Skills development in South Africa: Group Five's social investment project

The boom in the construction industry in South Africa has drawn attention to the need for skills development. This article reports on an evaluation of the ‘People at the Gate’ training programme initiated by Group Five in Gauteng and Mpumalanga Provinces. The programme aims to empower unemployed local community members in areas where the company operates. The programme targets women and men who come to the company's sites looking for possible employment and are unable to be accommodated due to their lack of skills. The study evaluated the difficulties that trainees are faced with during and after the project; employment opportunities that are created; and the skills most needed in different trades and provinces.     

Community collaboration in development work with young people: perspectives from Zambian communities

Despite its recognised importance, studies of collaboration within specific communities in the Global South are rare. This paper examines the purposes and processes of collaboration between organisations undertaking development work with young people in two communities in Lusaka, Zambia. Interviewees recognised the need for collaboration given the limitations of existing provision and the fragmented organisational context. Existing collaboration was commonly orientated towards information sharing and joint provision rather than broader coordinated planning. Building awareness and understanding across organisations were viewed as key processes in developing collaboration. To enhance collaboration between organisations, it is suggested that inclusive community forums be instigated.

Collaboration communautaire dans le cadre d'activités de développement parmi les jeunes : points de vue de communautés zambiennes

Malgré son importance reconnue, la collaboration au sein de certaines communautés dans l'hémisphère Sud n'a fait l'objet que de rares études. Cet article se penche sur les finalités et les processus de collaboration entre organisations qui entreprennent des activités de développement avec des jeunes dans deux communautés de Lusaka, en Zambie. Les personnes interrogées reconnaissaient la nécessité de collaborer étant donné les limites des services disponibles et le contexte organisationnel fragmenté. La collaboration existante était fréquemment axée sur le partage des informations et la prestation conjointe, plutôt que sur une planification coordonnée plus large. Le développement de la prise de conscience et de la compréhension entre les organisations était considéré comme un processus clé dans le développement de la collaboration. Pour améliorer la collaboration entre organisations, le lancement de forums communautaires est suggéré.

Colaboración comunitaria en el trabajo de desarrollo con jóvenes: perspectivas de comunidades zambianas

A pesar de la reconocida importancia del tema, la colaboración entre comunidades específicas del Sur ha sido poco estudiada. El presente artículo examina los propósitos y los procesos de colaboración que se establecen entre organizaciones que realizan trabajo de desarrollo entre jóvenes en dos comunidades de Lusaka, Zambia. Dadas las limitaciones de la provisión actual y el contexto organizativo fragmentado, las personas entrevistadas reconocieron la necesidad de colaborar entre sí. En general, se constata que la colaboración ya existente se orienta más a compartir información y a la provisión conjunta que a una planeación coordinada más amplia. Construir conciencia y comprensión entre organizaciones constituye un proceso clave para fomentar la colaboración. El artículo sostiene que la colaboración entre organizaciones puede mejorarse a través de la realización de foros comunitarios incluyentes.

Colaboração da comunidade no trabalho de desenvolvimento com jovens: perspectivas de comunidades zambianas

Apesar de sua reconhecida importância, estudos de colaboração dentro de comunidades específicas no Sul Global são raros. Este artigo examina os propósitos e processos de colaboração entre organizações que estão realizando trabalho de desenvolvimento com jovens em duas comunidades de Lusaka, na Zâmbia. Os entrevistados reconheceram a necessidade de colaboração tendo em vista as limitações da provisão atual e o contexto organizacional fragmentado. A colaboração existente era comumente voltada para o compartilhamento de informações e provisão conjunta em vez de um planejamento coordenado mais amplo. Promover a conscientização e a compreensão entre as organizações foi vistos como um processo-chave no desenvolvimento da colaboração. Para ampliar a colaboração entre as organizações, é recomendado que fóruns comunitários inclusivos sejam promovidos.     

Engaging with cultural practices in ways that benefit women in northern Nigeria

This study explores the intra-household impact of improved dual-purpose cowpea (IDPC) from a gender perspective, in terms of productivity and food, fodder, and income availability, the impact of which is linked to the income thus placed in the women's hands. Surplus income is important in providing food and nutritional benefits to the home, particularly during periods of risk. More importantly, income generated through the adoption of improved cowpea varieties has entered a largely female domain, where transfers of income reserves were passed on between women of different ages, with significant impact in terms of social and economic development. However, the technology has strengthened the separation of working spheres between men and women. Future technologies should, from the outset, explore provisions existing within the local rubric, to focus on women with the aim of expanding their participation in agriculture with the associated benefits to their families.     

Quality or volume? An economic evaluation of coffee development strategies for Uganda

The article identifies challenges and opportunities for the Ugandan robusta coffee industry in the context of the global coffee crisis. It presents a qualitative and quantitative evaluation of development strategies through which Uganda might promote its largest export commodity. It is suggested that Uganda would benefit from moderately increasing robusta production, while a further decline in output could undermine its current price premium in the market. There may also be important benefits associated with increasing the value of Ugandan robusta through improvements in quality.     

Vinya wa Aka: an expanded microcredit model for community development

Microcredit is often seen as a simple solution to poverty reduction. However, its sustainability for longer-term community development is debated. This qualitative study describes a unique community-based model of microcredit in Kenya, which includes investment, emergency loans, and social support components. In-depth interviews with group members highlighted how this model fostered longer-term economic development, financial security, and stability. However, additional social and psychological benefits were valued higher than economic gains, although both were closely intertwined as economic security reduced psychological stress. This expanded model of microcredit has the potential to contribute to sustained community development amongst poorer households.

Vinya wa Aka : Un modèle de microcrédit élargi pour le développement communautaire

Le microcrédit est souvent perçu comme une solution simple pour la réduction de la pauvreté. Cependant, sa durabilité pour le développement communautaire à long terme fait l'objet de débats. Cette étude qualitative décrit un modèle communautaire kényan de microcrédit sans pareil, qui englobe des éléments d'investissement, de prêts d'urgence et de soutien social. Des entretiens approfondis menés avec des membres du groupe ont souligné la manière dont ce modèle favorisait le développement économique, la sécurité financière et la stabilité à long terme. Cependant, les avantages sociaux et psychologiques supplémentaires étaient plus appréciés que les gains économiques, bien que les uns et les autres fussent étroitement liés puisque la sécurité économique réduit le stress psychologique. Ce modèle élargi de microcrédit a le potentiel de contribuer au développement communautaire soutenu parmi les ménages les plus pauvres.

Vinya wa Aka: un modelo expandido de microcrédito para el desarrollo comunitario

A menudo el microcrédito es considerado como una solución sencilla para reducir la pobreza. Sin embargo, existen debates en torno a su sostenibilidad para propiciar el desarrollo comunitario de largo plazo. El presente estudio cualitativo examina un singular modelo de microcrédito comunitario llevado a cabo en Kenia, el cual incluye componentes de inversión, de préstamos de emergencia y de apoyo social. Las detalladas entrevistas realizadas con integrantes de los grupos destacaron cómo este modelo fomentó el desarrollo económico a más largo plazo, la seguridad económica y la estabilidad. Si bien se encuentran íntimamente ligados, los beneficios sociales y psicológicos adicionales fueron más valorados que los avances económicos, ya que la seguridad económica disminuyó el estrés psicológico. Este modelo de microcrédito expandido tiene el potencial de contribuir al desarrollo comunitario sostenible de los hogares más pobres.

Vinya wa Aka: Um modelo de microcrédito expandido para desenvolvimento da comunidade

O microcrédito é frequentemente visto como uma solução simples para a redução da pobreza. Porém, sua sustentabilidade para o desenvolvimento da comunidade no longo prazo é debatida. Este estudo qualitativo descreve um modelo único de microcrédito baseado na comunidade do Quênia, que inclui investimento, empréstimos emergenciais e componentes de apoio social. Entrevistas minuciosas com membros de grupo destacaram como este modelo promoveu o desenvolvimento econômico de mais longo prazo, a segurança financeira e estabilidade. Porém, benefícios sociais e psicológicos adicionais foram mais valorizados do que os ganhos econômicos, embora ambos estejam intimamente interligados uma vez que a segurança econômica reduziu o estresse psicológico. Este modelo expandido de microcrédito possui potencial para contribuir com o desenvolvimento sustentável da comunidade entre as famílias mais pobres.     

Impact assessment of farmer institutional development and agricultural change: Soroti district,Uganda

This article is based on participatory development research conducted in Soroti district of Uganda with the aim of assessing the impact of agricultural development among poor farmers. The central argument is that a combination of farmer empowerment and innovation through experiential learning in farmer field school (FFS) groups, changes in the opportunity structure through transformation of local government staff, establishment of new farmer-governed local institutions, and emergence of a private service provider has been successful in reducing rural poverty. Based on an empirical study of successful adaptation and spread of pro-poor technologies, the study assesses the well-being impact of agricultural technology development in Soroti district. The study concludes that market-based spread of pro-poor agricultural technologies requires an institutional setting that combines farmer empowerment with an enabling policy environment.     

Lessons from selected development policies and practices

This article identifies lessons learned from field research and related analysis, to address three fundamental aspects of development that are often overlooked: culture and governance, inclusive development, and market-based approaches. All three cases address issues of poverty and inequality. In addition, the critical role of institutions in governance and development is also highlighted. Finally, by bridging the gap between culture, economy, and society through these approaches, better and more effective development policies and programmes can be formulated and implemented.     

Perceptions and practices of farmer empowerment in Tanzania

The purpose of this article is to review the implementation of various empowerment interventions in Tanzania. Data for the review are based on field visits to programmes/projects/organisations involved in implementing empowerment interventions in various regions of the country. These visits involved key-informant interviews, sample surveys, and focus-group discussions with farmers. The review highlights the perceptions of empowerment at the levels of project staff and practitioners/beneficiaries, as well as the approaches used by various organisations and projects in implementing empowerment activities. In addition the article discusses the factors perceived to lead to empowerment, as well as its consequences.     

A new Fair Trade registration scheme based on the relations of production

Fashion, accessories, and homeware fall outside the regulations of Fairtrade Labelling Organizations International (FLO), which certifies mostly food products. A handful of fashion-led Fair Trade enterprises are now providing ranges of high-quality desirable products, made by workers employed in urban enterprises as well as independent producers in cooperatives. Tabeisa, an NGO involved in Fair Trade retailing, has developed a new regulatory framework which uniquely starts by defining the relations of production between all actors in the chain. This ensures that those not previously covered by existing standards are made visible and receive fair pay and conditions.     

Experiential and emotional encounters of women planners in Africa

Women planners in Africa do not constitute a critical mass: their numbers remain negligible and their output unrecognised, while mentors and role models still tend to be male. Women's experiences are undervalued, and their knowledge is often excluded in policy, project planning, and implementation. This article arises not from systematic academic research but from confessional, reflective, pilot research based on personal experience and the experiences reported by 25 women planners between 1999 and 2004. It deliberately seeks to break the monotony of drawing from survey results which are often detached from experiential and emotional encounters. Using anecdotal material from Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa, Uganda, and Zimbabwe, it examines the training and professional environment of the ‘planneress’; and discusses the emotions, expectations, and experiences of female planners in everyday encounters.     

Women's benefits from agricultural technologies: evidence from poultry production among Nigerian fisherfolk

In many rural households, women are much more involved than men in poultry production. This article examines the introduction of exotic chickens into communities along the shorelines of Kainji Lake in Nigeria and the consequent impact on women's participation and decision making within the household. Women's household decision-making power, particularly in terms of spending money from the sale of chickens and their own extra income, is stronger when the household keeps improved chicken species. The rearing of improved chicken species was positively correlated with social-status enhancement, especially for women.     

Probiotics in Tanzania: a multi-partner development project

This article critically examines an HIV/AIDS development and research project in Mwanza, Tanzania. A group of women produce a type of probiotic yoghurt that has provided evidence of lowering the incidence of HIV infection. The yoghurt is consumed by the women, their family members, and local citizens living with HIV/AIDS; surplus is sold within the community. While the project's multi-partner, multi-disciplinary composition allows for varied expertise and insights, it also requires open and collaborative dialogue. This article discusses the project's challenges, positive outcomes, and some of the socio-cultural issues that need to be addressed if it expands in size and/or scope.     

Social development and informal markets: lessons from Thohoyandou market,South Africa

This article explores informal markets as spaces of socialisation. Informal markets are important given the increase in migrants seeking a better life in cities and the need to formulate appropriate development policies. The methodology used involved a literature study that focused on social adaptation, and fieldwork done at an informal market in South Africa. The results show that informal traders are able to adapt to difficult circumstances by using informal networks, and also that they can remain victims trapped in poverty if they accept their powerless situations.     

Using community indicators for evaluating research and development programmes: experiences from Malawi

Evaluations involving stakeholders include collaborative evaluation, participatory evaluation, development evaluation, and empowerment evaluation – distinguished by the degree and depth of involvement of local stakeholders or programme participants in the evaluation process. In community participatory monitoring and evaluation (PM&E), communities agree programme objectives and develop local indicators for tracking and evaluating change. PM&E is not without limitations, one being that community indicators are highly specific and localised, which limits wide application of common community indicators for evaluating programmes that span social and geographic space. We developed community indicators with six farming communities in Malawi to evaluate a community development project. To apply the indicators across the six communities, we aggregated them and used a Likert scale and scores to assess communities' perceptions of the extent to which the project had achieved its objectives. We analysed the data using a comparison of means to compare indicators across communities and by gender.     

Amartya K. Sen and social exclusion

Andries Du Toit (2004) argues that the concept of social exclusion has limited use in the field of development studies, since chronic poverty is often the result of incorporation on particularly disadvantageous terms (‘adverse incorporation’) rather than any process of exclusion. Du Toit therefore advocates going beyond thinking about ‘exclusion’ and ‘inclusion’ in binary terms and looking more closely at how different kinds of power are formed and maintained. This article argues that thinking about social exclusion has already moved beyond a simple ‘included/excluded’ dichotomy, and that use of Sen's analytical framework assists researchers to tease out the complex, interconnected factors underlying chronic poverty, such as that experienced by agricultural workers in South Africa's Western Cape district of Ceres.     

Embracing marginality: place-making vs development in Gardenton,Manitoba

Based on a two-year, multi-method study of ‘development’ in one small community in rural Manitoba, Canada, the article examines how the community and people's reasons for living there have both changed and remained consistent since the beginning of the area's settlement by Ukrainian immigrants in the late nineteenth century. The community has much in common with marginalised areas of the global South, in terms of its treatment at the hands of those in the centre and those who promote ‘development’. The author argues that the concept of ‘place-making’ allows for both a greater understanding of the dynamics in the community and greater possibilities for building sustainable, liveable places, than does the concept or practice of ‘development’.     

Gender and locational dimensions of shocks on household welfare: empirical evidence from Nigeria

Many households in developing countries are exposed to numerous adverse events. The absence of a complete market for insurance and imperfect risk-sharing among households can lead to a significant effect on household welfare from shocks. This article examines the heterogeneous effects of income shocks on household welfare using two waves of the Nigerian General Household Survey Panel datasets from 2010/11 and 2012/13. The study adopted the household fixed effects approach, and the results show that households in the top quintile experienced an increased consumption expenditure compared to those in the bottom quintile in terms of rainfall distribution. There are also heterogeneous effects of income shocks on the gender and locational characteristics of the households.     

Saving behaviour of citrus farmers in Ghana: implications for rural enterprise development

This article reports on a study that examined the saving behaviour of farmers in southern Ghana, using a sample of 100 citrus farmers. Probit and Tobit models were used in determining the factors that influence farmers’ saving behaviours and amount of saved, respectively. The empirical findings showed that age, household size, dependency, marital status, distance to financial institution, transport cost and congestion exerted significant negative impact on farmers’ saving behaviours. On the other hand, income, education, and gender tended to promote good saving behaviour. The article concludes that heterogeneity of factors ranging from socio-economic, household assets, and institutional factors greatly stimulate farmers’ saving behaviour.     

Participatory risk assessment: a new approach for safer food in vulnerable African communities

Women play the major role in food supply in developing countries, but too often their ability to feed their families properly is compromised; the result is high levels of food-borne disease and consequent limited access to higher-value markets. We argue that risk-based approaches – current best practice for managing food safety in developed countries – require adaptation to the difficult context of informal markets. We suggest participatory research and gender analysis as boundary-spanning mechanisms, bringing communities and food-safety implementers together to analyse food-safety problems and develop workable solutions. Examples show how these methodologies can contribute to operationalising risk-based approaches in urban settings and to the development of a new approach to assessing and managing food safety in poor countries, which we call ‘participatory risk analysis’.     

How to strengthen the development effectiveness of local purchase for food aid

Taking the case of Burkina Faso, the paper analyses effects of local purchase on marginal producers. It argues that because of imports of food together with ‘distress sales’ on the part of the producers, perfect market conditions do not exist. Therefore market price does not equal the optimal price. In the absence of an optimal price, price interventions are justifiable and this makes payment to local farmers of a ‘fairer’ price both possible and desirable. The additional income thus generated will not only give the producers greater access to food, but also the ability to invest in order to increase production.

Comment renforcer l'efficacité pour le développement de l'achat local de l'aide alimentaire

En prenant le cas du Burkina Faso, ce document analyse les effets de l'achat local sur les producteurs marginaux. Il soutient que, du fait de l'importation de produits alimentaires, conjuguée aux ventes sous l'effet de la détresse effectuées par les producteurs, les conditions de marché parfaites n'existent pas. Ainsi, le prix du marché n'est pas le prix optimal. Comme il n'y a pas de prix optimal, les interventions au niveau des prix sont justifiables et le versement aux agriculteurs locaux d'un prix « plus juste » est à la fois possible et souhaitable. Les revenus supplémentaires ainsi générés donneront aux producteurs non seulement un accès supérieur aux produits alimentaires, mais aussi la possibilité d'investir afin d'accroître la production.

Como fortalecer a efetividade do desenvolvimento de compras locais para ajuda alimentar

Tendo como base o caso de Burkina Faso, o artigo analisa os efeitos da compra local sobre produtores marginais. Ele argumenta que por causa das importaçóes de alimentos juntamente com vendas de sofrimento por parte dos produtores, as condiçóes perfeitas de mercado não existem. Portanto, o preço de mercado não é igual ao preço timo. Tendo em vista que não existe preço ótimo, as intervençóes de preço são justificáveis e o pagamento a produtores rurais locais de um preço mais justo é possível e desejável. A renda adicional assim gerada, não apenas dará aos produtores um maior acesso a alimentos mas também a capacidade de investir para aumentar a produção.

Cómo mejorar la eficiencia del desarrollo mediante la compra local de la ayuda alimentaria

Basándose en el caso de Burkina Faso, este ensayo analiza los efectos de las compras locales realizadas por productores marginales. Sostiene que, debido a la importación de alimentos y a las “ventas de pánico” de los productores, no existen condiciones de mercado perfectas. Por lo tanto, el precio de mercado no es equivalente al precio óptimo. Como no existe un precio óptimo, se justifican las intervenciones en los precios, y el pago de un precio “más justo” a los productores locales es no sólo posible sino deseable. Los ingresos adicionales asi generados permitirán que los productores dispongan de más alimentos y de los medios para invertir e incrementar su producción.