Thesis (M. Dev.) -- University of Limpopo, 2016 / Most rural communities in developing countries are involved in various natural resource exploitation programmes to improve their livelihood status. The main objectives of the research were to assess the contribution of fish conservation as a strategy towards improving the livelihood status of people in Maranda Ward 9 in Mwenezi, Zimbabwe, and to ascertain the challenges in fish conservation and access to fishing activities. In this research, a questionnaire, interviews, focus group discussions and observations were used to gather information. In the administration of the questionnaires on the village households, 80 households were used as research subjects drawn from a 10% sample size for each of the 10 villages. Purposive sampling was also used for selecting respondents for the interviews and focus group discussions. Secondary data sources used include data from the Parks and Wildlife Authority on recorded cases of fish poaching. The researcher discovered that the fish conservation project improved the livelihood status of the people. Food security was improved through supplementary purchases of food using money derived from the selling of fish. A decrease in school dropouts and improved income are some of the indicators of improved livelihood status of the people. However, there is still a need for continuous support to the programme from various external institutions such as universities, research institutions, financial institutions and Rural District Council. These institutions play a significant role in community development through educational support, training and development, financial support and in creating a favourable environment for economic development in rural areas. There is also a need for continuous monitoring and evaluation of all project activities to assess improvements in rural livelihoods and also compare the actual performance of the IGPs with the desired performance. The deviation makes a platform for corrective actions towards improving the lives of rural people

Philosophiae Doctor - PhD / The aim of this thesis is to examine the association between information and communication technologies (ICTs) and poverty reduction in South Africa. ICTs have been argued to be a means to improve household livelihoods and thereby to provide people with the capability of changing their existing poverty trajectories. The study conceptually investigates ICTs as a contributor to human development through the theoretical lens the sustainable livelihoods framework (SLF). Since ICTs broaden the asset base of the poor, the study first theorises household access to ICT as a new form of capital, termed as the ‘digital basket’. This new wealth indicator augments the current well-developed list of capitals adopted within the SLF approach. This digital basket concept and the ICT systems that provide its components are described, establishing the theoretical contributions of this thesis.

This dissertation examines how simultaneous social-ecological transformations including environmental change, climate uncertainty and urbanization affect low income residents in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. Low income residents often reside in informal settlements which themselves inhabit marginal spaces in the city including roof tops, riverbanks, and land on the urban periphery. In Phnom Penh, many communities in the peri-urban zone depend on agriculture for their livelihood. Yet, this way of life is being compromised by changes to weather patterns, water quality and most pressingly urban expansion, as the wetlands they use to farm are being filled with sand to create new land on which to build luxury condos and expansive shopping malls. This thesis focuses on how low income residents, in particular urban farmers on the outskirts of Phnom Penh, live with and influence the ongoing social-ecological transformations that are shaping the city. I employ a mixed qualitative and quantitative methodology, including interviews, focus groups and a household survey to examine how patterns of urbanization in the past 25 years have created situations of both social and ecological marginalization in Phnom Penh. I show how the changing legal framework of land ownership has influenced access to land and housing while analysing how urban farmers have responded to these changes. The following research questions underpinned the study: 1. How are low-income residents of Phnom Penh affected by the process of environmental change (including climate change)? How do other forms of socio-economic marginalization influence this? 2. What are the historical conditions that have shaped the present reality for low-income residents of Phnom Penh in terms of their vulnerability to environmental change? 3. How are low-income residents responding, individually and collectively, to the changes they are experiencing as a result of urbanization and environmental change? What are the outcomes of these actions? 4. How is the concept of ‘resilience’ being employed as a policy objective in Cambodia? Does the presence of a resilience agenda improve conditions for low-income residents facing challenges related to environmental change in urban areas? I combined the theoretical fields of resilience and political ecology, to take advantage of their complementary understandings of the interaction between humans and nature. This theoretical combination highlights the importance of scale, focusing on the loss of agricultural livelihoods at the village level while also acknowledging the role of national policy and politics in shaping the priorities of urban development. My use of political ecology focuses on issues of agency to show how farmers are actively employing strategies to sustain their failing crops, such as increasing the use of chemical inputs, which tragically further undermines their precarious finances as well as the ecosystem they depend on. Farmers deploy short term strategies in an effort to retain a foothold in the city in the hopes that their children will be able to leverage their education to pursue opportunities outside of farming. I further draw on discourse analysis to show how the term resilience is employed in policy and by government officials at the national level to frame climate change as a managerial problem which can be solved with technical solutions and external funding. I argue this obscures how problematic decisions such as the in-filling of urban lakes are caused, not by failures of capacity but by political priorities, aligned to the interests of wealth creation for a small elite. While resilience has been embraced as a policy priority in Cambodia, it has not translated into practices which protect urban ecosystems or lessen social inequalities.

This thesis examines how individuals and households of Kao and Liqhobong villages in Lesotho responded to economic challenges resulting from, amongst other factors, the implementation of structural adjustment policies; a decline in work opportunities for Basotho migrants in South Africa; the wider collapse of the regional mining complex, and; continued failure in developing agricultural production. More specifically, the study focuses on individuals and households implicated in unrecognised and unlicensed artisanal diamond mining and who use such mining, in the midst of these economic challenges, as a supplementary means of income or livelihood diversification. Artisanal diamond mining in Lesotho is a livelihood for rural households that is masked by the dominant representation of Lesotho as a labour reserve. Making use of the 'moral economy' and 'human economy' approaches, the thesis explores how artisanal miners in Lesotho engage in diamond digging and selling. It also investigates the constraints they face in a sector that was heavily regulated historically and remains so in post-independence Lesotho, a state which is itself constrained by a regional and global context that makes it difficult to raise the living standards of its citizens. In order to understand the responses of individuals and households in the implicated villages, the thesis combines an historical with an ethnographic approach. As such it examines the conditions artisanal diamond miners have operated under from the 1950s to 2014 when fieldwork for this thesis was conducted. It looks at how artisanal miners and artisanal mining collectives with their own moral economies negotiated the contestation over natural resources with the Lesotho state and international commercial mining companies. In doing so it investigates how the artisanal miners positioned themselves in relation to the law; claims to ownership over land; the international market for diamonds; and society. As an economic activity artisanal diamond mining is viewed in relation to the larger social processes in which it is embedded and from which it derives meaning. As such this thesis tells a story of conflict, violence and resistance; a story that remains pertinent, given the current debates about economic democracy in contexts of natural resource wealth. In my analysis, I pay particular attention to the role of women in ASM in Lesotho. / Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2017. / Anthropology and Archaeology / PhD / Unrestricted

Magister Philosophiae (Land and Agrarian Studies) - MPhil(LAS) / As a means to assuage historical land inequities, resultant socio-economic disparities and poverty alleviation, the Namibian Government undertook to reform the land sector. Guided by the Constitution and the Resolutions of the 1991 Land Conference policy and legal framework, a fractured consensus is built on the rationale to redistribute land to a targeted group. Parallel to the reform agenda, systemic challenges to the resettlement process are growing amid questions on Government’s ability to respond to sustainable programme objectives embedded within land reforms. Literature coalesces on the issues of land-reform programmes having lost direction, being skewed in favour of a few, being biased towards commercial agriculture, and requiring review and re-configuration to be inclusive and to satisfy equity and poverty-alleviation concerns.

Philosophiae Doctor - PhD / Growth rates of three commercial eucheumoids: brown Eucheuma denticulatum and green and brown Kappaphycus alvarezii were studied at three sites (Gazi Bay, Kibuyuni and Mkwiro) in southern Kenya. The study was conducted using the fixed off-bottom rope technique over a 15 month period from August 2001 to October 2002, in 4 plots (5 m x 1.5 m) set up at each site. The brown E. denticulatum had the highest mean growth rate over the entire period of 4.7% day-I compared to the green and brown K. alvarezii which were 4.3% day l and 4.2% dayl, respectively. Mean relative growth rates were highest at Gazi (5.6% dayl), and lowest in Kibuyuni (3.2% day-I) with intermediate values of 4.8% dail at Mkwiro. Increased water motion was observed to increase thallus nitrogen and hence the growth of eucheumoids. The 'ice-ice' syndrome affected both brown E. denticulatum and brown K. alvarezii but not green K. alvarezii. Mean growth was higher during the southeast monsoon (4.7% day+) than during the northeast monsoon (4.0% dayl).The carrageenan characteristics of the three morphotypes were measured for 12 months. The highest carrageenan yield was obtained for green K. alvarezii (59.1% dry wt), whereas the average carrageenan yield for brown K. alvarezii was 56.5% dry wt and 56.6% dry wt for brown E. denticulatum. The plants at Gazi (58.0% dry wt) had a slightly, though significantly, higher carrageenan yield than both those at Kibuyuni (57.1 % dry wt) and Mkwiro (57.3% dry wt). However, from a commercial point of view the differences in carrageenan yields were not meaningful. Highest gel strengths were obtained in carrageenans from green K. alvarezii (1042.1 g cm") and brown K. alvarezii (1053.7 g ern"), whereas low values of 100.8 g ern" were obtained for brown E. denticulatum. The brown E. denticulatum had carrageenan with higher viscosity (81.7 mPa.s) and sulphate content (29.1% dry wt) than both green and brown K. alvarezii. The gel viscosities of all the morphotypes were higher during the southeast monsoon (67.3 mPa.s) than during the northeast monsoon (46.3 mPa.s) and were positively correlated with gel strengths.A survey was conducted among households in the three villages, from April to September 2001 to assess their socio-economic characteristics. There were 182 household heads interviewed; about 20% were women. Fishing was the main source of livelihood for about 48% of the household members. In 2001, the average monthly income for the surveyed households was Kshs. 9904 (1 US$=75 Kshs.), with about 67% having less than Kshs. 10 000. The average prevalence of poverty among the households surveyed was 45.1% with 38.8%,54.8% and 46.7% of households in Gazi, Kibuyuni and Mkwiro villages, respectively, living below the poverty line of Kshs. 1239 per month per adult person. An economic feasibility study for growing brown E. denticulatum and brown K. alvarezii in pilot farms of 0.1 ha was conducted at Gazi and Kibuyuni. A higher yield of 793 kg dry wt was obtained for plants grown at Gazi than those at Kibuyuni (793 kg dry wt). The net income derived from E. denticulatum was estimated at Kshs. 7549 annually in a 0.1 ha seaweed farm. A higher annual income of Kshs. 49 126 was generated from K. alvarezii. The rate of return on investment in farming E. denticulatum ranged from 15 to 63%, while 122 to 380% for K. alvarezii. The pay back period was shorter for the latter (0.3 to 0.7 years) than the former (1.2 to 2.7 years).A cross-sectoral policy analysis regarding legislation and policy relevant to the introduction and development of eucheumoid cultivation in Kenya, with particular reference to Kenyan legislation was conducted. The analysis showed that there is no system of promoting or regulating mariculture, though there are fragmented regulations that are scattered among the policies, Acts and regulations of various institutions. Such regulations were not designed specifically for mariculture and as a result they do not fully address the needs of mariculture. The establishment of a national mariculture development programme in Kenya is proposed as a means to develop and manage the farming of marine resources, including seaweeds.

Tanzania from the villagers' perspective. It was conducted in cooperation with the Swedish NGO Vi Agroforestry, who supported the field visits. Preparations were made in Sweden during Jan-March 2014, and the field study in Kyerwa, Kagera region was executed in April-May 2014. The study was mainly qualitative and the central data was received from 30 semi-structured interviews with villagers in Kyerwa district. For the design and analysis of the study, the Sustainable Livelihoods Approach and a socio- technical perspective were used. The main drivers for SHSs were found to be improved economy, increased study opportunities for children and improved indoor environment from cutting out kerosene use. On the other hand, the main barrier for further spreading was the up-front cost of the SHS. Furthermore, though awareness of SHS is high, the lack of marketing of SHSs acts as another barrier. Most SHSs in the area show good technical performance, but lack of user maintenance might jeopardize this in the future. Lastly, villagers requested SHSs sold on a payment plan, as this would enable the investment for many.

Magister Economicae - MEcon / When looking at South African land policy, one would agree there is a clear commitment to ensuring land ownership for the previously disadvantaged. South Africa’s 1996 Constitution is widely regarded as among the most progressive in the world in terms of its emphasis on human, social and economic rights. Despite this, many South Africans desiring land ownership and access through land redistribution instruments, generally struggle to do so. This study is a mixed-method study, through its survey and interviews, calls into question the criteria used for land redistribution in South Africa. Furthermore, it makes a case why landlessness should be prioritised in the allocation criteria. Because of its interest in livelihoods and capital asset framework of the poor, the study’s basic points have caused us to explain the meaning of landlessness using the Sustainable Livelihoods Framework. However, the study believes the Sustainable Livelihoods Framework is not adequate to conceptualise landlessness; therefore, it comes up with a new conceptual framework to landlessness that is rooted in the Sustainable Livelihoods Framework The study uses Fezile Dabi District Municipality as a case study and, as a result, this process has now created an opportunity for the study to identify the broad typologies of landlessness which exist within the municipality. The thesis believes that considered holistically, the social and economic (tangible and intangible) assets of the rural poor will ensure that the land redistribution leg of South African land reform will achieve its main objective which is poverty alleviation.

The land grabbing phenomena grew in both reported cases and in scholarly interest after the 2008 financial crisis. The concept of land grabbing has been greatly debated and some have chosen the term large scale land acquisition instead, focusing on win-win outcomes while the land grabbing term rather focuses on the unequal power relations involved. Our study has defined land grabbing as; a global land rush characterized by transnational and domestic investors, governments and local elites taking control over land in order to produce food and other industrial commodities for domestic and international markets. The study's aim is to examine land grabbings implications on smallholders local livelihoods in Ethiopia and furthermore to reveal what narratives that are being promoted by the Ethiopian government to justify these land grabs. This to understand how the implications on smallholders' livelihoods and the narratives by the government match. The study is based in a qualitative methodology, basing most of the study's result in a literature review. The study is examined through a Political Ecology framework, focusing on political economy with theory influences from both Marx and David Harvey. Furthermore, the study will also combine the theoretical understanding of discursive power, focusing on development discourses, with a narrative analysis. Findings of the study show that the main narratives pushed by the government to justify said land grabs in the country was economic growth, further enabling a ‘development state’, modernizing pastoralists by providing stable income and changing living situations for pastoralists and increasing the food security in the country. Furthermore, the study found that the livelihood implications for smallholders have been overall negative, with outcomes such as displacement, loss of land and resources, weakened food security and also negative psychological and social impacts as well. Therefore the study could conclude that the Ethiopian government's argumentations have not matched with the lived realities for many smallholders.

Background Youth with intellectual disabilities usually experience poorer post-school outcomes than youth with any other disabilities and youth in the general population (McConkey, Dowling, Hassan & Menke, 2013). Youth with intellectual disabilities are often marginalized and discriminated against regarding skills development and work opportunities as society seems to place high value on an individual's intellect (International Labour Organisation, 2015). However, international experience shows that youth with intellectual disabilities can become valuable employees with adequate training (Scheef, 2016). Participation in sports has shown to have a positive correlation with quality of life, satisfaction with life, community reintegration, and mood as well as employment opportunities for persons with disabilities (Diaz, Miller, Krauz & Fredericson, 2019). Hence it became useful to explore skills development and vocational training opportunities in sports that could facilitate youth with intellectual disabilities to access work skills training and work opportunities in urban Zimbabwe. Aim The overall aim of the study was to explore how participation in activities related to sports organisations and events enables youth with intellectual disabilities to access livelihood opportunities to become economically active. Objectives The objectives of the study were: 1. To identify any possible skills development and vocational training opportunities for youth with intellectual disabilities in sports events and organisations in Zimbabwe. 2. To describe the personal factors of youth with intellectual disabilities that enable them to access skills development and vocational training. 3. To identify environmental factors that enable youth with intellectual disabilities to access self-employment, supported employment or formal employment. 4. To determine the role of family, caregivers, and guardians in shaping the livelihood options of youth with intellectual disabilities. 5. To determine the role of skills trainers in developing the pre-vocational skills and vocational training in general for youth with intellectual disabilities. 6. To determine the role of sports coaches and managers in shaping the life skills' development of youth with intellectual disabilities who partake in sports. Methodology The research was a qualitative study in the form of critical ethnography. Critical ethnography speaks on behalf of minority groups such as the point of view of youth with intellectual disabilities' by stating what is and how it can be changed (Duff, Rogers, and Ross, 2016). The design was a collective study as more than one study site was used. The research took place at two adult vocational training centres for youth with intellectual disabilities and at three sports events. Participants were recruited by purposive sampling. Six youths with intellectual disabilities, five parents, caregivers, or guardians of youth with intellectual disabilities, two sports managers or organisers, two sports coaches and two skills trainers of youths with intellectual disabilities participated in the study to make a total sample size of seventeen. Participation observations, semi-structured interviewing and reflective journaling were used as data collection methods. Findings Untapped work opportunities were identified for youth with intellectual disabilities who participated in sports; however, they remained as lost opportunities as they were not being fully utilized. The youths had potential enablers for employability, but they were not being given access to work opportunities. The youths were invisible to potential employers owing to the remote location of their vocational training centres. Female youths were being prejudiced regarding livelihoods' development owing to the remote nature of the training centres, which made it unsafe for them to travel there. There were limited resources for the livelihoods' development of the youth due to economic hardships the country was facing. The government's support for livelihoods' development of the youth was inadequate. Families, peers, and the community were segregating youth with intellectual disabilities, which had the effect of disempowering them and their parents regarding the youths' livelihoods' development. The parents had shared feelings of fear and anxiety over what would become of their youth once they finished school or if their parents died. There was a lack a collective action amongst the parents regarding the youths' livelihoods' development. The parents' support regarding their children's livelihoods' development was inadequate and their knowledge on how to enhance their youths' livelihoods development was insufficient. The parents were also not getting sufficient support from society to empower their youth. The youths with intellectual disabilities were often left out of economic activities at sports events and in the greater community. The sports coaches and skills trainers were not actively planning or advocating for the youths to participate in economic activities at sports events. Conclusion This study explored the livelihoods' developments that were possible for youths with intellectual disabilities through their participation in sports. It was necessary to find effective ways to develop youths with intellectual disabilities' opportunities to become economically active as engagement in work activities is a basic human right. This study established that the parents of the youths needed to take the initiative regarding the livelihoods' development of their children. The youths and their parents needed to take collective action and find their political voice to advocate for skills training and work opportunities to the training centres, the community, and potential employers as well as the government. The parents needed to take their negative perceptions, which were acting as indirect blocks and which were disempowering them, as motivators to enact positive change for their children's livelihoods' development. It was necessary for parents, skills trainers, and sports coaches to market the youths to potential employers. At the training centres, the administration, skills trainers, and sports coaches need to consider a curriculum change to include a work attachment for the youth in inclusive employment. Sports coaches and skills trainers need to teach life skills intentionally that are transferrable in work situations and provide the youth with opportunities to practice the skills learnt in work settings. The sports coaches and skills trainers needed further training on how to use sports participation as a medium to enhance the youths' livelihoods' development. Sports managers needed to incorporate youth with intellectual disabilities and their training schools in economic activities in sports organisations and at sports events. Female youths with intellectual disabilities needed to be encouraged to attend the vocational training centres by providing for their interests and providing them with safe transportation to attend the vocational training centres.