A thesis submitted to the Faculty of Commerce,
Law and Management, University of the
Witwatersrand, in fulfillment of the requirements for
the degree of Doctor of Philosophy
Final Submission June, 2015. / The HIV and AIDS pandemic has increased the numbers of orphans
globally. The severity of the problem is greater in developing countries,
especially in Sub Saharan Africa. In Malawi, as in many other developing
countries, grandparents have stepped in and have embraced the role left
by the deceased parents, seeing the orphans through school, providing
food, clothing and shelter for them, even where the grandparents
themselves have no steady source of income. Despite the heavy burden
placed on grandparents as a result of HIV and AIDS, limited attention has
been given by governments, scholars and researchers to documenting in
detail the challenges faced by the elderly who look after orphaned
children.
This study examined the challenges faced by elderly people looking after
children orphaned by HIV and AIDS in Malawi using the Sustainable
Livelihoods Framework (SLF). This framework looks at household needs
and holistically categorises them in terms of social, financial, physical,
natural health, and government policies. Following a qualitative approach,
this study used a phenomenology approach in documenting the
challenges facing the elderly in Malawi, with a special focus on the
Rumphi and Zomba districts. The livelihood approach is part of rural
development theories that has moved away from the conventional
approaches towards development to holistic understanding of the
relationship between poverty and economic development.
The study also provided a case study on the role of social pensions in
Lesotho. Social protection, which is part of social development, focuses on
local community development with the emphasis not only on economic
development, but also on improvement of health, education, environment
and standard of living as critical contributors to sustainable development.
This is seen as a medium that discourages dependency and promotes the
participation of people in their own development. The aim was to profile
social protection benefits for the elderly in Lesotho as an example so that
insights could be drawn from the experience. The study used structured
and semi-structured interviews and focus group discussions as tools to
elicit information from grandparents, orphans, community leaders,
teachers, local leaders and policy makers.
The findings of the study indicate that the level of rural poverty in elderly
headed households has increased due to the challenges resulting from the
HIV and AIDS pandemic. The Sustainable Livelihoods Approach
presented in this paper advocates that sustained development is only
successful if it is based on evidence and understanding of household or
community needs holistically and systematically.
This study has highlighted five key elements required to understand the
elderly households through the Sustainable Livelihoods Framework.
Firstly, the evidence from this research challenges the SLF in that it does
not take into account all key factors necessary to understanding the
elderly households’ needs, As a result, this study proposes other
necessary enhancements to the SLF, such as the role of cultural practices
as part of social capital in supporting elderly livelihoods, especially where
patrilineal and matrilineal family systems exist.
Secondly, evidence from this study indicates that the notion of social
capital that includes dependency on community networks as key in
improving the general livelihood of societies has completely diminished
due to community fatigue in relation to offering care and support. The
study further reveals enhancements in the forms of social capital like
belonging to “secret friendships” or being a member of the village banking
scheme. However these social networks have limited elderly membership
because of community perceptions that elderly members may not
contribute much, be it financially or otherwise, hence the elderly are
excluded from social networks.
Thirdly, as a result of the many challenges faced by the elderly, this
research has highlighted an increase in negative coping strategies in
elderly households due to limited support from government and other
stakeholders. Negative coping strategies in this regard include engaging in
activities like casual labour (ganyu), selling alcohol, school dropouts,
selling green maize and begging. The more the elderly adopt negative
coping strategies, the more vulnerable they become over time.
Fourthly, the livelihoods framework has been used in this study to provide
a full understanding of situation of the elderly headed households. This
approach provides a new dimension to this body of knowledge as it is
used for the first time on elderly households. The research presents a
foundation that will require future researchers to look at elderly households
holistically and systematically within their context using this research as a
guideline or as a point of reference.
Finally, this research suggests a possible framework that would address
the needs of the elderly, with a combination of the livelihoods framework
as the analysis tool and the social pensions as the response mechanism
for alleviating the burden on elderly headed households. Social pensions
will act as a poverty cushion to the elderly members of the society to meet
their needs in raising orphaned children.
This research conclusively reinforces the role of social protection for
supporting the elderly livelihoods. The researcher’s contribution to theory
is embedded in the premises of integration of livelihoods frameworks as
an analysis tool that provides an holistic picture of understanding elderly
household challenges and needs. Social protection through social
pensions can be an intervention for supporting the household challenges
of the elderly. The combination of these two frameworks results in an
holistic and systematic analysis of elderly livelihoods and subsequent
support necessary to respond to their challenges. / MT2016
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:wits/oai:wiredspace.wits.ac.za:10539/21139 |
| Date | 10 October 2016 |
| Creators | Ngwira, Marumbo Prisca |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
| Format | application/pdf |
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