Faculty of Commerce, Law and Management (ETDs)

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Browsing Faculty of Commerce, Law and Management (ETDs) by SDG "SDG-2: Zero hunger"

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    Examining community participation in process evaluation of humanitarian food security projects in Matobo Zimbabwe
    (University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2023-12) Nyoni, Mbakisi
    Climate change in Africa has resulted in devastating food insecurity especially among rural households in the semi-arid regions. The purpose of this research was to examine the roles of the local community in the process evaluation of the Fambidzanai Permaculture Centre food security project that is intended to improve food security in Matobo District, Ward 18. One key finding from the study is that community engagement in humanitarian interventions was key to improving community participation in community projects. The study also discovered that major constraints to community participation includes: lack of community inclusion in project design and planning stages, inadequate knowledge of project planning and management and inadequate knowledge of monitoring and evaluation
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    Interrogating the Shortcomings of the New Alliance for Food Security and Nutrition from a Human Rights Perspective
    (University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2023) Kibungu, Joseph; Meyersfeld, Bonita
    Access to food entails the physical means to obtain food directly, and economic access, which is the ability to purchase food from available sources. Lack of access to food continues to deny a significant proportion of the globe, especially women and peasant farmers, a dignified life. There have been many attempts at both local and international levels to address food insecurity in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA).2 Most recent attempts have championed agribusinesses to solve food insecurity, with increasing agribusiness involvement from the Global North. The primary advocates of this model have been agribusinesses’ home states and international financial institutions. At face value, the injection of capital by the private sector to boost agricultural production seems like a noble idea. The proponents of this model champion it as the remaining piece in the jigsaw to accelerate food production in developing economies. They view it as the ultimate solution to ongoing food insecurity in a continent with abundant, unutilized arable land
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    The contribution of non-governmental organisations to the fight against poverty in Chegutu District, Zimbabwe
    (2022-06) Kabonga, Itai
    The study explored the contribution of NGOs to the fight against poverty from an asset accumulation perspective. The research was motivated by the paucity of studies in Zimbabwe examining NGOs and poverty reduction from an asset accumulation perspective. The reality in Chegutu District reflects asset challenges emanating from income struggles, vulnerability to economic shocks and infrastructural shortages. Some of the problems are caused by politics and broader poor governance practices in the district and country at large. The study deployed a qualitative approach; given the goal of capturing NGOs’ beneficiaries, staff, and government officials' perspectives, lived realities and experiences. Data to answer the research questions were collected using in-depth interviews, focus group discussions (FGDs) and documentary analysis. It emerged that NGOs in Chegutu District rely more on supply side asset accumulation interventions to fight poverty. They include household economic strengthening (HES), vocational training, community apprenticeship, nutritional gardens as well as service provision, with only referral strategy and lobbying resembling demand side interventions. Several asset accumulation strategies mentioned above generate income (financial assets) in poor households; enabling them to buy food, pay for children's school fees, afford medical care, and meet other daily needs. As households build financial assets, their investments in children's health and education improve, a view supported by many scholars. Guided by a theoretical framing – the Sustainable Livelihood Framework (SLF), which argues that poverty is a function emanating from lack of access to five forms of assets–financial, social, physical, natural, and human (Arun, Annim, and Arun, 2010) –findings suggest the need to widen the framework. NGOs also facilitate the building of informational and psychological assets which are key factors in the process of poverty reduction. This research also established that asset accumulation interventions by NGOs hinge on both institutional and non-institution enablers such as government ministries, partner NGOs, community volunteers and community leaders. The study argues that for NGO beneficiaries to reap benefits from NGO interventions, agency taken to be a component of the SLF human assets in the form of patience, resilience, innovation and thinking outside the box plays a critical role. Asset building interventions by NGOs are not operating without challenges and drawbacks. Asset accumulation at household level supported by NGOs is being slowed by bad governance induced macro-economic challenges such as inflation as well the advent of COVID-19 which disrupted asset accumulation interventions like household economic strengthening, nutritional gardens, and educational support. While the supply side interventions are key in fighting poverty, this study recommends that NGOs need to intermix their interventions with more demand side interventions that include watchdog and advocacy to deal with structural causes of poverty. This may call for NGOs to re-examine their orientation.