Electronic Theses and Dissertations (Masters)

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Browsing Electronic Theses and Dissertations (Masters) by Department "Department of Sociology"

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    Adaptation strategies against drought: The case of rain-fed subsistence crop farmers in Mphego village in the Vhembe District of Limpopo province, South Africa
    (University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2023) Ntuli, Nokutenda Chantelle; Mukwedeya, Tatenda
    South Africa’s Limpopo province is recognized as one of the drought prone regions of the country. Incessant droughts in Limpopo are compromising agricultural productivity in both the large-scale commercial and smallholder farming sectors. Regardless, smallholder farmers, especially those located in historically marginalized settings (former homeland areas) that experience socio-economic deprivation at the hands of the state, and practice rain-fed subsistence agriculture bear the disproportionate burden of drought. These farmers lack adequate finances, agri-mechanization as well as state support to sufficiently cushion them against drought. Such is the plight of rain-fed subsistence in Mphego village, a former homeland area of the Venda Bantustan now known as Vhembe district. This study contributes to understanding how drought is impacting the practices of rain-fed subsistence crop farmers in the rural community of Mphego. Attention is placed on investigating the ways in which drought intersects with existing politically engineered social and economic constraints experienced by subsistence farmers in Mphego village to exacerbate systemic vulnerabilities. Moreover, it explores the adaptation strategies that are being employed by these subsistence farmers to cope with drought impacts. Qualitative interviews were used to investigate these dynamics, and the data was analysed using the thematic approach. The results obtained from Mphego revealed that drought vulnerabilities experienced by subsistence farmers should be understood in light of other converging state orchestrated socio-economic structures of deprivation in local rural communities that shape outcomes in the smallholder agricultural sector. The state is contributing to the expansion of agri-capitalist practices and its drought relief support is biased towards large-scale commercial farmers at the expense of subsistence livelihoods. Given these circumstances, subsistence farmers in Mphego have been employing their own agency to adapt to drought conditions. The livelihood capitals possessed by the farmers were found to play a significant role in influencing and shaping their choice of adaptation practices.
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    Experiences of Community Health Workers (CHWs) and their wellbeing: A study of CHWs in Johannesburg Townships
    (University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2023-03) Mashinini, Lethiwe Yvonne; Carrasco, Lorena Nunez
    Community Health Workers (CHWs) have become important role players in the provision of health and social services in many underprivileged communities around South Africa. Despite the role and impact of these cadres in many communities, few studies have focused on the impact of their work on their wellbeing. Hence, the study's interest in expanding its inquiry on the experiences of CHWs and their impact on the cadre's wellbeing. This research further inquired about the national CHWs policy and CHWs scope of practice facilitated through the WBPHCOTs strategy that resulted from the re-engineering of the PHC model. As an observer qualitative data was collected through non-participative observation. Drawing from in-depth interviews this study further examined and describes the self-reported experiences of CHWs and NGO managers. To frame the experiences of CHWs and the impact of these experiences on their wellbeing the research findings were theorized from the perspective of social constructionism. The fundamental concern was to understand how cadres define, describe, and think about different social aspects of their life as CHWs and how these experiences influence their reality. Specifically focusing on two NGOs situated in Johannesburg townships the study participants were composed of eight CHWs (six female and two male cadres) as well as two male managers who were consulted as key informants. Concerning the national CHWs policy and the guiding scope of practice in the functioning of CHWs, the research yielded interesting findings. The managers of the NGOs were unaware of the existence of the national policy framework dubbed the Ward-based primary healthcare outreach team’s strategy (WBPHCOTs) policy framework. Hence, the organizations had not adopted or aligned the work of CHWs with the WBPHCOTs strategy policy framework. Instead, the NGOs maintained their arrangement of CHWs programmes as multi-stakeholder projects. This raises concerns about the implementation of the WBPHCOTs policy framework as a national CHWs policy, particularly in the NGO sector. The research also revealed multifaceted findings about CHW's experiences, which were largely positive and influenced by altruistic sentiments. Cadres also felt a sense of self-development and the possibility of improvement in their lives, which had a positive impact on their social wellbeing. CHWs also encountered some negative experiences such as challenging working conditions and poor remuneration and this had adverse impacts on their physical, psychological, and economic wellbeing. Therefore experiences of CHWs impacted their wellbeing both positively and negatively.