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Masters in Public Administration - MPA / In South Africa, since 1994 when democratic government come into power, the issue of development was raised as one of the priorities of government. Government promised to transform the citizen’s livelihoods through quality, effective and efficient services. Rural development was identified as one of the priorities of government to ensure better life for all the citizens. Local government have been mandated to ensure quality service delivery to the citizens especially to the rural areas. The issue of rural development was still a challenge in South Africa especially in Eastern Cape Province. There was a need to improve service delivery to the rural communities at Intsika Yethu Municipal area as the pace of rural development has been slowly. An infrastructure service is still a challenge to the rural areas at this municipal area as the sanitation is yet to improve. Service delivery has been far less compared to the urban areas. There were signs of improvement but the process has been very slow. The study has determine and analysed the issues that contribute to the slow pace in rural development and reveal some recommendations that might assist to improve the pace of rolling out services at Intsika Yethu municipal rural communities. The findings of the study show that unemployment and poverty to the people residing in rural communities has been one of the major challenges that need serious consideration. The infrastructural situation of the rural communities pushed people of Intsika Yethu to the level of poor socio-economic development which might be contributed by the pace rural development has been approached. The research found that the slow pace in development of rural communities has an impact on the situation they found themselves and therefore intervention strategies to improve the pace of service delivery in rural communities with the intentions of enforcing the local municipality to be accountable and responsible.

Magister Philosophiae (Land and Agrarian Studies) - MPhil(LAS) / The thesis seeks to investigate the extent to which the Comprehensive Rural Development Programme (CRDP) has succeeded in creating a platform for rural people, including marginalised groups, to be effectively involved in their development. Dysselsdorp was used as a case study in a qualitative approach in order to get an understanding of the experience, views and perceptions of stakeholders, particularly residents and government officials. Data was collected through qualitative research. In-depth interviews were held with relevant government officials, local leaders and ordinary residents and focus groups were held with residents, including local leaders. The research revealed that the involvement of residents in CRDP was limited to needs identification through information giving while needs prioritisation and decisions on implementation were done by government officials. Further, the research suggests that members of the local elite (those who had political connections and social status) captured most of the benefits (i.e. tenders and jobs). Therefore, CRDP in Dysselsdorp had failed to ensure that residents, especially the marginalised, participate fully in their own development. Instead, the status quo remains, where government officials and the elites as representatives of the people make decisions. This corresponds with mere tokenism, as illustrated in Arnstein’s Ladder of Participation Model. A number of factors contributed to the failure to ensure genuine stakeholder participation, including unrealistic expectations of job creation, the assumption of ‘collectivism’, political dynamics in the area and poor institutional design.

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.

This study focuses on rural livelihood diversification and improvement in dry districts of Zimbabwe during the period from 2000 to 2010. It establishes and documents livelihood activities and interventions in three semi-arid districts in Zimbabwe, analyses evidence for rural livelihood diversification and improvement and related challenges, and analyses institutional and policy issues that determine rural livelihood development in the politically charged period from 2000 to 2010. Rural livelihood diversification and improvement is not a recent phenomenon. For years, rural people have diversified their livelihoods for different economic reasons. Despite several studies on rural livelihoods in Zimbabwe, no similar studies have been done to determine the types of livelihood diversification that occur in a politically charged environment and whether they improve people‟s livelihoods. The study was guided by both the sustainable livelihoods framework and the actor oriented approach. Qualitative methodology was used for the overall data collection. Firstly data was collected „from the top‟ through in-depth interviews with officials from government institutions, non-governmental organisations and community leadership structures. Secondly data was collected „from the bottom up‟ through selected participatory methods in study areas. The overall study findings show that despite having increased livelihood interventions in all semi-arid areas, the politically fraught atmosphere constrained livelihood improvement and poverty remained. Although evidence for livelihood diversification is undisputed in the study, the extent to which it contributed to livelihood improvement was limited. The extended period of political constraint reversed some of the livelihood improvement gains recorded by external interventions. As most of the support was targeted at addressing the immediate food needs of the poor in semi-arid districts, this affected the number of long-term interventions targeted at sustainable livelihood development. The study found that the changing policies and institutional arrangements constrained and limited the potential of some of the livelihood strategies adopted during the period under study and as a result most livelihood activities were limited to survival strategies. The study shows that despite a decline in agricultural production during the period under study, it remained the major livelihood activity. Agricultural activities such as cotton and maize production and livestock rearing experienced a decline, but were partially revived through external support from both the government and nongovernmental organisations. Agriculture as a livelihood activity largely benefited from external interventions that rehabilitated irrigation infrastructure and the provision of agricultural inputs during the period. However, despite the dominance of agriculture as a livelihood activity in semi-arid areas non-farm livelihood activities, both locally initiated and externally fostered, played a significant role in supporting rural livelihoods. Poaching and wild fruit harvesting provided food for immediate consumption, whilst gold and diamond panning, wood carving and the commercialisation of non-timber forest products generated cash income for rural livelihoods. Non-farm external livelihood interventions identified resulted in a number of rural livelihood development models important for future rural development. These models were developed around the commercialisation of non-timber forest products for cash income generation, rural human capital development through vocational skills training and rural small livestock asset development. Human capital resulted in the development of rural industry in the form of community based enterprises. Indirectly it also contributed to migrant labour that sent cash and goods back home. The study shows that it is evident that in a politically charged environment livelihood diversification has a range of positive effects. The re-emergence of the barter exchange economy in rural communities contributed to livelihood diversification although sustainability was limited. It is also possible for both barter exchange and the cash market to co-exist in a politically charged environment. The study also shows that traditional leadership and local authorities in study areas became more politicised and militarised and this diverted them from facilitating and supporting rural development and inhibited rural livelihood development efforts by different rural players. The study found that rural livelihoods are not static, and they adapted as best they could in the face of exogenous trends and shocks. Rural areas underwent deep transformations as a result of political dynamics, local livelihood initiatives and external livelihood support. Rural livelihoods changed as rural people devised combined livelihood strategies that went beyond farming. However, in contrast to the widely accepted argument that diversification plays an important role in poverty alleviation, this was clearly not the case in Zimbabwe‟s politically charged environment. This study contributes to the development debate with a case study on the type and extent of livelihood diversification strategies possible in a politically charged environment. Methodologically the study contributes to the possible application of a dual data collection system where data is collected from the top using different methods from those used to collect data from the bottom. This enriched the data at triangulation phase during analysis. The study also contributes to the understanding of the political economy, the type of rural livelihood development possible in politically charged environments, and to how rural people in Zimbabwe react and behave in an endeavour to survive. There was an increased role played by external interventions in livelihood diversification but the extent of their contribution to positive livelihood outcomes was constrained by the politically charged environment that prompted the interventions in the first place. The normal processes of policy development and implementation changed as the role of politicians in planning and implementation became evident and policy aims shifted from rural development to political party self-preservation.

The purpose of this study is to investigate the role played by agricultural cooperatives in developing the rural areas of the Eastern Cape Province. It also looks at the contributions by Government in promoting the establishment and the success of these cooperatives. The focus area was Cannon Farm in the Chris Hani District Municipality, where most of the people live below the poverty line, but have started agricultural cooperatives with the aim of eradicating poverty and developing their communities. The data for this research was gathered through group discussions and face-to-face interviews which were guided by a questionnaire. A document analysis was also conducted to fulfill all the research objectives. It has been found that agricultural cooperatives, as compared to any other type of cooperatives, are a major tool to eradicate poverty and bring economic development to rural communities. This is made possible not only by the full commitment and determination of cooperative members, but also by government which has also committed itself to providing a supportive legal environment for cooperatives (Cooperative Act No. 14 of 2005). The findings also show that, due to the challenges they are currently facing, agricultural cooperatives in the Eastern Cape Province have not yet reached their full potential. Therefore, it has been recommended that, such challenges need to be urgently addressed. As the United Nations (2001) highlights, agricultural cooperatives present themselves as an important element that can contribute to the realization of the Millennium Development Goals by 2015.

The use of Information Communication Technologies (ICTs) can support sustainable development within societies. ICTs have been supported by governments, private companies, non-governmental organisations, academic institutions and individuals. However, technological changes have made most ICT initiatives haphazard due to poor planning. There is no systematic plan on how to deploy services, infrastructure and devices especially in rural areas. For instance, in some cases, computers have been donated to communities in rural areas yet they are not being used, and ICT services have been deployed without the supporting ICT infrastructure. One of the solutions to addressing these ICT challenges is through the use of roadmaps to guide ICT solution implementation. This thesis proposes an ICT roadmap methodological framework to improve ICT roadmap development for rural ICT solutions. A composite methodological approach was employed in this research. This involves the use of qualitative research techniques such as participant observation, design exercises, workshops, focus groups and individual interviews supported by ethnographic studies. The Siyakhula Living Lab in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa was used as the case study. Studies were conducted to identify the current state of ICTs in rural areas, the future of ICTs and overview of roadmap developments. Rural users in South Africa, ICT experts in Europe and Africa, government officials and academic institutions were engaged to understand the current ICT planning, developments and needs. The author found that there are variations in individual ICT services required by rural users but, most ICT services in need fall mainly in the areas of health, education, entrepreneurship, agriculture and employment creation for rural people. These services require ICT devices and infrastructure which include computer peripherals, mobile phones, radios, televisions and wireless infrastructure, mobile infrastructure, satellites and broadcasting infrastructure respectively. It was found that the common future ICT projections expected in rural areas include: growth of mobile usage, social networking, increase internet services and localization of services. The roadmap framework is built based on the current state of ICTs, trends in ICTs, future technological projections and the plans currently been initiated in African continent. The ICT roadmap methodological focuses on how roadmaps could accommodate infrastructure, services and ICT devices to reach rural people. This should help rural users to be able to access public services within their respective communities using available ICT devices. ICT stakeholders could use the designed framework to improve the ICT roadmap development process for rural ICT users in Africa.

Population Resettlement forms the general subject area of this study. This topic is described in general terms to establish the fact that population resettlement is a problem common to many developing countries. Since the importance which a nation attaches to population resettlement depends on national circumstances, the significance of the problem of population resettlement in Ghana is reviewed as a case study. Ghana is a developing country which is currently implementing a multi-purpose river basin development scheme, called the Volta River Project. Basically, it is a hydroelectric power project. The Volta Lake has displaced some 80,000 riparian settlers in the Volta Basin. The displaced people should be resettled in new settlements, and they should be provided with satisfactory housing, employment, and social facilities and amenities. All these aspects of population resettlement call for the formulation of major governmental policies. It is hypothesized that the Volta Basin Population Resettlement Scheme must contribute towards the attainment of Ghana's social, economic, and physical planning objectives. The method of investigation is based on the premise that population resettlement is not an isolated problem, and that it should be examined within a national framework. Consequently, the highlights of the national objectives and policies of Ghana, as defined in the Ghana Seven-Year Development Plan, 1963/64 to 1969/70, are stated. To put the population resettlement scheme in perspective, the Volta River Project is analyzed to show its national importance and its compatibility with the national objectives of Ghana. Multi-purpose river basin development projects, carried out in India and the United States of America, involved the relocation of families in potential reservoir areas. A review of the Damodar Valley Project in India and the Tennessee Valley Project in the United States of America indicate that population resettlement is a national problem, the solution of which requires the formulation of policies by the highest level of government in a country. On the basis of experience in India and the United States of America, the following criteria for evaluating Ghana's population resettlement scheme are evolved: (1) Declared National Objectives; (2) Regional Development Project as part of a National Plan; (3) Education for Population Resettlement; (4) Planned Settlements; (5) Consistency of Project Administration with National Policies; and (6) Devolution of Functions. The criteria are applied to the Volta Basin Population Resettlement Scheme. The findings of this application tend to substantiate the hypothesis, that the Volta Basin Population Resettlement Scheme must contribute towards the attainment of Ghana's social, economic, and physical planning objectives. Nevertheless, the method of investigation is evaluated. Its shortcomings stem from the lack of sufficient data for detailed regional analysis of the population resettlement scheme. Other ways of implementing a population resettlement scheme are evaluated. It is concluded from this evaluation that Ghana's approach to population resettlement will most probably contribute to the attainment of her national objectives. It is, however, recommended that education for population resettlement should be a continuing process. It is further recommended that the Volta River Development Act should be amended to enable the Volta River Authority to transfer some of its functions to the Urban and Local Councils in the Volta Basin Planning Region. In the final analysis, it is the people in the new settlements who will ensure the success of the population resettlement scheme. It is therefore recommended that there should be permanent machinery for carrying out continuing evaluations of the people's reactions to changes to be brought about by the Volta River Project. / Applied Science, Faculty of / Community and Regional Planning (SCARP), School of / Graduate

This research is an ethnographic case study of the emerging ecotourism economies in the agricultural village of San Gerardo de Rivas, Pérez Zeledón, Costa Rica. Due to the village’s location as the main entry point to climb the country’s tallest mountain within Chirripó National Park, the majority of households in San Gerardo now derive some income from tourism. I conducted twenty household surveys, followed by twenty-one semi-structured interviews with male and female heads of households and representatives of local organizations and tourism businesses. Drawing on local perspectives, I found that ecotourism was a complementary income source to agriculture and that men and women were engaging differently in ecotourism employment. Local organizations were involved in the participatory management of ecotourism activities within Chirripó National Park. Ecotourism has affected environmental practices and local people are strategically negotiating the direction of tourism development, including through using environmental discourses, to optimize the benefits to their community.

This thesis explores the innovation and development of the Canadian wine industry. The main objectives are to present the key development factors, innovation, and collaborations, with particular emphasis on collaborations with higher education institutes. It also empirically assesses the extent to which there are differences among the wine producing regions of British Columbia, Ontario and Quebec. The empirical analysis is based on a firm-level survey of 146 firms. The results show that the Canadian wine production is highly innovative and knowledge intensive. Despite that the wine industry in Canada has developed differently according to its regional context, the pattern of innovation is rather similar among firms.