data of the study area. Data collected in this study will be used for hypothesis generation of further ecological investigations while the map can be used for planning and conservation of vegetation resources in the area. Copyright / Dissertation (MSc)--University of Pretoria, 2012. / Plant Science / unrestricted

Magister Philosophiae (Land and Agrarian Studies) - MPhil(LAS) / Municipal commonage has the potential to make a major contribution to land redistribution in South Africa. During the Apartheid era, land under the control of local government was leased out to commercial farmers at commercial rates, which ensured an important source of income for municipalities. Post-1994, municipalities have been tasked by the Department of Land Affairs with making land available to the previously disadvantaged and thus managing and administering the commonage for purposes of poverty alleviation.

Magister Philosophiae (Land and Agrarian Studies) - MPhil(LAS) / The contribution of common property resources to rural people's livelihoods is enormous, yet policy makers overlook it. Wild resources, grazing resources and trees provide an important buffer for most rural households. This study investigates the contribution of common property resources, in particular communal rangeland resources, to rural people's livelihoods in the Maluti District of the Eastern Cape, South Africa. Looking at an array of livelihood strategies which people use, the study investigates the proportional contribution of different livelihood strategies with reference to common property resources, specifically wild resources, grazing resources and trees.